Canada will invest more than $12 million for Canadian businesses in southern Ontario's agri-food sector to support FedDev Ontario's core regional funding programming.
The announcement of this federal investment was made this morning (Tuesday, March 4) here in Oakville at Gastronimous Technologies, led by Minister of Democratic Institutions Ruby Sahota (also responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario) and Oakville MP Anita Anand, also Canada's Minister of Transport and Internal Trade.
While at the offices, both Sahota and Anand met with representatives from the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN), a national not-for-profit organization that "brings the Canadian food ecosystem to fresh insights, ideas, and new technologies to enhance their business and grow their innovation capacity," according to the organization.
Sahota and Anand say this new investment for southern Ontario food companies are being made "to scale up, drive innovation, and increase production."
"Our government is committed to supporting Canada's agri-food sector as it drives innovation, creates jobs, and strengthens communities," said Sahota.
"Now more than ever, we need Canadian products to ensure a resilient and sustainable food supply, and by investing in key initiatives, we are empowering entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and contribute to a prosperous future for all Canadians."
To support the efforts put forth by the CFIN, Minister Sahota announced that her team will spend $2.7 million to launch the Unpuzzle Mentorship Program "for food tech entrepreneurs" n addition to the FoodTech NOW Funding Program.
With these programs in place, CFIN will help those participating to expand their businesses as they commercialize new and exciting products and develop state-of-the-art technologies for use in the southern Ontario food manufacturing sector.
Along with the $2.7 million investment, Minister Sahota also announced over $9.3 million for six other agri-food companies and organizations, including:
- Agrocrop Exports Ltd.
- CATTLEytics Inc.
- Eastern Ontario Agri-Food Network
- Original Foods Limited
- VEL Bars
- Vive Crop Protection
The Canadian government said in a follow-up press release they are "devoted to working with local partners to build up and support Canada’s agri-food sector by investing in ventures that will promote regional growth, economic improvement and the adoption of sustainable technologies, while supplying fresh local foods to fuel Canadians."
Tyler Collins contributed additional reporting to this story.