{Advancing Innovation in the Indigenous Agriculture/Agrifoods; Project location: Saskatoon, SK Project partners: Indigenous Works, University of Saskatchewan, Nutrien Ag Solutions, University of Regina, Farm Credit Canada;
This project will work to develop a national Indigenous Innovation Strategy for the Agriculture and Agrifood Sector, with a focus on establishing food sovereignty, creating job opportunities and business growth for Indigenous groups across Canada.
Total project budget: $0.5M / GIC funding: $0.25M
; null,New Uses for By-products from Processing; Project location: Rural Western Canada, BC Project partners: Lucent BioSciences, AGT Foods and Ingredients, 4D Labs (Simon Fraser University), Kwantlen Institute for Sustainable Horticulture, National Research Council;
This project aims to develop a micronutrient fertilizer using products that were once considered waste in processing, such as pea and lentil hulls, to deliver nutrients to plants. This project will help Canadian organic growers and processors by developing a new use for by-products from the pulse processing industry - increasing the value of Canadian pulse crops.
Total project budget: $2.92M / GIC funding: $1.25M
; null,Creating a Lupin Ecosystem in Canada - From the Seed to Fork; Project location: Calgary, AB Project partners: Lupin Platform, Hensall Co-op, PURIS, The Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, Lumi Foods, Canadian International Grains Institute, AgCall, Aratinga Extracts, Can-Seed Equipment, Food Assure, Food Connections, Food Development Centre, Frontier CFO, Intertek Canada, Mera Food Group, Red River College, University of Manitoba;
The goal of this project is to develop a closed loop farm-to-fork approach for this high value protein crop to improve access to ingredients and respond to demand while increasing diversification options for western Canadian farmers.
Total project budget: $5.61M / GIC funding: $2.81M
; null,Development of New Plant Protein Products for Domestic and Asian Markets; Project location: Regina, SK and Saskatoon, SK Project partners: Mera Development Corp., Mera Food Group Inc., Benson Farms, Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre (SFIDC), KGS Group, Kenlin Design Group, Process Innovation ? Food Safety, Specialty Process Systems Ltd., Federated Co-operatives Limited;
This project will use Western Canadian commodities such as oats, lentils, hemp, fava beans and chickpeas to develop new plant-based protein products and ingredients, dietary alternatives that can be sold to markets in Canada and Asia.
Total project budget: $7.22M / GIC funding: $3.61M
; null,Adding value to Canadian pea and canola proteins and finished products through functionalization and sensory improvements ; Project location: Winnipeg, MB Project partners: Merit Functional Foods Corporation, The Winning Combination Inc., Daiya Foods, Grand River Foods;
This project will utilize peas and canola, some of Canada's most widely grown crops, in the development of a variety of new plant-based ingredients and products including alternative meat and dairy products and other beverages. As a result of this project, partners will be able to move from sourcing their plant-based protein ingredients from international sources to a Canadian source, improving their sustainability and strengthening Canada?s economy.
Total project budget: $7.95M / GIC funding: $3.97M
; null,Upskilling Talent in the Agrifood Sector; Project location: Saskatchewan Project partners: Palette Skills, University of Saskatchewan;
This project is focused on designing and delivering a upskilling pilot program in digital skills in the agrifood sector in Saskatchewan. The project includes research and consultation with key stakeholders and industry partners to determine the most pressing needs of the agrifood industry, and develop a short program to meet the demands of employers.
Total project budget: $1.08M / GIC funding: $1.01M
; null,Evaluating The Opportunity for a High-value Soymilk Powder Processing Facility in Eastern Canada; Project location: Inkerman, ON Project partners: David John Hendrick International, ProSoya, Eastern Canada Oilseed Development Association, Field to Fork AgriSystems Consulting, Hendrick Consulting Company;
This project will examine the technical feasibility and costs associated with manufacturing a ?Made-in-Canada? high-value powdered soymilk beverage, and marketing of the final product to consumers in Japan and North America.
