There’s a growing urgency for made-in-Canada solutions to almost everything these days.
And when it comes to food, that urgency is existential. Green thumbs and greenhouses wielding the latest tools, techniques and technologies from an advanced agri-tech sector are needed so all Canadians can have food security and resilience.
Canadian farmers, technology developers, and policy researchers are coming together in pursuit of policies and procedures that support that goal. More national agricultural capabilities mean less reliance on other food sources, sources which may or may not be open, accessible, or friendly one day to the next. Businesses, academic institutions and various levels of government are, well, at the table.
“Now more than ever we need smart food policies that strengthen food security, drive economic growth, and support the resilience of Canadian agriculture,” said Marcus Janzen, president of Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada (FVGC).
His call came when the organization, which represents food growers across the country who produce more than 120 different crops on over 14,000 farms, with a farm gate value of $7.4 billion in 2023, announced an important partnership with the University of Windsor to develop made-in-Canada strategies, technologies, and policies that will create and sustain a productive and competitive greenhouse industry.
“This collaboration with the University highlights the innovation that characterizes Canada’s fruit and vegetable growers,” Janzen added.
The Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada and the University of Windsor signed a Memorandum of Understanding this year to tackle key challenges in the greenhouse sector—focusing on energy resilience, sustainability, and economic growth. A key initiative of the effort is the Canadian Greenhouse Excellence Network (CGEN), a national strategy to develop evidence-based policies that balance economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
Over the past decade, Ontario’s greenhouse sector has grown steadily (five or six per cent per year); it is important that it do so for another ten years. Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers photo
The University of Windsor’s Agriculture UWindsor (AgUWin) initiative will incorporate technologies, scientific advancements, and educational programming to benefit the greenhouse and broader agricultural sectors.
A timely initiative, no doubt, as the entire Canadian economy faces serious challenges.
Yes, talk of tariffs these days has brought attention to Canada’s long-standing reliance on others for not just its food stuffs. But we import a lot of fruits and vegetables, a lot of processed foods and beverages, from the U.S.
Nearly half of Canada’s total (by value) fruit, nut and vegetable supply are imports. Nearly 90 per cent of leafy greens are imported.
Sure, some of that’s because of Canada’s growing season, or apparent lack thereof. But researchers say a significant percentage of the crops that make up our food deficit could be produced and stored here if it were a priority of domestic agricultural policy.
Between new field production techniques and new indoor greenhouse technologies, Canada could expand its domestic production significantly, says R.J. MacRae, a researcher at York University and one of of the contributors to a report called Food Policy for Canada: joined up food policy to create a just, health promoting and sustainable food.
And the agri-tech developments at UWindsor are seen as a way to get our domestic food production growing even faster.
Located in Essex County in southcentral Ontario, the University is well-positioned to provide the infrastructure, expertise, and experience to push agri-tech and greenhouse innovation forward.
The region is home to the largest greenhouse agricultural acreage in North America (second globally only to the Netherlands): the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) group represents more than 170 greenhouse farmers growing over 4,100 acres of fresh produce, including peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Over the past decade, Ontario’s greenhouse sector has grown steadily (five or six per cent per year) and is expected to do so for another ten years. (In 2023, tomatoes accounted for 35 per cent of the total greenhouse vegetable sales, followed by cucumbers and peppers, roughly 32 and 26 per cent, respectively.)
Red chard grows under LED lights at a GoodLeaf indoor farm, where AI-enabled systems and other innovative agri-tech is deployed to grow greens year-round. GoodLeaf’s flagship farm is in Guelph, and the company has vertical farm facilities in Calgary, Montreal, and Truro, N.S.
To be as fruitful as possible, advanced greenhouses these days are highly computerized, climate-controlled environments that can provide optimal, sustainable growing conditions pretty much all year long.
Many indoor growers use energy-efficient natural gas boiler systems for an on-demand, on-farm supply of energy for the operation. Development of on-farm energy assets, such as co-generation systems (reliable on-farm supply of heat, carbon dioxide to the plants, and electricity for crop lighting), are used to increase energy and eco-efficiencies. New hydroponic systems mean that up to ten times less water is required for the same crop grown in a field. Closed-loop re-circulation systems can “reduce, reuse, and recycle” both water and fertilizers.
Of course, today’s greenhouse growers are actually miners: data miners, that is, with new smart tools for collecting and understanding the indoor growing environment. The measurement and analysis of greenhouse environments includes parameters for water, air, soil, growing medium, lighting, nutrients, biohazards and more, often gathered using digital sensors and robotic agents and analyzed by AI programs.
Richard Lee, Vice Chair of FVGC’s Greenhouse Vegetable Working Group, emphasized the industry’s significance: “Greenhouse vegetable growers contribute $4.8 billion annually to Canada’s economy, supporting year-round jobs and the supply of fresh, nutritious produce for all Canadians,” he said.
The suitability of 5G wireless technology use in the commercial greenhouse industry was explored as part of another project at the University of Windsor, this one bringing in partners like TELUS and the Horticultural Technology Centre and Academy (known as HORTECA), a commercial research centre for agri-tech and the greenhouse industry. “In agriculture, the greenhouse industry is like New York,” smiled Saber Miresmailli, a co-founder of HORTECA and founder/CEO of the agricultural technology firm Ecoation, when the project was announced. “If you can make it work there, you can make it anywhere.”
The project looked at the economics, benefits and challenges of using sensor-laden wireless networks in greenhouse environments, whether to improve crop density, increase labour efficiency, control pests or prevent disease outbreaks. “If it works in the sauna of a greenhouse with the density of plants, it most certainly transfers to work outside and scaling up,” Miresmailli added. The project was supported through the Greenhouse Technology Network; results are to be published in peer-reviewed journals and shared throughout the industry.
The growth of industry partnerships and not-for-profit organizations in support of the agri-tech and greenhouse sectors in Canada is good to see. Vineland Research and Innovation Centre photo.
The growth of special initiatives, industry partnerships and not-for-profit organizations in support of the agri-tech and greenhouse sectors in Canada is good to see. The University’s Agriculture UWindsor (AgUWin) project will explore new technologies and offer new educational programming to support the sector. The Greenhouse Technology Network, and the Canadian Greenhouse Excellence Network (CGEN), will work with industry to push the sustainable agriculture and agri-food sectors forward. The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre is one example of a Canadian not-for-profit organization dedicated to horticulture science and innovation.
UWindsor, Brock and Guelph Universities, Niagara College and many more are among the academic research institutions supporting the needs of greenhouse and related technology businesses across the country; they are typical of other such provincial and national smart farm initiatives.
As just one example, Canada Food Flows is an interactive website developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia. Using data gathered about our food production, imports and exports, they’ve mapped
The Canadian Greenhouse Technology Network supports the research and development needs of the greenhouse industry through applied research projects. University of Guelph photo
the flow of popular fruits and vegetables into and across Canada, showing just how interconnected and inter-reliant our food systems are, be they inter-provincial or international.
As has been discussed and reported on here before, agri-tech is key to having sustainable food systems in Canada. Farmers, indoors or out, are harvesting food and cultivating data as AI and advanced technology continue to change the way they work – where, and when.
Later this fall, Canada’s growers, suppliers, and research partners will convene in Niagara Falls for the 2025 Canadian Greenhouse Conference, where the latest made-in-Canada agri-tech solutions will be discussed by commercial greenhouse flower, vegetable, cannabis, berry, and nursery growers, among other interested parties.
The conference is called “Harvesting Resilience” and the timing couldn’t be better.
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