McCain Foundation donates $100K to Prairie Innovation Centre

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This article was published 01/02/2024 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Assiniboine Community College’s Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture is $100,000 closer to becoming a reality after the college received a donation in that amount from the McCain Foundation yesterday.

The foundation has been a very important partner in the agricultural sector in Manitoba and a dedicated supporter of the college, Assiniboine Community College (ACC) president Mark Frison told the Sun after the donation announcement was made on Wednesday morning.

“We’re thrilled that they have seen fit to donate to the Prairie Innovation Centre. They’ve been a previous donor to us as well through our Sustainable Greenhouse project back in 2012-13,” he said.

Ensuring industry partners like the McCain Foundation are involved in the future of the Prairie Innovation Centre is a priority at Assiniboine, Frison added.

“We want to be helping to serve their needs and getting them engaged, and so them coming to the table with resources, I think, shows the relevance of what we’re doing.”

A press release sent out Wednesday by ACC said the agriculture and food industries are the largest areas of applied research at the college, and the Prairie Innovation Centre will enhance Assiniboine’s reputation even further by creating an integrated learning environment that features a mix of collaborative learning spaces, applied research labs, multipurpose spaces and other amenities.

Supporting initiatives that highlight the importance of current global environmental challenges such as food security is important to the McCain Foundation, foundation chair Linda McCain said in the press release.

“By investing in education and supporting agriculture programming at Assiniboine, the foundation hopes to contribute to a strong, sustainable future for agriculture in Manitoba,” she said.

The Prairie Innovation Centre’s location will repurpose the Parkland building on the college’s North Hill campus and will also feature grow plots, an orchard and weed identification garden and Sustainable Greenhouse program to provide interdisciplinary training, applied research and practical education. It will provide students who will go on to be part of the agricultural industry’s workforce with real-world, professional experiences through engagement with industry partners.

In turn, that will boost Manitoba’s economy. Tim Hore, dean of the Russ Edwards School of Agriculture and Environment at ACC, says food innovations and a strong commitment to sustainability at the college will be fundamental to the agricultural industry going forward.

“The McCain Foundation donation supports our mission to become a leader in agriculture education and applied research to ensure we are producing well-educated students who enter the ag sector with the advanced skills to champion sustainability in the agriculture industry,” Hore said.

When it opens, the Prairie Innovation Centre will increase seats in agriculture, environment and related technology programs at the college from 300 to more than 800.

The campaign to fund the creation of the centre was launched in 2019. It has increased its fundraising goal, initially from $10 million to $15 million, and recently exceeded its $20-million goal. In January, the Province of Manitoba made an initial commitment of $10 million toward design and costing.

Frison said he hopes the federal government will make a donation to the Prairie Innovation Centre in the near future. Previously, Ottawa donated through Protein Industries Canada, a federally funded not-for-profit organization.

“We’d like to see the Government of Canada come in for $40 million to complete this package, and then be able to move forward with construction,” Frison said.

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