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Alberta

Greenhouses aim to bring fresh produce to North, putting a dent in food insecurity

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INUVIK, N.W.T. — Rows upon rows of raised beds growing tomatoes, zucchini, beans, wildflowers and herbs line the inside of the Inuvik Community Greenhouse. 

Sunlight streams through the panes of the curved ceiling above as children sprinkle their crop with green plastic watering cans. 

The commercial greenhouse in the western Arctic community in the Northwest Territories is in a former hockey arena. There, community members can rent plots to grow vegetables and other plants, and learn about gardening. 

“Every time I come in here, I only ever see people smiling,” said Adi Scott, who co-ordinates the greenhouse.

Remote and Indigenous communities, particularly in the North, are increasingly using greenhouses to grow their own produce, promote self-sufficiency and in some cases create economic opportunity, said Andrew Spring, an assistant professor at Wilfrid Laurier University and a Canada Research Chair in northern sustainable food systems.

“Food security has been an issue across the North because of the high cost of groceries … (and) the long-term impacts of colonization on northern Indigenous communities,” Spring said. 

Data from Statistics Canada indicates that 46.1 per cent of people in Nunavut, 23.1 per cent in the Northwest Territories and 15.3 per cent in the Yukon lived in food-insecure households in 2019 compared with a national average of 10.6 per cent. 

Much of the food flown North is processed, not to mention expensive, and access to fresh fruits or vegetables is limited, said Spring. Meanwhile, participation in traditional activities like gathering or hunting have been declining for decades in many communities, meaning they rely more on food from stores, he said. 

Climate change “makes a vulnerable situation even more precarious,” said Spring, as it causes disruptions in air travel or on long-used ice roads. 

Scott said the Inuvik greenhouse, which runs from April to September, can help put a dent in the grocery bill, but isn’t enough to truly reduce reliance on food from outside the territory. Instead, the greenhouse’s main focus is on education and community-building. 

These days, it’s not difficult to get the funds to start up a greenhouse in a remote community, said Spring, with lots of federal programs available for agriculture and climate adaptation.

In December 2022, the federal government announced $19.5 million in support for up to 79 new projects across the country related to food security in Indigenous, remote and Northern communities as part of the fourth phase of the Local Food Infrastructure Fund. Since 2019, it  has supported around 900 projects across the country, including greenhouses in remote and northern communities. 

It’s important that organizations helping to start up greenhouse and other agriculture projects work with the community, said Raygan Solotki, executive director of Green Iglu. The non-profit helps remote communities plan, build and run projects, specializing in geodesic dome greenhouses. 

“We’re not coming in on a horse, riding in with a greenhouse,” said Solotki. “We’re here to work with the community to make sure we are doing what the community wants.”

The biggest challenges often come once the greenhouse has been built, Spring said. Some communities have had more success than others building a sustainable long-term greenhouse or garden project, and it often revolves around having one person or a small group of people willing to commit to running it, he said.

“This community champion, who is passionate about it, and who has the kind of skills and the knowledge to do the work. And having those people stay in the community is often the challenge.”

Tom Henheffer, co-chief executive officer of the Arctic Research Foundation, also stressed the importance of building relationships with communities for projects to be successful. 

The foundation partnered with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, National Research Council Canada, the Canadian Space Agency and the community of Gjoa Haven, Nvt., on the Naurvik project, a community-led hydroponic food system that started in 2019. 

“A number of similar projects have failed and what differentiates this is really the people building it from the ground up with the community,” Henheffer said. 

The work in the greenhouse is done by local technicians and its location was chosen by elders, Henheffer said. He added community members know best which vegetables local people want to eat to pair with foods like caribou stew and Arctic char.

Betty Kogvik, one of the technicians at the greenhouse, said it’s important for the community.

“The cost of food or produce we get from the store is really high …  and when we finally receive them, some are already mouldy.” 

Kogvik said high food costs are especially challenging for elders and people reliant on social assistance. She’s proud that everything grown at the greenhouse goes to elders and children.

The main food sources in the community are hunting and fishing, Kogvik said, and people share what they have harvested with friends and family. 

Kogvik said she’d like to see the greenhouse project extended to other communities, adding it also provides employment opportunities. 

The Naurvik project’s system is made from three retrofitted shipping containers and primarily uses wind and solar power year-round. Many northern communities are reliant on diesel, which can be costly and produce harmful emissions. 

Conditions in Gjoa Haven, about 250 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, make it difficult to grow vegetables. Access to fresh produce in the community is limited and expensive, Henheffer said, with vegetables nearing expiration by the time they reach shelves. 

He said part of the project aims to replicate the system in other communities to increase access to fresh produce. The Canadian Space Agency is also interested in the technology to potentially grow food in space.