Total project budget: $0.39M / GIC funding: $0.19M
; null,Agrifood Opportunity Awareness for Youth (AOAFY); Project location: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario Project partners: EMILI, Actua, Agriculture in the Classroom ;
Project partners are working together to help address the agriculture industry?s growing need for a skilled workforce. This project will expand existing STEM programing for students in kindergarten to Grade 12 throughout Western Canada, to generate awareness and interest in career opportunities in plant protein, agrifood and digital agriculture. The program, targeted to reach 69,000 youth over three years, will focus on students in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with emphasis placed on Indigenous, inner-city and rural/remote students.
Total project budget: $2.04M / GIC funding: $1.43M
; null,Commercialization of Oat Milk Concentrates; Project location: Delta, BC Project partners: Plant Veda Foods, HPP Canada, Thirstea Beverages, Avena Foods;
This project will develop and commercialize cost-effective oat milk concentrates using innovative processing methods to address the increasing demand for oat-based products.
Total project budget: $0.99M / GIC funding: $0.49M
; null,Developing novel food safe plant-based protein ingredients of the future; Project location: Bowden, AB Project partners: More Than Proteins Ingredients, SiccaDania, Quantum Mechanical Technology, Hammam Ag. Research, Food Processing Development Centre, National Research Centre;
This project focuses on building innovation throughout the supply chain starting with the use of different field applications to improve the protein yield in pulses. The next step is adopting technology from another industry and applying Modify Wave Technology to the pre-processing stage. This technology will improve the pre-processing of crops, including the removal of non-soluble fibres and reducing contaminants, that will lead to enhanced processing outcomes. The final step involves employing a wet fractionation process that will remove non-soluble fibres and will extract as much as protein possible, resulting in a high protein ingredient.
Total project budget: $29.62M / GIC funding: $5.77M
; null,Production of Minimally Processed, Sustainable and Local Pulse Ingredients for Vegetable Protein and Plant-based Food Applications; Project location: Saskatoon, SK Project partners: AGT Foods and Ingredients, Ulivit, Saskatchewan Food Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan College of Agriculture; Department of Food and Bioproduct Sciences, Recipe Unlimited Corporation
;
Project partners will work together to process pea, lentil and fava bean protein concentrate into high moisture meat analogue, Texturized Pulse Protein (TPP), tempeh, tofu, pasta and non-dairy analogues. These ingredients will then be further developed into market-ready food for the consumer and restaurant markets, helping to meet the increasing demand for vegetarian and flexitarian diets.
Total project budget: $11.33M / GIC funding: $5.67M
; null,Clean-Label Soy Protein, Free of Hexane; Project location: Vaughan, ON Project partners: New Protein International, Kanematsu Corporation, Huron Commodities, Hensall Co-Operative, University of Guelph, Agriculture & Agri-food Canada, JL Richards & Associates Limited, North America Construction;
The project focuses on developing a unique proprietary process to produce a clean-label soy protein to satisfy the growing demand for non-GMO hexane-free soybean protein in the market. The partners are removing hexane from the soy protein extraction process to supply manufacturers, retailers and consumers with a ?cleaner? product, better aligning with consumer demands for clean-label plant-based foods and ingredients.
Total project budget: $11.2M / GIC funding: $2.2M
; null,Improving Taste and Use of Canadian Pulse Ingredients; Project location: Vanscoy, SK Project partners: Ingredion Inc., Verdient Foods Inc., T. Base 4 investments Corp., O.M.D. Food Products Corp. ;
This project will improve the taste and functionality of pulse-based ingredients. Initially focusing on yellow peas, partners will use physical processing techniques to turn the commodities into ingredients that will be available to food processors and manufacturers in Canada and internationally.
Total project budget: $25.68M / GIC funding: $12.84M
; null,Enhancing Plant Based Seafood; Project location: Toronto, ON Project partners: New School Foods Inc, Liven Proteins Corp;
These project partners will be working together to develop a new line of plant-based seafood products with a focus on whole muscle, fish fillet alternatives that emulate the same texture, taste and cooking experience of fish, creating a product that appeals to the mass-market consumer.
