The Canadian Food Inspection Agency invests in Canadian research and technology to improve food safety, animal health and plant health

OTTAWA, ON - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is committed to using cutting-edge research, technology, products and services put forward by Canadian small businesses to solve important challenges faced by the Agency and benefit businesses.

Through the Innovative Solutions Canada Program, the CFIA has launched several challenges that will improve the health of Canadians, our plants and our animals, including:

• A challenge to develop a handheld device that detects food borne pathogens throughout the farm-to-fork continuum.
• A challenge to develop a system that uses artificial intelligence to help specialists determine which vaccination strain would be most successful at preventing and controlling field outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in livestock (cattle, sheep and swine).
• A challenge to develop a phytosanitary treatment for the control of quarantine plant pests that could destroy our forests or food crops.

During Canadian Innovation Week, the CFIA is pleased to announce that the following companies are receiving funding to develop their innovative concepts:

• Approximately $150,000 in grant funding to Precision Biomonitoring, in Guelph, Ontario, to develop a handheld device to detect bacterial foodborne hazards.
• Approximately $100,000 to Shaddari Inc., in Montreal, Quebec, to develop a computer model that could support vaccine matching technologies for FMD in Canada.
• Approximately $150,000 in grant funding to HPP West Coast Facility, in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, to develop a high pressure processing (HPP) technology that could safely control plant pests that are regulated and/or of quarantine significance in Canada to support industry in exporting products to international markets.