GoodLeaf Farms, a Canadian hydroponic vertical farm operator, has announced that it is building a new vertical farming facility in Calgary upon receiving a grant worth CAD 2.73 million (USD 2.13 million) from Alberta Government’s Investment and Growth Fund. The fund has set aside CAD 10 million (USD 7.8 million) to attract new companies to the region.

The new farm, which is GoodLeaf Farm’s second facility in Canada after the Guelph farm, is a 74,000-square-foot indoor vertical farm in Calgary industrial park. The farm, which would reportedly be the largest indoor farm in southeast Calgary, has a capacity to produce over one million pounds of fresh produce annually, creating 70 skilled and unskilled job opportunities for Calgary residents. GoodLeaf also states that the Alberta farm’s design has the potential to double its size with increased labor levels if necessary.  

The farm is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, with plans to sell fresh produce to grocery stores across Western Canada in early 2023. Goodleaf further reported plans to enter into strategic partnerships with post-secondary schools in Western Canada to provide produce from its new farm.