Strengthening the Ecosystem: Building Capacity for a $25 Billion Future
In a rapidly evolving global landscape, leading through change to build a $25 billion industry requires a strong, supportive and collaborative ecosystem. Protein Industries Canada’s Capacity Building program supports projects that remove barriers and increase the competitiveness of Canada’s plant-based ingredient manufacturing, food processing and bioproducts ecosystem. Working across eight priority areas, Capacity Building projects focus on the growth and success of the entire ecosystem and complement investments into innovative R&D. The eight priority areas include:
- Market and Ecosystem Insights: Help project partners and the wider Canadian plant-based ecosystem identify marketing opportunities, adapt to customer needs, expand market reach, and foster innovation.
- Innovation Infrastructure: Across the sector, there is a need for increased access to research and product-scaling infrastructure.
- Access to Talent, Labour and Skills: We estimate the sector needs an additional 17,000 people to achieve the goals set out in The Road to $25 Billion. This demonstrates both a need and a great opportunity.
- Supportive Regulatory Framework: There is an opportunity to modernize Canada’s regulatory system to support continued innovation of plant-based foods, specifically for it to be more responsive and timely and to offer harmonization of regulations with other jurisdictions.
- An Inclusive Sector that Brings Benefit to Every Canadian: Protein Industries Canada is committed to the inclusion of Indigenous People and new Canadians into the opportunity presented by the growth of the plant-based sector, contributing to Economic Reconciliation and the social well-being of all Canadians.
- Access to Capital: We estimate that an additional $4 to 6 billion will need to be invested into the sector to help Canadian companies scale up their processing and manufacturing operations.
- Sustainability: Canada is known for its sustainable crop production. We need to continue to identify the right metrics and reporting to advance our sustainability claims throughout the value chain.
- Global Presence: International partners are an important part of reaching the goals of The Road to $25 Billion. Protein Industries Canada will work with our federal and provincial partners to advance Canada as the preferred place to do business with and invest, while creating opportunities for our industry partners to make new connections.
During the 2024-25 fiscal year, Protein Industries Canada approved one project. As of March 31, 2025, the one approved project represents a total project value of $753,289. Protein Industries Canada issued one call for Capacity Building projects within the priority area of “Access to Talent, Labour and Skills” to address labour needs as Canada approaches its $25 billion potential in ingredient manufacturing, food processing and bioproducts sector. More projects are expected to be approved throughout 2025-26.
Plant Forward 2024: the second edition of the Canada-led international conference on plant-based food
In April 2024, Protein Industries Canada hosted Plant Forward 2024, marking the second edition of the premier Canada-led international conference on plant-based food and ingredients. Held in Toronto, the event brought together 197 delegates from seven countries, including industry leaders, investors, researchers and policymakers. Across three days, 43 speakers explored key themes of consumer trends, innovation, R&D, capital, international and sustainability.
Building on the success of the inaugural 2022 event, the 2024 edition showcased Canada’s strengths in sustainable agriculture, world-class research and a fully integrated value chain—reinforcing its unique position as a hub for plant-based innovation.
By connecting Canadian innovators with international partners, Plant Forward 2024 played a vital role in advancing Canada’s reputation as a leader in the global plant-based market, while showcasing the need for greater investment in Canada’s rapidly growing agri-food sector.
Building a more competitive Canada through continued agrifood leadership training
To further support the growth and global competitiveness of Canada’s ingredient manufacturing, food processing and bioproducts sector, Protein Industries Canada has renewed and expanded its partnership with Ivey Business School for a second phase of the Accelerate Leadership Program. Approved in 2024-25, this next phase will build on the strong foundation established in the program’s first offering, with new course modules and an improved delivery model that continue to develop the leadership, communication and business skills essential for scaling innovative Canadian companies.
The first cohort had 19 participants complete the new and improved Accelerate Leadership program.
Protein Industries Canada and Ivey have worked together to develop new modules related to topics such as cybersecurity, interpersonal conflict and economic reconciliation. The program’s in-person modules have been relocated to Calgary, improving accessibility for the sector’s largely Western Canadian audience, while continuing to offer a hybrid model with the majority of the program still being delivered online. Travel assistance is also available for a limited number of attendees, particularly Indigenous employees, newcomers to Canada and other underrepresented groups, helping make the program more accessible to interested companies.
By developing executive training opportunities in collaboration with one of Canada’s leading business schools, Protein Industries Canada is helping to foster a new generation of leaders equipped to help Canada’s SMEs become competitive in the global market, enabling the sector to reach its $25 billion potential.
99%
92%
19
Explore all our Capacity Building projects
Clearing the path for plant-based choices
A supportive regulatory framework is one of the most important elements in helping Canada’s ingredient manufacturing, food processing and bioproducts sector grow and thrive. Canada’s food regulations are highly regarded as some of the safest in the world, helping keep consumers healthy and informed through policies built on science. That doesn’t mean, however, that there isn’t room for improvement.
The Centre for Regulatory Research and Innovation (CRRI) was announced by Protein Industries Canada in December 2023, to build on the success of the Regulatory Centre of Excellence. The CRRI is focused on helping Canada’s plant-protein sector navigate existing food regulations while working toward regulatory modernization, particularly in the areas of labelling, nomenclature and protein validation. Currently, there are 13 projects approved under the CRRI’s mandate, various academic publications, and domestic and international engagement with government, industry, and academia. With its focus on science-driven data, this work has garnered the support and partnership of industry and government alike.
“The feedback has been extremely positive; when we talk about what the CRRI’s mandate is, how we’re approaching, creating and enabling the regulatory policy and environment for Canadian innovation domestically and abroad,” said Protein Industries Canada’s Director of the CRRI Chris Marinangeli. “The work that we’re doing is getting attention. We’re being brought into discussions beyond the scope of our direct work. We’re being brought into the work of others as an organization, as a Centre, that can provide thought that is important to discussions and our ecosystem, but maybe right now aren’t a direct priority.”
This is, in large part, because of the CRRI’s focus on research that helps provide the data regulators and governments need in order to review and, hopefully, justify regulatory changes. By maintaining this focus on robust data, the CRRI and its industry partners are ensuring Canadian regulations continue to prioritize food safety while supporting innovation. While this has meant facing challenges related to organization and unknown outcomes, the benefits of overcoming such challenges make the work more than worthwhile.
In particular, Marinangeli said, the CRRI’s work could help reduce regulatory bottlenecks currently faced by the sector, bring Canadian context to global nutrition science, and increase opportunities related to and the speed of innovation in the ingredient manufacturing, food processing and bioproducts space. In essence, it can help get more food options onto Canadian plates sooner.
“The early work that we’ve completed and that we’re building upon actually demonstrates some positive outcomes related to regulatory modernization,” Marinangeli said. “It demonstrates that asking the right question and pursuing the right research can drive the datasets that perhaps will lead to regulatory modernization. From what I’ve seen from preliminary data, I’m very excited about what is coming and what the potential is.”
As the CRRI continues its regulatory modernization work, it’s expected the benefits to Canadians and Canada’s plant protein industry will only increase, helping strengthen Canada’s food supply chain while reaching the sector’s $25 billion potential.
23
Capacity Building projects committed to date
25
regulations addressed by Protein Industries Canada activities to date
