Feeding the Future with Canadian Technology
Launching Canada’s ag-tech moonshot
Our goal is to consult with Canadians and develop a pan-Canadian strategy that will show how we can innovate and use agri-food technology wisely to drive the green economy, create jobs, ensure Canada’s global leadership, and deliver a carbon neutral food system. At this stage in the project, we are inviting interested participants to complete an online survey that will help inform the pan-Canadian ag-tech strategy.
Fill out the surveyOur food systems are at risk without intervention and support
Climate change, COVID, and conflict have upended food systems. But technology, properly applied, provides some answers. With more advanced on-farm equipment, regenerative management practices, and smarter fertilizers food systems will shift from being a source of carbon emission to a greenhouse gas sink. With vertical farming, we can invest in the systems that will allow local communities the ability to access fresh and healthy food year-round, anywhere on earth. With biological innovation, we can produce novel food ingredients out of crop residues that would otherwise go to waste. And if we invest in these tools, then agri-food can be an engine of economic growth and a key plank in Canada’s green economic transition.
Canada needs a national strategy on how to invest, deploy, and develop agri-food innovation so that we lead the globe in creating the world’s first carbon neutral food system. Additionally, we realize that technology and innovation must be backed up with good policies – policies that ensure farmers are rewarded for being stewards of the environment, policies that maintain the highest food quality, safety and nutritional standards, and policies to ensure that Canadian farms are not only the most sustainable but also globally recognized for being the most sustainable in the world.
Our goal is to consult with Canadians and develop a pan-Canadian strategy that will show how we can innovate and use agri-food technology wisely and in doing so drive the green economy, create jobs, ensure Canada’s global leadership, and deliver a carbon neutral food system.
How you can participate
We will build this strategy collaboratively, by listening to Canadians across the agri-food value chain, including but not limited to farmers, input manufacturers/suppliers, processors, transporters, government, consultants, researchers and retailers. We are keen to invite interested participants to complete an online survey, and if there is interest, share insights, suggestions and feedback during a one-on-one interview with the lead researchers. Throughout the project there will also be further opportunities to participate via virtual events and townhall meetings.
This process will be chaired by three food system experts.
Collaborating with partners
Meet the Co-Chairs
Meet the Advisory Committee
Project timing
- Fall 2022 – Project launch
- Winter to fall 2023 – Stakeholder engagement (one-on-one interviews, virtual town halls, surveys, events)
- Fall 2023 – Interim report and continued conversations with stakeholders
- Winter 2024 – Final report
