The latest round of PrairiesCan announcements include $11.2 million of repayable and non-repayable investments.
The goal is to increase production and assist companies deal with U.S. tariffs. This is being done by investing in new equipment and automation, expanding production, and pursuing new markets.
Northern Nutrients, located on the southeast outskirts of Saskatoon, is tripling its production with a new facility. The expansion is currently under construction and is expected to be finished in approximately three months.
CJWW Agriculture Director Neil Billinger interviewed Northern Nutrients Chief Executive Officer Ross Guenther about the expansion and current fertilizer market conditions
This is the background information on all eight companies and organizations receiving PrairiesCan funding.
Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) program – $7,645,224
The BSP program supports high-growth businesses that are seeking to improve productivity, scale-up, and commercialize technology. It offers interest-free, repayable funding to incorporated businesses that have been in operation for a minimum of two years.
PrairiesCan announced investments for four repayable projects under BSP:
- Northern Nutrients Ltd. is receiving $3,100,000 to expand their specialized sulphur fertilizer production by adding a second manufacturing facility in Saskatoon.
- Solo Italia Fine Pasta Inc. and South West Terminal Ltd. are receiving $1,150,000 to purchase and install commercial grade premium pasta production equipment, including food safety and quality control equipment, automated packaging equipment and production control systems in Swift Current.
- M.P.S. Welding Inc. is receiving $2,607,724 to expand manufacturing capacity and diversify into new downhole sand control products for the Western Canadian heavy oil and oil sands sector at its manufacturing facility in Pierceland.
- Titan Clean Energy Projects Corporation is receiving $787,500 to expand production capacity at their biomass processing facility in Craik, Saskatchewan. The funds are being used to add additional modular manufacturing lines to increase output and meet the growing demand for activated carbon used to purify water and air and for sustainable agriculture.
Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) – $3,578,100
The Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) is part of the Government of Canada’s strategy to defend Canadian jobs, industries, and supply chains from the impacts of tariffs. Delivered by Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) in the Prairie provinces, RTRI strengthens the competitiveness of tariff impacted small- and medium-sized businesses by helping them to boost productivity, catalyze growth, and diversify markets.
PrairiesCan announced four non-repayable investments under RTRI:
- South West Terminal Ltd. and Solo Italia Fine Pasta Inc. are receiving $966,850 to support facility retrofits to accommodate commercial pasta-making equipment and cold-storage capabilities.
- Three Farmers Foods Inc. is receiving $1,000,000 to modernize and expand blending and packaging capacity, establish an allergen-friendly production zone in its Saskatoon facility, and implement national marketing and export market development initiatives to address growing demand for premium and specialized products.
- Western Canadian Short Line Railway Association Inc. is receiving $611,400 to build Prairie Connect, a publicly accessible, map-based, AI guided digital platform to publicly display trade corridors across the Prairies in context alongside communities, regional resources and outputs, development sites and ports.
- Honey Bee Manufacturing is receiving $999,850 to implement new IT infrastructure in Frontier and expand their market
(Above photo from left to right: Rachel Mackenzie, Director of Communications and Government Relations, Western Canadian Short Line Railway Association, Ross Guenther, CEO, Northern Nutrients, Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State for Rural Development)
