A vertical farm being built in southeast Calgary, Alberta, by GoodLeaf Farms has been chosen as the first project to receive funding from the Alberta government’s new investment and growth fund. GoodLeaf Farms, located in Ontario, is constructing its largest indoor farm in Calgary’s southeast after getting a CAD$2.73 million subsidy from the provincial government to place its next facility in Alberta. The funds come from the government’s new CAD$10 million Investment and Growth Fund, which is designed to encourage businesses to the province. Once operational, GoodLeaf Farms’ Calgary plant will be a 74,000-square-foot indoor farm in the city’s industrial district along 108 Avenue S.E., providing 70 full-time jobs.
More on the GoodLeaf Vertical Farm
The Calgary farm will be the company’s first in Western Canada, following the establishment of operations in Nova Scotia and Ontario. Vertical farming technology is used by the firm to generate leafy-green lettuce products all year. According to Jeff McKinnon, senior vice-president of network development at GoodLeaf Farms, a vertical farm consumes around 95% less water than traditional agriculture and generates roughly 50 times the production capacity thanks to LED lighting, water management, ventilation, and automation. “From the outside, it seems to be a typical warehouse industrial facility. Our concept is resistant to weather events and weather patterns, allowing us to cultivate a safe and clean product indoors. And we can do it without using any chemicals.”
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