New food inspection facility on Vancouver Island bolstering Canadian agriculture, trade industries

The CFIA's new Centre for Plant Health has opened in North Saanich, B.C.

A team of scientists has moved into a new facility in North Saanich, B.C., where they’ll be better equipped to ensure Canada’s food supply is safe.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s new Centre for Plant Health replaces its 1900s-era buildings along the Patricia Bay Highway on southern Vancouver Island.

“The work that we do is really important in supporting Canada’s agriculture and agrifood economy, and in particular the fruit and the wine sectors,” said lab director Andrea Kalischuk.

The team looks for viruses in grapevines and fruit trees that are imported, exported or moved domestically.

Before moving into the new building in December, scientists were grafting plant samples on control species, then waiting to see if viral disease symptoms presented themselves. Now, they also have the ability to identify viruses using molecular sequencing.

“This new facility allows us to test our plants in a faster, more efficient and effective manner,” Kalischuk said. “Which means producers can get their produce to market quicker.”

The Centre for Plant Health replacement had been in the planning stages for well over a decade, said project director Jacqueline Booth.

“We’ve had some stops and starts in terms of funding this new build,” she said. “It’s really sort of rejuvenating something that has been around for over a century. It’s important work that is important to the local economy.”

In 2018, former federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay announced $80 million for the project, which was supposed to wrap by 2022.

It ended up costing roughly $110 million, centre staff said.

CTV News toured the new facility on Tuesday. Watch the full story above.