Manitoba Government Stepping Up to Complete Prairie Innovation Centre

May 22, 2025

The Manitoba government is providing $60 million in capital funding and a further $60 million in bridge financing to support Assiniboine College’s new Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, which will expand workforce training opportunities and support the future of agriculture in Manitoba, Premier Wab Kinew announced today.

“Manitoba’s agriculture sector is critical to our province’s economy and to staying resilient against Trump’s tariffs,” said Kinew. “The Prairie Innovation Centre will house new and expanded training, so Manitobans can learn the skills they need to get good, in-demand Ag jobs here in Westman and across the province.”

With Manitoba’s agriculture industry expected to grow substantially, the Prairie Innovation Centre will add hundreds of additional training seats in Westman to meet this demand, noted the premier.

The Manitoba government is providing:

$60 million in capital funding, with $40 million going to the Prairie Innovation Centre and $20 million for a new 216 seat child-care project within the centre.
$60 million in approved bridge financing to allow construction to begin immediately.

Assiniboine College has been working to establish the Prairie Innovation Centre as a state-of-the-art learning facility on its North Hill Campus. The centre will foster collaboration with industry, promote cutting-edge research and expand agricultural training capacity to help meet local labour market needs, noted the premier.

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Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?