Total project budget: $1.86M / GIC funding: $0.93M
; null,Improving Cost and Energy Efficiency of Pulse Protein ; Project location: Edmonton, AB; Birch Hills, SK; San Francisco, CA, USA Project partners: GrainFrac, Tomtene Seed Farms, Ripple Foods;
This project will further develop and utilize a specialized dry processing technology patented by GrainFraclead to create new, high-protein pulse-based ingredients for the non-dairy beverage market. This scale-up will help GrainFrac quantify the environmental benefits associated with the technology?s dry processing capabilities, including its reduction in water use.
Total project budget: $4.34M / GIC funding: $2.17M
; null,Modernizing Agriculture Via the Zero-Chemical Residue Ecosystem; Project location: Regina, Saskatoon, Langenburg and rural, SK Project partners: Exceed Grain Marketing, Aberhart Farms, Global Institute for Food Security, NRC, Panvion Technology, Precision.AI, Providence Grain, Provision Analytics, Pure West Commodities, Puely Canada Foods, RMD Systems, SAIRS Ltd (Shearer Agricultural Imaging & Remote Sensing), Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Sure Growth Solutions, VeriGrain, Wilmar Farms;
Project partners will develop a new technology that specifically targets pests when spraying fields, increasing efficiencies and providing economic benefits for farmers. The technology uses artificial intelligence to detect weeds and other crop pests while passing over a field. This is estimated to reduce pesticide use by up to 95 per cent while maintaining crop yield, saving farmers approximately $52 per acre per growing season.
Total project budget: $25.81M / GIC funding: $12.8M
; null,Building the Fermentation Ecosystem; Project location: Saskatoon, SK Project partners: The Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Ag-West Bio, The Global Agri-Food Advancement;
This project will bring partners together to strengthen the use of fermentation processing technology in western Canada's plant-based ingredients ecosystem. The partners will also develop a new fermentation program that will enable the commercialization of new technology that will aid small- and medium-sized enterprises across Western Canada in launching new plant-based food and beverage products into the consumer market.
Total project budget: $1.32M / GIC funding: $0.7M
; null,The ChickPea Protein Revolution - New Frontiers in Plant Protein; Project location: Victoria, BC Project partners: Humble and Frank Foods, InnovoPro, Sliced FC, Sobeys;
The project aims to use chickpea proteins to develop new and innovative products to address the consumer demand for novel high-protein, plant-based options. The consortium plans to increase the cumulative plant-based protein knowledge and research in Canada, and catalyze a significant and sustainable impact on the Canadian chickpea supply chain.
Total project budget: $2.8M / GIC funding: $1.4M
; null,EMILI Data Initiative; Project location: Winnipeg, MB Project partners: Enterprise Machine & Intelligence Learning Initiative (EMILI), Alberta Data Institute (ADI);
These project partners are coming together to enhance the Canadian plant-based food, feed and ingredients ecosystem?s use and knowledge of data by: 1. Exploring the current state of the data ecosystem in Canadian agri-food; 2. Performing research into knowledge gaps related to data; 3. Developing data-related training programs; and, 4. Creating a project-specific working group.
Total project budget: $0.9M / GIC funding: $0.44M
; null,Yellow Peas & Data Trust Tech: Economic Game Changers for Western Canada; Project location: Winnipeg, MB Project partners: Sightline Innovation, 20/20 Seed Labs, Cornerstone C5 Group, DL Seeds, Global Health Systems, Global Institute for Food Security, NRC, SeedNet, University of Saskatchewan, University of Winnipeg,;
This project will use leading-edge artificial intelligence and data trust tools to optimize current plant-breeding processes. The objective is to develop yellow pea varieties that combine high-yield potential and high-protein content, a composition long awaited by farmers and processors in the plant-protein ecosystem.
Total project budget: $3.51M / GIC funding: $1.76M
; null,Attracting capital to Canada's plant-based food, feed and ingredient sector; Project location:Saskatoon, SK Project partners: Bellwoods Partners, Champlin Advisory, Deloitte, Osler;
The goal of this project is to fund the establishment of a $200 million fund of deployable capital for Canadian ingredient processors. This project will use government support in order to set up the fund and research to identify pockets of investor capital. This capital will fund processing capacity, educate investors, leverage the generational market to support small- and medium-sized enterprises in Canada, and set up an advisory board of subject matter experts, industry representatives, and Indigenous leadership to help lead the fund.
