Bayer Canada begins construction on new R&D facility in St. B

Shindico Realty Inc.

Instead of canola on Friday, there was sod.

But in two years’ time, by current estimates, the bare plot of land in a St. Boniface industrial park will hold canola samples and seeds for testing.

Bayer Canada officially broke ground on a 60,000-square-foot research and development facility Friday morning.

“It’s about bringing new and better innovation to farmers,” said Kacy Perry, Bayer Crop Science Canada’s division head.

Bayer Canada, a subsidiary of the German enterprise, has an early canola breeding site near the University of Manitoba in south Winnipeg and a nursery seed production operation in Carman.

It tests canola seeds on plots across Western Canada.

Lately, Bayer has been looking to increase its work on canola as a biofuel product, including to sell into the United States.

The new Winnipeg site will house canola innovation that will support “potential” such as renewable fuels, Kostyshyn said before a sod-turning ceremony.

Shindico Realty Inc.

The provincial government promoted a potential Manitoba sustainable aviation fuel facility, run by Azure Sustainable Fuel Corp., while attending the Canada Investment Summit last month.

In 2023, the province promised $2.9 million for a study on how the company might use feedstock products such as canola oil to produce fuel.

Canola was developed by researchers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in the 1960s and ’70s.

Bayer Canada has agreed to lease in St. Boniface for 20 years.

“The Manitoba Canola Growers is ‘pleased to see Bayer making the long-term commitment to our province and our crop,’ Jennifer Dyck, director of market development, wrote in a statement.

Shindico is talking with other organizations to fill the latter 40 per cent of the industrial park building.

Gabrielle piche@winnipegfreepress.com