onTario le ads The WaY in Food and Beverage r&d

In order to make sure the best produce is being put out across not only the province, but the world, Ontario has many research centres dedicated to discoveries, findings, and information valuable to bettering the agri-food sector. Spread out across Ontario cities are 14 different research centres, each one focused on different aspects of agriculture. Location Research Focus 1Research Focus 2Research Focus 3 alma Aquaculture a rkell Equine Poultry Swine bradford Vegetables

Cedar springs Horticulture Crops elora Field Crops Beef Dairy emo Field Crops huron Field Crops

New liskeard Beef Field Crops Horticulture Crops

Ponsonby General Animal Facility Sheep ridgetown Field Crops simcoe Horticulture Crops

Vineland Horticulture Crops

Winchester Field Crops

Woodstock Field Crops

*Information derived from uofguelph.ca

In addition to these research centres, Ontario has several research program facilities. Niagara College hosts the Canadian Food & Wine Institute (CFWI) Innovation Centre, where they have several services available to support innovation within the industry and the commercialization of new products and processes.1 As stated in Niagara College’s CWFI mission statement, the Innovation

Centre pairs industry partners with faculty, recent graduates, and students with the right expertise and equipment to meet any needs.

Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, is home to the Energy & Power Innovation Centre (EPIC). According to the college, Mohawk’s EPIC provides expertise and facilities to support Canadian companies with their operational challenges. 2 Though they provide multiple resources, their focus is on energy and resource management. Within EPIC is the Energy & Power Technology Access Centre (TAC), which is a national resource for the Canadian manufacturing and agri-food sector. TAC partners with companies looking to reduce operating costs through the implementation of different energy technologies.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the University of Guelph (U of G) partnered together to create the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (shortened to The Alliance). The Alliance allows OMAFRA and U of G to work together to advance research and innovation that both contributes to the success and competitiveness of the province’s agri-food sector and promotes rural economic development.3 According to the Ontario government website, the collaboration workers to usher in the next generation of agri-food innovations by supporting people, places, and programs.

The Research Program that came from The Alliance is one of the main components of the whole thing. This provides funds for research projects under two different tier levels (which determines the types of research supports provided):

Tier I “advances OMAFRA evidence-informed priorities that support strong rural communities, keep [the] food safe, and develop a prosperous, environmentally sustainable agri-food sector in Ontario”; and Tier II to V “provides subsidized access to OMAFRA-supported technicians and research centres.”4 (For more in-depth information about the tier levels, the Ontario government website has it on their website.)

Through The Alliance, several different research centres have been created that are operated and managed by U of G. Listed below are short summaries for each research centre.

• The Arrell Food Institute researches new ways to meet the needs of the growing human population.5 The Arrell Family Foundation donated $20 million toward this project with the University of Guelph.

• The Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) (soon to be the Biodiversity Institute for Conservation Synthesis) acts as “a central node to research that aims to understand the processes shaping biodiversity and to develop effective management tools to conserve and protect biodiversity.”6 Both Canadian and international investors have put forward a $90 million fund toward BIO, allowing the centre to secure their leadership within the field of DNA-based species identifications.

• The Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare conducts exactly what their title suggests. This group is the largest in North America to focus on animal behaviour and welfare. Their goal is to better the knowledge on improving animal welfare.7

• The Canadian Research Institute in Food Safety (CRIFS) is a research facility that is fully equipped with up-to-date technology and has an annual budget of $1.7 million. 8 CRIFS assists companies with scientific and technical support for processes such as troubleshooting food safety and quality issues and conducting food safety risk assessments.9

• The Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses works with U of G to coordinate existing public health research. The group plans to deliver on the food safety agenda of Food from Thought.10

• The Guelph Food Innovation Centre (GFIC) Pilot Plants and Meat Processing is a $42 million facility that is composed of three smaller-scale food manufacturing plants. Each smaller plant is equipped with cold storage capacity and all the requirements for a federally approved food plant.11 www.uoguelph.ca

GFIC works with startup agriculture companies to give them the help they need to get their products into production.12

• Lastly, but certainly not least, the Ontario Dairy Research Centre, located in Elora, Ontario, is a cutting-edge $25 million facility. The centre works to increase productivity in dairy farming while reducing inputs and enhancing animal health and wellness. This facility comes from a partnership between The Alliance, the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario, and the Ontario dairy industry.13

1 https://foodandbeverageontario.ca/associate_category/research/

2 https://foodandbeverageontario.ca/associate_category/research/

3 https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-agri-food-innovation-alliance

4 https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-agri-food-innovation-alliance

5 https://arrellfoodinstitute.ca/

6 https://biodiversity.uoguelph.ca/

7 https://www.uoguelph.ca/ccsaw/

8 https://foodfromthought.ca/resources/

9 https://www.uoguelph.ca/foodscience/ canadian-research-institute-food-safety-crifs

10 https://foodfromthought.ca/resources/

11 https://foodfromthought.ca/resources/

12 https://www.uoguelph.ca/foodscience/ about-guelph-food-innovation-centre-gfic

13 https://foodfromthought.ca/resources/