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About

Founded in 2012 in a partnership between Nutrien, the Government of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan (USask), the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) works with a diverse range of partners to discover, develop and deliver innovative solutions for the production of globally sustainable food.

At GIFS, we invest in relevant technology platforms that provide scale and transform our scientific competencies and capabilities into capacities for stakeholders, making us a catalyst for partnerships and innovation world-wide. We have a track-record for managing and delivering on large-scale, multi-disciplinary programs, including the $37-million Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre (P2IRC) funded by a Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) grant to USask.

Located within one of the world’s strongest agri-science ecosystems, we are helping to build a food-secure world from Saskatchewan-out, working with academics, industry, producers, consumers and governments both at home and abroad to decrease the time between the discovery of innovative science and its delivery to market at home and around the globe.

Finding solutions to the challenges facing the global food system requires an innovative and collaborative approach that moves at the speed of business.

Our vision provides direction:

A world where everyone has access to safe and nutritious food – that’s our vision.

Our mission creates focus:

We work with partners to discover, develop and deliver innovative solutions for the production of globally sustainable food.

Our values support our vision and guide our behaviours, shaping our culture and identity:

  • Innovation
  • Excellence
  • Collaboration
  • Integrity
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Our History

In February 2011, three visionary leaders in Saskatchewan

Bill Doyle (former President and CEO of PotashCorp), Brad Wall (former Premier of Saskatchewan), and Peter MacKinnon (former President of the University of Saskatchewan); shook hands on an agreement in principle to create a research institute based at the University of Saskatchewan dedicated to achieving global food security.

Following significant negotiations among the three organizations regarding the mandate and governance for such an institute, in December 2012, the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) was officially established.