• Français
Future Skills Center logo
Français
Partners
University of the Fraser Valley

Participants People from rural, remote, and northern communities; Racialized Peoples

Locations
British Columbia

Additional Partners

New Harvest

Topics
Sectors
Tech and Automation
Related Tags
Digital Divide disruptive technologies future skills shock-proofing
Home| Innovation Projects|Project

The future of food through agricultural technology

This ground-breaking research explores the potential of cellular agriculture – food created in a lab – to create a year-round supply of nutritious food and develop jobs in an exciting new field.

COVID-19 has revealed multiple vulnerabilities in food systems and supply chains. An emerging set of technologies known as cellular agriculture could enable local, reliable production of dairy and meat alternatives with a low environmental footprint. Cellular agriculture enables people to produce food products using cell cultures and tissue-engineering or fermentation-based techniques.

Image of Fraser Valley Farmland.

Led by the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley in BC, this initiative could improve food security by providing a constant supply of nutritious food while also increasing job skills and employment. However, technology alone cannot comprise a food systems solution, and the creation of an effective, resilient food system strategy requires the technology to be viewed through a comprehensive social, cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability lens.

Future Skills Centre is investing $234,859 in this 2-year project. Using the region of BC’s Fraser Valley for a case study, this research explores the potential of cellular agriculture to enhance food security, economic development, and sustainability in Canada. The research uses a community-based approach to engage local government, stakeholders, and community members and to collaboratively explore opportunities and challenges around the development of a local cellular agriculture industry. The results of the project will provide a plan and roadmap for developing such an industry in the Fraser Valley, and the findings will provide details on initiating a local pilot project.

Evaluation Strategy

This project is evaluated using tools and approaches aligned with its goals, context, and stage of development. The evaluation focuses on generating the right evidence at the right moment to move the intervention forward. Read more about our evaluation strategy.

Featured Projects

A man interacts with artificial intelligence to optimize and automate computing, security, backup, cloud and data transfer processes.
Project

HireNext: Improving hiring and HR practices with AI

  • October 2023
  • CivicAction
Many Canadian employers across sectors are becoming more conscious of the benefits of a diverse workforce, but often don’t have the knowledge or staff resources to attract and recruit diverse talent into entry-level jobs. Employers often cite an inability to find applicants.
2 Related Reports
Image of two people working on charts and graphs in front of laptops
State of Skills

Working Collaboratively to Close Skills-Related LMI Gaps

  • April 2025
Labour market information (LMI) is a key pillar of a well-functioning workforce development system, yet considerable gaps remain in the generation, dissemination and uptake of skills-related LMI in Canada.
1 Related Reports
a snowy field with northern lights.
Research

Getting Beyond Non-Standard Employment: Sustainable livelihoods for Indigenous communities in Northern Canada

  • August 2019
  • The Conference Board of Canada
This research project seeks to understand why Indigenous workers in Canada’s North tend to be concentrated in part-year and part-time work, and which career pathways and supports can help them achieve more sustainable livelihoods.
View more