‘Really thankful’: Deliveries begin to pour into Cargill’s new canola crush facility in Regina

Saskatchewan’s newest canola crushing plant is now open in Regina, processing up to one million tonnes annually. Wayne Mantyka reports.

It’s another major step toward Saskatchewan moving beyond exporting raw canola seed, as a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Global Transportation Hub marked the official opening of Cargill’s new canola crush facility.

The $350 million plant is expected to process one million metric tonnes of canola annually, turning raw seed into canola meal and crude canola oil.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Premier Scott Moe said the investment helps advance the province’s goal of increasing domestic processing capacity.

“Credit to Cargill for having faith in our ag industry in this province and this nation, making this very significant investment to allow us to achieve our provincial goals of crushing more than 75 per cent of the canola seed here in the province,” he said.

“This will bring us up actually to 81 per cent.”

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A canola crush plant processes raw seeds into two primary products: canola meal and crude canola oil. The federal government has also been encouraging further domestic refinement of those products within Saskatchewan.

Minister of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger says there is growing momentum in value-added opportunities for the sector.

“I think the industry itself is showing a lot of interest in biofuels option as well as cooking oil option as well. Canola as I’ve said is a miracle crop,” Belanger noted.

Cargill says the investment ultimately exceeded initial projections.

Cargill President for Canada Jeff Vassart says the project highlights the company’s long-term commitment to the sector.

“We announced $350 million and I can say we ended up spending a little bit more than that but that’s kind of the rough ballpark,” he said.

The company already operates another facility at Clavet near Saskatoon, while Richardson operates the world’s largest canola crush facility in Yorkton.

For canola producers like Evan Chute, direct delivery to a local crush plant is seen as a growing advantage and that early deliveries to the new facility have already shown promise.

“We were one of the first ones to haul in here actually so it’s amazing to have this plant here so really thankful that Cargill invested in this plant,” he said.

Some producers say local processing can improve returns, especially as fuel and fertilizer costs remain elevated, making local delivery an increasingly important part of the agricultural supply chain.