During Innovate Canada, guests will have the opportunity to explore the agribusiness ecosystem in Canada through hands-on tours at several innovative companies throughout the city. Please see below for descriptions of the tours.
We will be updating this section as tour descriptions become finalized.
Innotech Alberta Vegreville Tour
Applications for AI seem limitless. Innotech has developed an innovative optical sensor program to help operators rapidly score plant health and fruit quality. Innotech also develops new varieties of prairie crops and are actively working on testing new cold tolerant varieties of major crops to bring them to the region. To do this, they utilize climate controlled grow chambers and operate large scale trials in house. Clients will also get to experience Innotech's one-of-a-kind decortication plant. This facility can process industrial hemp or flax straw into bast fibre and hurd at a rapid rate of 1 tonne per hour. The un-retted straw can be cleaned to greater than 90% purity. They can adjust hurd size, fibre cleanliness, and fibre length to meet client specifications.
Leduc Food Product Development Center
Showcasing 65,000 sqft of pilot food processing equipment, the center is a renown innovation hub for the region, supporting entrepreneurs and scaling startups as they mature and grow their market. CFIA inspected, the center ships goods all over North America and beyond. Will be able to take part in blind taste testing. Will know in advance if any companies will be at the facility during the tour so guests can have an authentic experience of seeing the machines in action.
During registration, you will have the opportunity to select from two experiences. These opportunities are optional and you can indicate your interest during the registration process. If you are interested in these tours, please book your flights accordingly.
pre-program optional tour
University of Alberta, Greenhouse Tour
Disease Centre
Talking Rock Tours
A curated tour of Edmonton’s world famous river valley. Learn about the unique geological features exposed in the river valley and walk in the footsteps of the indigenous peoples who continue to visit this sacred place on Turtle Island for the last 10,000 years. Participate in a sharing circle with some indigenous music and storytelling.
post-program optional tour
Future Fields Tour
Arguably Canada’s most innovative food technology company, Future Fields is building a platform based on the humble fruit fly. Using synthetic biology, the EntoEngine is capable of producing novel proteins at a complexity and scale not possible in precision fermentation processes. Fruit Fly production and processing.
