Establishing British Columbia’s premier agricultural tech district in Abbotsford is an obvious choice for Gavin Dew.
“Abbotsford is the most productive agricultural jurisdiction in Canada. It’s a huge share of the local economic output so you have that as an industrial background in the area,” Dew, chief strategy officer for the Abbotsford Tech District, said in an interview.
Dew is working with Auguston Town Development Inc. to create a new agricultural-tech centered commercial, educational and residential community in the city of Abbotsford.
The district would be built on a 140-acre plot on Sumas Mountain. Auguston has been developing 1,000 acres on the mountain since the 1990s.
The plan has been in the works for three-and-a-half years. Recently, the district submitted its request for a community plan amendment to the city.
“Abbotsford Tech District was born out of the idea that it makes sense to do more in that area and to create a complete community with jobs, commercial amenities and the like,” Dew said.
The district is envisioned to combine industry, education and community into one place centered around the tech that can drive the future of Abbotsford’s agricultural industry.
“What’s really exciting about the project is the value-added layer on top of the development aspect. As an example, we partnered with the University of the Fraser Valley early on and we are just in the process of finalizing a partnership with the Abbotsford School District,” he said.
“Because of course we are trying to build a physical space and in order to do that we need to capture the momentum of agricultural and food innovation, which Abbotsford is a home too.”
Dew said he envisions the future district as a place where some of the industry’s leading minds and academia can congregate to push the boundaries of food technology, saying a partnership with the university has the potential to establish it as the Guelph University of Western Canada.
“I think it really creates the potential for us to put Abbotsford on the map as the West Coast’s hub of agricultural and food innovation.”
In order to make this happen, a building is needed. The cornerstone of the first phase of development would be the construction of a $50 million facility that would combine education and industry.
“We’re calling it the B.L. Au Centre for Innovation and Food Security. Comparable facilities would be the Kelowna Innovation Centre or the Ion District in Houston. We’re basically building an incubator accelerator facility that has a combination of academic and commercial uses,” he said.
“For example, this would be the natural home for someone to pursue a master’s degree in agriculture and for the combination of research and commercialization. If you’re an agribusiness and you’re looking for a group of co-op students to write you a consulting report, or if you’re researching the application of AI in agricultural production, this will be the place to do it.”
But the original facility will be the germinating seed of what Dew said will hopefully be a massive and many decades-long build out of the district as businesses, institutions and families are attracted to the area.
“If we’re pumping out smart young people every year it becomes a driver for uptake in office space and industry investment.”
But the district is still working its way through the municipality for approval. While Dew and his team wait on the city to move the application forward, they have been doing outreach to the Abbotsford public and area businesses. He said based on their outreach, 89 per cent of respondents in the city have been supportive of the development.
Dew said ensuring the area is developed in line with the wants and desires of the residents of Abbotsford and the industry already established in the area is a top priority right down to working with locals to ensure mountain bike trails are still accessible despite development.
“This is the largest economic development opportunity Abbotsford has seen in a generation,” Dew said.
“I think it ties the roots and history of Abbotsford to the future in terms of developing and strengthening the industry that’s already there, enabling farmers to produce more food for our families and more money for their families. It’s also about educating the next generation close to home in order to prepare for the future.”
Dew said flexibility has been built into the district’s vision so that further refining of the development can be aligned with the desires of city officials and the public.
Dew said he hopes to see more movement from city council on the community plan amendment in the coming months and that detailed design work could start as early as next year.
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