While visiting Hydragreens Produce Ltd. in Calgary, Hon. Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced funding of up to $894,673 for SmartGRO Bioengineering Inc. (SmartGRO) under the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program – Research and Innovation Stream.

Building on the recently announced $3.2-billion National Food Security Strategy and its $750 million dedicated to controlled environment agriculture, this investment will help the Calgary-based start-up to develop and test new clean lighting technology to make year-round indoor agriculture more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.

SmartGRO is developing a unique system that uses ultra-fast pulsing LED lights, combined with plant sensors and artificial intelligence (AI). The sensors collect information about the plants such as temperature, health, and growth, and the AI then changes the lighting to give the plants exactly what they need to thrive. Unlike regular LED lights that stay on continuously, SmartGRO’s lights turn on and off very quickly, which can help plants use light more effectively for photosynthesis. Controlled tests showed that plants grown under SmartGRO lights produced the same harvest weight as plants grown under regular LED lights, while using up to 80 per cent less electricity.

“Canada has the talent and technology to lead the next generation of controlled-environment agriculture,” says Jared Wolfe, co-founder and CEO, SmartGRO Bioengineering Inc. “This support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada will help SmartGRO validate at commercial scale a patent-pending, Canadian-developed lighting and intelligent control platform designed to help growers produce more food, year-round, using dramatically less electricity.”

Quick facts: 

• -  Hydragreens Produce Ltd. is host to SmartGRO’s commercial-scale trials at its greenhouse in Calgary and is investing $916,197 toward the project. This collaboration focuses on product demonstration, validation, and prospective large-customer adoption.
• -  SmartGRO is also collaborating with the University of Windsor, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (Ontario), Lambton College, H&A Mastronardi Farms, and Freeman Herbs to help validate its lighting technology.

Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada September 8, 2026 news release