‘SUPERCLUSTER’ FUNDING
Sask. group wins piece of $950M
A Saskatchewan group will receive so-called “supercluster” funding from the federal government to support the plant protein industry.
It’s being touted as an initiative capable of creating an estimated 4,700 jobs over the next 10 years and $700 million in new commercial activity, plus billions in gross domestic product value.
Protein Industries Canada (PIC) is made up of more than 120 private-sector companies, academics and industry stakeholders from Western Canada, including AGT Foods and Ingredients and AgWest Bio.
On Thursday, PIC was one of five supercluster groups chosen by the federal government to receive money from a $950-million fund aimed at spurring economic opportunity in high-value investments.
Regina-Wascana MP Ralph Goodale said the plant protein supercluster will have a huge impact on the province’s economy, including the agriculture and agri-food sectors.
“Proteins are a vital component of the world’s food supply and they’re more in demand with every passing day, and we must be the best in the world at supplying those proteins,” he said, noting there is “enormous value” in the plant proteins — including canola, pulses, hemp, grain and flax — produced by Saskatchewan farmers.
According to a PIC press release, the federal funding will supplement roughly $400 million of cash, in-kind commitments and venture capital support the group has already secured from its members.
That money, and the federal funding, will be aimed at crop breeding and production, export development and value-added processing.
“This is a growing global market in which Canada and Saskatchewan and the West have a natural advantage,” Goodale said.
How much of the $950 million PIC gets is unclear, as it will share the federal funding with other supercluster proponents who applied for the money.
The money will be paid out over five years, and PIC will be required to match each dollar the federal government gives it.
More than 1,000 businesses from across Canada applied for the funding by putting forward strategies to create jobs in the country. Other projects getting a share of the cash are aimed at artificial intelligence, digital technologies, manufacturing processes, oceanbased industries, clean resources and clean technology. The supercluster funding initiative was first announced in May.