A Calgary greenhouse project aimed at reducing electricity use in indoor food production is receiving up to $895,000 in federal funding.
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Heath MacDonald announced September 8, 2026, that SmartGRO Bioengineering Inc. will receive up to $894,673 through the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program’s Research and Innovation Stream. The announcement was made during a visit to Hydragreens Produce Ltd. in Calgary, where commercial-scale trials are taking place.
The funding will support the development and testing of a lighting system that uses pulsing LED lights and plant-monitoring technology. According to SmartGRO, the system adjusts lighting based on information collected from the crop throughout the growing process.
The company says controlled testing found crops grown under the system produced similar harvest weights to those grown under conventional LED lighting while using up to 80 per cent less electricity.
The funding will help move the project into commercial-scale testing at Hydragreens’ Calgary greenhouse.
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