Just last week, Alberta announced updates to the Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP) grant process, making it easier to access funding. CAP is a five-year, $3-billion program by the federal government to encourage the growth of the food and agriculture industry.
This enhanced incentive program expected to drive investment in plant protein fractionation and value-added agriculture.
Both the federal and provincial levels of government have highlighted the need to grow the number of value-add businesses operating in Alberta. “The plant protein sector is booming worldwide, and Canada grows more of these products than anywhere else,” said Malcolm Bruce, CEO of Edmonton Global. “Right now, most of what is grown is exported – value-added food production is a gigantic opportunity.”
A field of opportunity
The changes to CAP will encourage investment in agriculture, food processing and technological advancements in Edmonton’s—and Alberta’s— food manufacturing industries. “CAP grants have increased our farmers’, ranchers’ and producers’ competitiveness and this will continue going forward. Value-added processing is so important to the industry and a simplified grant process will help us attract private investment across Alberta and create jobs,” said Alberta Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Devin Dreeshen.
The plant protein sector offers many opportunities to incorporate innovation—particularly in the fractionation process and through the research and development of new uses for offtakes such as starch and fibre. “In our region, we’ve seen significant innovation in the use of these offtakes in nutraceuticals, biotech, and alternative packaging,” added Malcolm
About the CAP program
Stay tuned for updates—the government has announced that the changes will help investors receive and access grant money faster. This is welcome news for investors in the plant protein space, who rely on incentives like these to deal with the high start-up costs associated with greenfield investments.
In 2020-21, an estimated $150 million was awarded to investors in the food and agriculture sector. With the 2021 roll out, the Alberta and Canadian governments have made the program even more accessible for investors in the agriculture industry.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated as more information about this program becomes available. Similar alternate grants and incentives are available, such as AgriInnovates, Accelerated Investment Program, and the recently-announced Alberta Jobs Now Program.
The video below highlights some of the organizations, government programs, and funding that exist to support this sky-rocketing industry. In this video, Chris Mcleod, our VP of Global Marketing and Communications chats with senior representatives from the organizations listed below and they talk about the levels of support their organizations provide and how to access funding and incentives available.
