Invest In Alberta's Agri-Food Sector

The Investment Attraction Section at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is the focal point for investment and capital attraction, retention and expansion in Alberta’s agri-food processing industry. We offer investors site location assistance (introducing the firm to regional, municipal contacts with potential buildings or greenfield locations to show the company), as well as advice and contacts who can address questions about establishing a business in Alberta, taxes, employment, regulations, and business matchmaking services.

Priority sub-sectors for investment and capital attraction:

• Grain and oil seed processing (canola crushing, wheat milling, barley and malt processing)
• Pulse processing
• Vegetable processing
• Specialty beef processing (halal, etc.)
• Functional foods and natural health products

• Alberta offers investors a business-friendly regulatory climate and one of the most competitive business tax regimes in Canada. Alberta has no provincial sales tax, provincial capital taxes, or payroll taxes. Alberta’s combined federal/provincial corporate tax rate is 27 per cent, an average of 12 percentage points lower than most states of the United States (US).

• With the Canadian-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), firms operating in Canada have preferred market access to 42 foreign countries.
• Canada’s preferred market access represents approximately 1.2 billion consumers and nearly US$41.2 trillion or 54.8%, of global GDP.
• Canada’s market access is supported by a reliable and efficient transportation system, providing for effective Canadian business participation in global supply chains.
• Alberta is well connected by road, air, rail, and pipeline infrastructure, and offers excellent access to and from Pacific ports, and acts as a distribution hub in Western Canada.

• Alberta offers a great supply of high-quality primary products including biomass and is the third largest exporter of agri-food products in Canada. In 2016, Alberta’s agri-food exports reached $10 billion. Major exports included canola seed, wheat, beef, live cattle, crude canola oil and pork.
• In 2016, Alberta produced 9.9 million tonnes of wheat (31.2 percent of Canadian total), 4.4 million tonnes of barley (50.1 percent of Canadian total), 5.8 million tonnes of canola (31.4 percent of Canadian total), and 624,600 tonnes of oats (19.8 percent of Canadian total).
• In 2016, Alberta’s food and beverage processing industry was the largest manufacturing employer in the province, accounting for $14.6 billion in manufacturing sales, employing 22,400 persons (50,800 in primary agriculture) and exporting $5.0 billion of processed products to markets worldwide. Alberta’s food processors are active in a range of areas from meat products, grain and oilseed milling, snack foods, functional foods and natural health products, and beverages.

• Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AF) has a 6,000 square metres Food Processing Development Centre (FPDC) in Leduc which includes the Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator, a food product commercialization facility that is unique in Canada. FPDC is undergoing a $10 M expansion that will add 2,300 square metres.
• Alberta has over 22 research and innovation facilities which specialize in such areas as crops and cereals, poultry and swine research, agronomy, biomaterials and food safety.
• Canada and Alberta have very generous tax incentives to conduct research and development.