Total project budget: $2.44M / GIC funding: $1.79M
; null,Development of nutritionally and functionally superior plant-based milk, yogurt, and eggs using Canadian ingredients; Project location: Vaughn, ON Project partners: YoFiit, Avena Foods, Roquette Canada;
This project will solve technical challenges in formulating plant-based milk, probiotic-rich yogurt and dairy alternatives, and other functional plant-based analogues, with a key focus on maintaining the nutritional content and equivalency to conventional products for the consumer packaged goods market.
Total project budget: $1.75M / GIC funding: $0.77M
; null,Oat Protein, Canada's Hero Ingredient ; Project location: Toronto, ON Project partners: Oat Canada Inc, Roquette Canada Ltd, Niagara College Canada, GFR Ingredients Inc, University of Alberta;
This project is incorporating Canadian-processed oats into Oat Canada?s range of oat-based dairy alternative products. Working with Roquette will allow Oat Canada to develop a new oat-based protein ingredient processed in Canada leading to benefits for both companies. At the same time, Oat Canada will test the oat protein in several new beverages and dry products, such as protein powder. They will commercialize these new products as they are developed to make available to Canadians.
Total project budget: $4.1M / GIC funding: $2.05M
; null,Pea++, Innovative Way of Breeding for Plant Protein; Project location: Saskatoon, SK Project partners: NRGene Canada, Farmer's Business Network (FBN), Pulse Genetics, Manitoba Harvest;
This project will develop new pea and hemp varieties for use in plant-protein ingredient processing. The partners are focusing on increasing the protein content and altering the starch content of their varieties, in order to improve functionality, texture and nutrition of ingredients.
Total project budget: $5.1M / GIC funding: $1.8M
; null,Novel Pea and Canola Protein; Project location: Winnipeg, MB Project partners: Merit Functional Foods Corporation, The Winning Combination Inc., Pitura Seeds Inc., Burcon NutraScience Corporation;
Project partners will work together to produce and commercialize a new highly soluble, highly functional pea and canola protein isolate. These novel isolates will eliminate the grittiness experienced with less soluble proteins, and improve the flavour profiles of plant-based products including in plant-protein beverages and other meat alternatives. This project aligns with the shift in consumer trends, which has led to a growing demand for more options, and will provide Canadians with better tasting plant-based alternatives.
Total project budget: $19.1M / GIC funding: $9.55M
; null,Ivey Executive Education to increase business sophistication and ability to access capital; Project location: London, ON Project partners: The Ivey Academy at Western University, Protein Industries Canada;
Partners are working together to build a custom, world-class, executive education and training program to boost the all-around business and leadership acumen of PIC members who are looking to scale. The aim of this program is to provide participants with knowledge and understanding of sought-after business acumen on topics that will enable to them to position themselves as industry leaders, and attract capital investments.
Total project budget: $0.86M / GIC funding: $0.75M
; null,Exploiting the Potential of Tempered Whole Pulse Flours ; Project location: Regina, SK Project partners: Avena Foods Ltd., Big Mountain Foods, Daiya Foods, Bakenology, The Village Bakery;
This project will test and develop new applications for proprietary tempered pulse flours. These tempered pulse flours are poised to help meet the fast-growing market demand for plant-based proteins and products in the growing vegan and flexitarian markets, both in North America and overseas.
Total project budget: $9.41M / GIC funding: $3.31M
; null,National Index on Agrifood Performance; Project location: Winnipeg, MB Project partners: Pulse Canada, Global Institute for Food Security, Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, Canadian Horticultural Council, Chicken Farmers of Canada, CropLife Canada, Enterprise Machine Intelligence & Learning Initiative (EMILI), Farm Credit Canada *There is a total of 46 project partners for this project, the detailed listing of project partners can be found on the programs website, see the list of announced projects.;
This project is leading phase 2C of the National Index on Agri-Food Performance. With the overall Index project focused on developing a set of sustainability indicators and metrics related to Canada?s agriculture and agri-food industry, phase 2C will focus on developing selected sub-indicators, scoping out data platforms and verification protocols, and developing a series of papers to inform the index and policy implications. All of which will help prove Canada?s plant-based foods and ingredients are as environmentally, economically and socially sustainable as consumers are demanding they be.
