Based in Edmonton, New Harvest Canada is pleased to announce it has received $1 million in federal funding from Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) to advance the Cellular Agriculture Prairies Ecosystem (CAPE) Project.
This initiative will bring together 12 partners from industry and academia, including Lethbridge Polytechnic, to kickstart a cellular agriculture research and innovation ecosystem to build a more resilient food production system.
Using emerging biomanufacturing practices and technologies, the CAPE project will transform local agricultural resources into biomanufacturing inputs while enhancing talent development, manufacturing, and research capacity to enhance economic opportunities.
"Alberta’s farmers and producers work hard to feed our communities and drive our economy," said the Hon. Terry Duguid, minister for PrairiesCan. "This investment in New Harvest Canada is about supporting innovation that builds on that strength—creating new opportunities for producers, making our food system more resilient, and ensuring a strong, sustainable future for Alberta’s agriculture sector."
Funded by PrairiesCan, CAPE is a multi-stakeholder initiative advancing biomanufacturing by transforming agricultural resources and strengthening manufacturing, industry-driven applied research, and talent in the Prairies. It connects agriculture with cellular agriculture to enhance food system resilience and sustainability while supporting start-ups in commercialization.
This $2.4 million, three-year project includes a fellowship program, economic reports, and builds on prior regional investments in infrastructure, talent, and research.
“CAPE is a step towards ensuring cellular agriculture happens in Canada, not to Canada,” says Isha Datar, Executive Director, New Harvest.
Lethbridge Polytechnic’s contribution will focus on the sugar beet industry.
"We, at Lethbridge Polytechnic, are glad to be part of this new initiative, led by New Harvest Canada, in working collectively towards using cellular agricultural research to improve food security across Canada well into the future," says Dr. Chandra Singh, Results Driven Ag Research chair and Advanced Post-harvest Technology Centre director. "In our region, we are looking to use sugar beets as an energy source for cell culture medium to facilitate this research, providing a long-term market for sugar beet producers in southern Alberta."
For more information, contact Isha Datar, Executive Director, New Harvest, isha@new-harvest.org.