University of Guelph lands multi-million deal to develop Canada’s first agri-food entrepreneurship program

The University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada, has received a CAN$16 million (US$11.5 million) grant to build Sustainable Food Systems for Canada (SF4C) — a platform designed to fully commercialize new technologies from university laboratories through entrepreneurship training.

Dr. Rene Van Acker, interim president and vice-chancellor of the University, explains: “The goal of SF4C is to build Canada’s first-ever nationally networked entrepreneurial platform to connect Canadian agri-food researchers and innovators with industry, government and communities. Through training, mentorship and networking, SF4C ensures a continuous pipeline of talent to drive Canada’s economic security and productivity in a changing world.”

The five-year funding initiative will bring in experts from agriculture, veterinary medicine, Indigenous organizations and startups.

The initiative will develop three main programs: a training platform, a mentorship service to connect innovators with additional resources and a set of events and workshops to unify national expertise on business growth throughout Canada.

“Current methods of food production are insufficient to meet increasing global demand and to mitigate the effects of climate change,” says Dr. Evan Fraser, professor in the Department of Geography, Environment & Geomatics, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences.

“Innovation is not a subset of the agricultural sector — it is a requirement for modern growers, producers and processors. At the heart of SF4C is a philosophy to nurture business-minded research and develop a Canadian base of educated innovators who will bring as many solutions as possible to the market.”

“Now is the moment for Canada to embrace the agricultural sector as a pathway to sustainable and productive growth on a scale that cannot be achieved by any single institution,” Fraser asserts.

Across Canada, 13 post-secondary institutions and universities will be involved in SF4C, joined by an equal number of start-ups and enterprises.