Total project budget: $0.66M / GIC funding: $0.63M
; null,Furthering Pea and Fava Bean Processing; Project location: Portage, MB Project partners: Roquette Canada, Prairie Fava, Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba, Hatch Ltd., Dedert Corporation, KEP Entreprises Ltd., University of Alberta, Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM), The Food Development Group, DL Seeds, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada;
Together, this project consortium will address nutrition and processing challenges for pea and fava in Western Canada, such as how to mitigate the effects of cold weather, while also exploring the utility of blended pea-fava protein products. This knowledge will be key in further expanding Canada?s ability to be a global leader in the production of plant protein.
Total project budget: $19.16M / GIC funding: $9.58M
; null,Transformational Changes to the Sustainable Protein Research Network; Project location: Winnipeg, MB Project partners: University of Manitoba, Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI);
This project aims to bridge the gap between Manitoba's protein research and processing sectors by developing a publicly available asset map that details the research expertise and infrastructure related to sustainable protein activities in the province of Manitoba.
Total project budget: $0.17M / GIC funding: $0.14M
; null,Food & Beverage Sector Supply Chain Mapping; Project location: Montreal, QC Project partners: The McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics, Conseil de la Transformation Alimentaire du Québec (CTAQ), Food and Beverage Canada, Food and Beverage Atlantic, Food and Beverage Ontario, Food and Beverage Manitoba, BC Food and Beverage, Bivizio, University of Ottawa;
This project will create a national platform that connects local and provincial tools to enable the businesses and organizations that comprise Canada?s food system, including the plant protein segment, to work together locally, provincially and nationally. This new level of connectivity and collaboration will help to address supply chain challenges, find domestic solutions to disruptions, promote innovation across the value chain and increase the resilience and value of the sectors involved.
Total project budget: $2.66M / GIC funding: $2.13M
; null,Developing Extraordinary Canadian Plant-based Finished Products Scaled Through Global Partnerships; Project location: Vancouver, BC Project partners: Wamame Foods Inc., Azuma Foods Canada, Merit Functional Foods, The Saskatchewan good Industry Development Centre, University of British Columbia (UBC), Winecrush, Wismettac Asian Food US;
This project focuses on the development and sales of Japanese inspired plant-based food products. Using a combination of Canadian raw materials and Canadian research & development to build products for sale through two of Japan?s leading food companies. This project?s main objective is to rapidly expand into a proven but niche market for Japanese style plant-based products - establishing Canadian-based Wamame?s Waygu brand as a dominant global player.
Total project budget: $7.57M / GIC funding: $3.79M
; null,Better Oil and Protein - Improving hemp and Canola Production ; Project location: Calgary, AB Project partners: Botaneco, Centre for Aquaculture Technologies, Corteva, Food Processing Development Centre Leduc, Rowland Seeds, Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, The Food Development Centre, University of Alberta, University of Lethbridge, University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan;
This project will see project partners develop and commercialize a novel processing technology that will improve the separation and purification of Canadian crops such as canola and hemp. This new technology will increase the current value of Canadian oilseeds by yielding new high-protein products and ingredients for the global food, feed, and aquaculture markets.
Total project budget: $11.81M / GIC funding: $5.86M
; null,Plant Protein Efficacy and Evidence: a New Gold-Standard; Project location: Aurora and Windsor, Ontario Project partners: Enhanced Medical Nutrition, Infinit Nutrition Canada, McMaster University;
This project will use ethically-sourced, Canadian materials and manufacturing to develop new plant-based protein powders similar to whey protein. The protein powders will be made available for clinical and athletic consumers.
