EDL, beet growers get boost from federal funding

By Lethbridge Herald on March 7, 2025.

A harvester loads up a truck with sugar beets during an earlier season on the Lievaart farm north of Chin. The Alberta Sugar Beet Growers will be getting a financial boost from the federal government. Herald file photo by Ian Martens

Sam Leishman – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Two local not-for-profit organizations are getting a financial boost from the federal government for their work to support agriculture business right across Alberta.

Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL) and the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers (ASBG) are sharing part of a $1.8-million total investment. Terry Duguid, Minister for Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairieCan), announced the funding earlier this week, saying that “Alberta’s value-added agriculture and agri-food sector is a key economic engine, fuelling growth and prosperity in communities large and small.”

The investment corresponds with the Government of Canada’s Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, which aims to strengthen local priorities and regional collaboration with the end goal of creating a sustainable net-zero economy here in the west.

More than $400,000 will be going to EDL to accelerate the work it’s been doing for a number of years on the Canada’s Western Gateway initiative. The project is focused on developing partnerships between communities along Highway 4 to build a powerful trade corridor for moving local products by road, rail and air.

“The work is really figuring out how to leverage all of those assets and improve supply chain infrastructure in our region to improve access to markets,” says Trevor Lewington, EDL Chief Executive Officer. “What other warehousing, distribution, transportation or logistics companies can we bring to this region to better support our manufacturers and our farmers to get product out?”

With matching funds from the City of Lethbridge and other municipal partners, the total budget for Canada’s Western Gateway now exceeds $800,000.

Lewington says EDL will be hiring two new staff members within the next three years to promote the Lethbridge area and attract more business investment, and to engage with industry directly to understand what supports are missing.

Meanwhile, the ASBG will be using its $223,000 to scale up storage solutions for Alberta-grown sugar beets and build upon the organization’s existing body of research. With previous PrairiesCan funding, ASBG now has more than $466,000 to work with.

Jennifer Crowson, ASBG Executive Director, says this funding creates more stability for the sugar beet industry and it will help unlock plenty of new possibilities.

“Any dollars invested in agriculture is a big part of sustainability for all of us,” Crowson told the Herald. “I think it’s essential that agriculture gets funding like this at times when there’s special projects that we can work on to find ways to expand our industry, while feeding the world at the same time.”

The remainder of the $1.8-million will be going to New Harvest Canada in Edmonton to advance technology that produces food from small cells, as well as the Mackenzie Applied Research Association in Fort Vermilion to research climate resilient farming practices and provide the agriculture industry with workshops and events to learn about emerging technology.

The federal government predicts that this funding will benefit about 350 small- and medium-sized businesses and support around 50 jobs in Alberta’s agriculture and agri-food sector.