Canada supports innovative solutions addressing labour challenges in agri-food

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada grants up to $1 million each for five projects that are addressing challenges such as work productivity, labour shortages, and operational efficiency in the industry. The funding was made under Phase 2 of the Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) program – Challenge Stream.

The five projects will target the Canadian meat processing industry and the Canadian controlled environment agriculture industry with the goal of advancing automation and robotic technologies. Under the Canadian Meat Processing Technology Development Challenge, projects include:

• Exonetik, which is developing a low-cost, collaborative robot to help automate tasks; and
• E.O.I Technologies for developing sensors to collect data on fast moving conveyor systems.

Under the Enhancing Automation in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Farming Challenge, projects include:

• Exonetik for developing a robotic arm to work alongside humans to harvest fruits and vegetables;
• Mycionics that is developing a robotic mushroom harvester, packer and harvester lift; and
• Kinova for developing a robotic arm to pick, harvest and de-leaf cucumbers and strawberries.

“These cutting-edge solutions will help the sector overcome some of the challenges it faces, leading to a more prosperous and competitive future for Canadian agriculture. Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you for your great work,” said Lawrence MacAulay, agriculture and agri-food minister.