Total project budget: $2.21M / GIC funding: $1.18M
; null,Automatic Risk Management Systems for the Value Chain; Project location: Winnipeg, MB and Calgary, AB Project partners: Farmers Edge, ClimateCHECK, NRC, Next Instruments, OPI Systems, Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), Standards Council of Canada;
Project partners will be capturing farm-level data related to crop and storage health management to develop predictive models using AI and machine learning. These models will help farmers enhance production practices, as well as make better storage and marketing decisions. This is expected to increase return on investments related to all areas of seed selection, irrigation, equipment selection and post-harvest management.
Total project budget: $20.95M / GIC funding: $7.41M
; null,Growing Canada's Plant-Based Cultured Cheese Sector; Project location: Vancouver, BC Project partners: Lumi Foods, Save-On-Foods, Wine Crush Technology, Provision Analytics, University of Alberta, Mera Food, Koralta Agri-Food, InnovoPro, University of British Columbia;
This project aims to elevate Canada's role in the rapidly growing non-dairy cheese industry. This includes investments into Canadian grown input materials; scaling production capacity; investments into the sales channel including revamping Save-on-Foods' own cheese section to include Canadian plant-based alternatives; new technologies for precession fermentation to improve product quality; and finally the development of unique bacterial culture sets that will enable the entire industry to access the same building blocks dairy cheese producers have had for centuries but now developed specifically for plant-based ingredient input.
Total project budget: $10.87M / GIC funding: $5.43M
; null,Automated Risk Management Systems for the Value Chain; Project location: Winnipeg, MB and Calgary, AB Project partners: Farmer's Edge Inc., OPI Systems Inc., TrustBix Inc., Standards Council of Canada, National Research Council, Olds College, Merit Functional Foods, Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), Richardson International ;
This project will be capturing farm-level data related to crop and storage health management to develop predictive models that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help farmers enhance production practices, as well as make better storage and marketing decisions. This is expected to increase return on investments related to all areas of seed selection, irrigation, equipment selection and post-harvest management.
Total project budget: $17.11M / GIC funding: $8.55M
; null,Commercializing an Innovative Canadian Technology to Manufacture High Quality, Clean Label, Plant-based Protein Ingredients ; Project location: Lindsay, ON Project partners: Canada Protein Ingredients (CPI), DJ Hendrick International, Agrocorp Processing, Semences Prograin, Synthesis Network;
This project is developing a proprietary process to produce high-quality soybean protein ingredients and soybean oil that comply with non-genetically modified and Organic labelling standards resulting in clean-label protein ingredients derrived from Canadian-grown soybeans. Crops will be processed at a brand-new, first-of-its-kind facility in Canada.
Total project budget: $27.36M / GIC funding: $7.37M
; null,Research and Develoment of New Plant-based Protein Ingredients ; Project location: Various, ON Project partners: Griffith Foods Ltd., Persall Fine Foods Co., K2 Milling, NRC, Saskatchewan Food Development Centre;
This consortium will work together to develop new plant-based protein ingredients for food processors throughout Canada, helping meet the rising demand for vegan and flexitarian food options. The results of this project will diversify the plant-based protein market in Canada.
Total project budget: $1.22M / GIC funding: $0.61M
; null,Creation and Utilization of High Protein Canola; Project location: Calgary, AB Project partners: Corteva, Botaneco, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Bunge, Botaneco, NRC, University of Manitoba;
This project will use gene-editing technology to create hybrid oilseeds in order to breed higher-protein canola. These new canola seed varieties are expected to be well suited for both traditional processing methods like crushing, and other newer technologies. This will make Canadian canola even more of a premium product in global markets over the next decade, resulting in economic benefits across the entire value chain.
Total project budget: $27.69M / GIC funding: $13.63M
; null,Empowering Farming Through Data; Project location: Calgary, AB and Kindersley, SK Project partners: Provision Analytics, Verge Technology, Skymatics, Coutts Agro ;
Project partners will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to develop an integrated data platform to make farming more transparent, efficient and profitable. The consortium of agri-food, digital mapping and technology firms will be collecting farm-level data on activities such as seeding and fertilizer application, fuel consumption and wear and tear of machinery to improve on-farm logistics and food traceability along the value chain. This will reinforce Canada?s reputation as a global supplier of sustainable and traceable food.
Total project budget: $9.26M / GIC funding: $4.63M