Canada's Protein Industries Cluster

The Protein Industries Cluster, Protein Industries Canada, is increasing the value of key Canadian crops — such as canola, wheat and pulses — and serving growing markets in North America, Asia and Europe for plant-based meat alternatives and new food products. The Protein Industries Cluster brings partners together that span across the value chain, from seed genetics, to farmers, to ingredient and food processors through to consumers in Canada and around the world – all while embracing new technology to improve the sustainability and traceability of our food from field to fork. In support of The Road to $25 billion, a sector-wide strategy that aims to achieve $25 billion in annual sales from plant-based food and ingredients by 2035, the Cluster is helping Canada get closer to reach this goal, leading to more jobs for Canadians, and more food options and innovations.

Total funding: up to $323M

Technology focus: Agri-food enabling technologies, including genomics, processing, on-farm sustainability, and information technology (IT), economic reconciliation and commercialization.

Ecosystem benefits: The Protein Industries Cluster plays a significant role in supporting the development of a healthy and self-sustaining innovation ecosystem. They are nurturing and developing a membership network that span the country, networking and capacity building activities as well as unique collaborative initiatives. For example:

  • Recognizing that chronic labour shortages in the agrifood sector has become a barrier to growth, the Protein Industries Cluster is offering reskilling programs to engage Indigenous and underrepresented groups into Canada's agrifood sector and training programs in collaboration with post-secondary institutions across Canada.
  • The Protein Industries Cluster is also working to help companies navigate Canada's regulatory landscape. Through their Centre for Regulatory Research and Innovation, they help their members and other industry players navigate regulatory issues, create a repository of regulatory knowledge and bridge the conversation with regulators to support the commercialization and competitiveness of innovative products and processes.
 

Program Streams:

Technology projects will have increased emphasis on ingredient processing, as well as commercialization at every point in the value chain. The Cluster's four areas of focus for technology projects are as follows:

  • Genetics – Focuses on development of germplasm that aims to improve processing efficiency, quality, sensory characteristics, and the development of novel ingredients.
  • Crops – Uses smart and sustainable production methods to increase farm productivity and improve information flow along the value chain.
  • Ingredients – Advances the development, scaling, and optimization of plant-based ingredients.
  • Products – Focuses on the conversion of Canadian-made ingredients and co-products into consumption-ready goods.

Canada's cluster projects

Read the Protein Industries Cluster Success Stories

Read the Protein Industries 2022-2023 annual report

Contact information

Website: Protein Industries Canada

Email: info@proteinsupercluster.ca