Polytech centre lands major grant for research

By Lethbridge Herald on August 16, 2025.

Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CARIE) has received approval for its second Technology Access Centre (TAC) grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada.

The five-year, $1.75 million grant will grow and diversify the Polytechnic’s Integrated Agriculture Technology Centre (IATC), serving as a public-facing applied research, consultation and problem-solving resource for agricultural producers in southern Alberta and beyond.

“This funding will advance genomics-driven agricultural innovation, accelerate health sector innovation and accessibility, and strengthen critical minerals research for sustainable mining, among many other areas,” says NSERC president Professor Alejandro Adem. 

“By supporting research that fuels technological progress and economic growth, this investment ensures impactful collaboration between partners, benefiting industries, communities, and Canadians alike,” says Adem.

Established in 2020, the IATC provides expert technical support, training, and applied research services to Alberta’s controlled environment agriculture sector. Clients range from small- to medium-sized producers, food processors, ag-tech companies, communities and nonprofits.

Controlled environment agriculture means greenhouses, and commercial greenhouse operations are more expensive than dry land agriculture. The IATC assists small- and medium-sized industrial producers in exploring ways to optimize crop production while balancing input costs. An example of this is greenhouse lighting.

The IATC helps commercial greenhouses as well as ‘warehouse’ growing, operating with completely artificial lighting and contained growing systems (i.e.: “shipping container farming”) which are small-scale localized food production. An example would be in-store herb production.

“Renewal of our Technology Access Centre grant is a testament of our worth to industry partners across Canada,” says Dr. Andrew Dunlop, associate vice-president – research. “We thank our federal partners for this funding as we look to continue using applied research to solve industry problems, particularly around controlled environment agriculture.”

TACs are federally designated, fee-for-service applied research hubs found across Canada. Lethbridge Polytechnic’s IATC is part of a network of over 60 centres nationwide, each serving a specific geographic area with a focus on strengthening a significant industry to that region.

“Lethbridge is the hub of Canada’s Premier Food Corridor, and the Polytechnic’s presence as a nationally recognized and funded research institute brings immense value to Alberta’s growing controlled-environment agriculture producers,” says Alexis Buzzee, IATC business manager, CARIE.