Hydroponics is a higher-tech way of indoor growing that doesn’t use soil, and is often used to grow herbs and leafy greens. Spring noted that in order to truly make a dent in food insecurity, northern growing projects need to be able to produce heartier vegetables that can be stored —  “things that go in stew” as opposed to “salad.” Because of this, he said he’s wary of high-tech solutions like hydroponics. 

But it all depends on what the community is looking for, he said, whether that’s a commercially viable greenhouse or a place to grow salad as an addition to the food available. 

“Anything helps,” he said. 

But the key to putting a dent in the food insecurity problem is “doing agriculture in a way that actually is the side dish to the traditional food system.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2023.

— With files from Rosa Saba in Toronto

Emily Blake, The Canadian Press

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Alberta

Big win for Alberta and Canada: Statement from Premier Smith

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Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement on the April 2, 2025 U.S. tariff announcement:

“Today was an important win for Canada and Alberta, as it appears the United States has decided to uphold the majority of the free trade agreement (CUSMA) between our two nations. It also appears this will continue to be the case until after the Canadian federal election has concluded and the newly elected Canadian government is able to renegotiate CUSMA with the U.S. administration.

“This is precisely what I have been advocating for from the U.S. administration for months.

“It means that the majority of goods sold into the United States from Canada will have no tariffs applied to them, including zero per cent tariffs on energy, minerals, agricultural products, uranium, seafood, potash and host of other Canadian goods.

“There is still work to be done, of course. Unfortunately, tariffs previously announced by the United States on Canadian automobiles, steel and aluminum have not been removed. The efforts of premiers and the federal government should therefore shift towards removing or significantly reducing these remaining tariffs as we go forward and ensuring affected workers across Canada are generously supported until the situation is resolved.

“I again call on all involved in our national advocacy efforts to focus on diplomacy and persuasion while avoiding unnecessary escalation. Clearly, this strategy has been the most effective to this point.

“As it appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us (though there is still work to be done), it is my sincere hope that we, as Canadians, can abandon the disastrous policies that have made Canada vulnerable to and overly dependent on the United States, fast-track national resource corridors, get out of the way of provincial resource development and turn our country into an independent economic juggernaut and energy superpower.”

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Alberta

Energy sector will fuel Alberta economy and Canada’s exports for many years to come

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From the Fraser Institute

By Jock Finlayson

By any measure, Alberta is an energy powerhouse—within Canada, but also on a global scale. In 2023, it produced 85 per cent of Canada’s oil and three-fifths of the country’s natural gas. Most of Canada’s oil reserves are in Alberta, along with a majority of natural gas reserves. Alberta is the beating heart of the Canadian energy economy. And energy, in turn, accounts for one-quarter of Canada’s international exports.

Consider some key facts about the province’s energy landscape, as noted in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) 2023 annual report. Oil and natural gas production continued to rise (on a volume basis) in 2023, on the heels of steady increases over the preceding half decade. However, the dollar value of Alberta’s oil and gas production fell in 2023, as the surging prices recorded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine retreated. Capital spending in the province’s energy sector reached $30 billion in 2023, making it the leading driver of private-sector investment. And completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has opened new offshore export avenues for Canada’s oil industry and should boost Alberta’s energy production and exports going forward.

In a world striving to address climate change, Alberta’s hydrocarbon-heavy energy sector faces challenges. At some point, the world may start to consume less oil and, later, less natural gas (in absolute terms). But such “peak” consumption hasn’t arrived yet, nor does it appear imminent. While the demand for certain refined petroleum products is trending down in some advanced economies, particularly in Europe, we should take a broader global perspective when assessing energy demand and supply trends.

Looking at the worldwide picture, Goldman Sachs’ 2024 global energy forecast predicts that “oil usage will increase through 2034” thanks to strong demand in emerging markets and growing production of petrochemicals that depend on oil as the principal feedstock. Global demand for natural gas (including LNG) will also continue to increase, particularly since natural gas is the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel and more of it is being traded in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Against this backdrop, there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for Alberta’s energy sector, particularly if the federal government dials back some of the economically destructive energy and climate policies adopted by the last government. According to the AER’s “base case” forecast, overall energy output will expand over the next 10 years. Oilsands output is projected to grow modestly; natural gas production will also rise, in part due to greater demand for Alberta’s upstream gas from LNG operators in British Columbia.

The AER’s forecast also points to a positive trajectory for capital spending across the province’s energy sector. The agency sees annual investment rising from almost $30 billion to $40 billion by 2033. Most of this takes place in the oil and gas industry, but “emerging” energy resources and projects aimed at climate mitigation are expected to represent a bigger slice of energy-related capital spending going forward.

Like many other oil and gas producing jurisdictions, Alberta must navigate the bumpy journey to a lower-carbon future. But the world is set to remain dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come. This suggests the energy sector will continue to underpin not only the Alberta economy but also Canada’s export portfolio for the foreseeable future.

Jock Finlayson

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
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