About AIC

Vision

Canada’s agri-food innovation ecosystem is at the world’s leading edge in the development, commercialization and adoption of new technologies, processes and products.

Mission

For the Agri-Food Innovation Council to be a unifying voice to advance Canada’s cross-sectoral agri-food research and innovation.

Values

AIC believes that:

Our sector is enriched by equity, diversity and inclusiveness (EDI). EDI principles are also essential to the sector’s growth.
Canadian investments in research, science, technology, and innovation should drive a thriving agri-food sector, contribute to society and support broader objectives such as food safety, food security, and climate resilience.
The agri-food sector is an economic driver that supports job creation, rural and urban development. It also contributes positively to Canada’s trade balance.
Canada should remain a leader in agri-food research and innovation.
Preparing tomorrow’s workforce to fill positions in agri-food research and innovation is an essential part of our capacity to grow the sector.

The sector is stronger when research and innovation share information, best practices and ideas at the national and international level.

Mandate

In relations to agri-food research and innovation, our core activities include:

Advocacy: we influence public policy by building and maintaining strong relationships with key officials and by participating in public consultations at the federal, provincial and territorial levels,
Improving collaboration:we facilitate networking and aim to improve cross-sectoral unity of effort through the organization of events and stakeholder engagements,
Generating awareness:we keep our members, stakeholders and the public informed of issues and key developments by publishing reports on critical matters and by disseminating current information on a regular basis.

History

On June 2, 1920, the Canadian Society of Technical Agriculturists was formally launched. The idea of an organization dedicated to the professional aspects of Canadian agriculture caught on and branches quickly formed across the country.

By 1944 the Canadian Society of Technical Agriculturists had evolved into the Agricultural Institute of Canada. Over time, nine provincial institutes of agrologists came on board to administer the formation, recognition and control of professional groups under provincial jurisdiction.

In 1995, following almost a decade of discussion and debate, members of the Agricultural Institute of Canada voted to restructure the organization into a federation of Member Organizations.

For ninety-five years, AIC responded to the needs of its members in serving the agricultural community, playing a central role as a source of credible information and comment for the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector.

The Institute has established itself as one of Canada’s foremost advocates for agricultural research and an important tool to facilitate the dissemination of agricultural research to academics and industry stakeholders.

In 2004 the AIC became a member-based organization once again.

In 2019 the name of the organization changed from Agricultural Institute of Canada to the Agri-food Innovation Council to better reflect AIC’s mandate and activities.

AIC Membership categories include individual members as well as organizations, associations and corporate. The membership will determine views on issues as well as elect the national board.