Overview

The Agri-food Investment and Growth Strategy is an integrated 3-pillar strategy to grow our way to an even brighter future by building on Alberta's strong foundation as a major supplier of high-quality agricultural products.

We are taking action to amplify Alberta’s first class reputation for high-quality agricultural products and increase capacity to help meet the global demand. Investment attraction is essential – investments into Alberta’s agri-food industry will support modernization and expansion projects, expand business opportunities, increase our exports globally and create jobs for Albertans.

The Agri-food Investment and Growth Strategy was introduced in 2020. This strategy sets aggressive growth targets to fulfil commitments in the Investment and Growth Strategy.

Related

Strategy pillars

The Agri-food Investment and Growth Strategy is an integrated 3-pillar strategy that builds on the sector’s strong foundation to capitalize on emerging opportunities for growth.

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    Investing in value-added agricultural processing capacity

    Alberta has set targets to grow value-added processing capacity by attracting $1.4 billion in investment by March 2023, creating about 2,000 jobs in the province. Raising Alberta’s profile as an attractive investment destination in global markets is a key outcome of the Investment and Growth Strategy. Increased investment will help expand the agri-food industry by supporting value-added processors to establish and expand their operations, increasing provincial exports and creating jobs.

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    Increasing agri-food exports

    Market access advocacy and strategic market development by new agriculture-specific staff at Alberta International Offices will help grow our export access. Increasing exports to global markets will ensure sustained industry growth, providing stable jobs for Albertans.

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    Expanding irrigation

    Modernizing and building new irrigation infrastructure will increase irrigated acreage, water storage capacity and primary crop production, improve water use efficiency, enhance water security and provide flood protection to support the agri-food industry for the long-term.

Growth targets

The Agri-food Investment and Growth Strategy identifies three key targets to continue growing and diversifying Alberta’s economy, strengthen our workforce and build for the future.

Attract more than $1.4 billion in new investment in value-added processing, creating an estimated 2,000 new jobs by March 2023.

Grow primary and value-added agricultural exports to $16 billion by 2023.

Invest in the modernization and expansion of irrigation infrastructure in southern Alberta and add 230,000 acres into irrigation through water savings and water use efficiency.

Opportunities

The Agri-food Investment and Growth Strategy capitalizes on key opportunities to meet growth targets set to attract investment, grow the agri-food industry and create jobs.

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    Aggressive investment attraction
    • Attracted $2.1 billion in investment from April 2019 to March 2023, which is expected to create more than 4,100 jobs.
    • Offer a concierge service to help investors navigate regulatory processes and make informed investment decisions.
    • Study alternative policy tools to attract investment and encourage economic development.
    • Reduce red tape for investors in the agriculture and agri-food industry.
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    Modernizing and expanding irrigation infrastructure
    • Increase water security and water use efficiency to bring more land into irrigated primary production.
    • Entered into an agreement with the Canadian Infrastructure Bank and 9 Irrigation Districts in 2020 and 2021 to support a $933-million investment in irrigation district infrastructure.
    • This investment includes 93 irrigation modernization projects that will expand up to 230,000 new irrigated acres, expand and construct 4 reservoirs, and create an estimated 7,400 new permanent and 1,450 construction jobs.
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    Agricultural research
    • In March 2020, after engaging with farmers and ranchers across Alberta, we established an arm’s-length non-profit organization, Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), to determine and fund agriculture research.
    • We committed $370 million to funding agriculture research through RDAR over 10 years - farmers and ranchers will guide research priorities.
    • The agriculture industry is getting the most from its investments and Albertans are getting the most for their dollars. Investments are leveraged with funding from the private sector.
    • Agricultural research in Alberta leads to tangible benefits for farmers under this new model, like higher profits and a more abundant food supply at an affordable cost for consumers.
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    Growing agri-food exports
    • Set a third consecutive record high for total agricultural exports in 2022, at $16.2 billion.
    • Support the agri-food industry in establishing footholds in new markets and attracting foreign direct investment.
    • Improve market access to support growth and long-term success of the industry.
    • Deliver programs and services to increase the export readiness of Alberta agriculture and agri-food businesses.
    • Employ agri-specific staff in Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, New Delhi, Mexico City, Minneapolis, Düsseldorf and Singapore to help meet export growth and investment attraction. 
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    Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP)
    • Sustainable CAP supports Canada’s continued innovation, growth and prosperity through a 5 year, $3.5 billion federal-provincial-territorial investment.
    • Strengthens competitiveness, innovation and resiliency in the agriculture, agri‐food and agri‐based products sector.
    • Supports value-added processing competitiveness, attraction of new investment, and expansion of irrigation capacity to enhance crop production.
    • Protects plant and animal health and animal welfare, manages risks to our natural resources, and invests in producer-led agriculture research.
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    Investments in agriculture technology
    • Smart agriculture focuses on the development and application of innovative technology to increase the quantity and quality of agriculture and agri-food products.
    • We are working to be a leader in practical solutions for the agri-food industry, showcasing our ongoing commitment to sustainable stewardship of our province’s abundant natural resources.
    • Investments in agriculture technology support more made-in-Alberta solutions to address challenges in the agri-food sector and will increase competitiveness on the global stage.
    • Advances in agricultural technology will help support sustainable economic growth and diversification in Alberta.

Benefits

Investment in the agri-food industry will continue to grow and diversify Alberta’s economy, strengthen our workforce, build for the future and help Albertans.

New investments and market opportunities will create thousands of construction and new permanent jobs.

Greater access to global markets and attracting foreign direct investment will support the growth and long-term success of Alberta’s farmers, ranchers and value-added agriculture processors.

We're building on Alberta's strong foundation as a major source of high-quality agricultural products. With the creation of thousands of new jobs from modernization and expansion projects, producers and irrigation districts will be better positioned to meet the growing global demand for agri-food products for generations to come.

Alberta’s agri-food industries are an important part of the Alberta economy, contributing $10.3 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) and employing approximately 69,000 Albertans in 2022. Investment will continue to support and grow the industry.

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