Leduc County receives grant funding to boost local food processing

LEDUC COUNTY -- Leduc County has received federal grant funding to boost local food processing. 

The grant of $94,103 from Agriculture and Agrifood Canada will allow the county to establish a new food processing space within the Business Entrepreneur Centre. This aims to support processors transitioning from small individual spaces who are unable to rent adequate spaces in the current market.

"The grant allows for a small-scale commercial kitchen-oriented space," reads a report filed by Rob MacMullen, Manager of Economic Development. "This space will allow smaller producers to access a place to help them grow their business and potential pilot a space that helps them identify their future needs without significant capital outlay that they may not be able to afford."

Included in the new processing space will be an indigenous food forest, REVI Grow System, a cooler and freezer, and a dehydrator and freeze dryer. MacMullen says there is additional work to be completed on the space, which will house these units within the Business Entrepreneur Centre, as Administration may apply for additional funding via available grant programs.

"Just a great news story," said Tanni Doblanko, Mayor of Leduc County. "I remember ten or twelve years ago when the county decided it wanted to work with local food producers, when we wanted to look at small agriculture, I wouldn't have dreamed that we would be able to look at something like this, where we're actually buying equipment to help people work on their food projects." 

The county notes that the space to be used within the BEC will first need to be brought up to AHS health code parameters. Leduc County Economic Development applied for the Local Food Infrastructure Grant through Agriculture and Agrifood Canada Grant Program in September 2025.