Companies can begin to apply in Spring 2023
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The Alberta government introduced a new tax credit to encourage investment in the processing sector.
This spring, the provincial government will move forward with the Alberta Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit, Nate Horner, Alberta’s minister of agriculture and irrigation, announced at Harmony Beef in Rocky View County on Feb. 7.
“We have heard from Alberta’s producers and processors that we need to do more to help grow our province’s agri-processing industry,” Minister Horner said. “When we process what we grow in Alberta, the jobs and economic benefits stay in Alberta.”
Under this program, companies investing $10 million or more to build or expand agri-processing facilities in Alberta would be eligible for a 12 per cent tax credit.
Companies investing less than $10 million can apply for support through other Alberta programs.
The agri-processing sector is important to Alberta’s economy.
The province is the third largest exporter of agri-food products in Canada, reaching $11.6 billion in 2018. This accounts for 20 per cent of Canada’s total agri-food products.
The criteria and regulations for the tax credit program are still in development.
But multiple sectors within ag could benefit from the program, Minister Horner said.
“If you assume that anything that takes a raw agricultural commodity and changes it and adds value in some way, then that fits the model,” he said.
The government will officially introduce the tax credit as part of its spring budget. Finance Minister Travis Toews is expected to present the budget on Feb. 28.
Farms.com has contacted industry groups in Alberta for comment on the tax credit announcement.