Nutrien makes ‘transformational’ donation to University of Saskatchewan

WATCH: Agriculture giant Nutrien made a sizeable donation to the University of Saskatchewan.

Agriculture giant Nutrien has made a sizeable donation to the University of Saskatchewan.

The fertilizer company’s CEO Ken Seitz was in Saskatoon Monday to announce a gift that the University calls “transformational.”

“Today, I’m privileged to represent Nutrien as we announce a $15 million dollar donation to the University of Saskatchewan’s ‘Be What the World Needs’ campaign,” said Seitz.

University president Peter Stoicheff says the donation is a “game changer” that supports many of the goals of the university’s ambitious fundraising campaign.

“It is the largest single contribution to date in the comprehensive campaign,” said Stoicheff. “It is from the largest corporate donor in the history of the university. It will support many of those key commitments in our campaign.”

Most of the donation will go toward the creation of the Nutrien Centre for Sustainable Digital Agriculture, with a focus on innovative technologies to accelerate farming into the digital age. The university says it’s ready to jump right in with the centre.

“We were just waiting for the announcement,” said Angela Bedard-Hahn, dean of the college of agriculture and bioresources.

“So, we’re ready to roll on that. From there, we will actually have some renovations that allow us to build out a collaborative space. Space for teaching, training and research.”

It will also fund scholarships, Indigenous and community initiatives, as well as a new, state of the art lecture theatre in the College of Engineering.

Seitz, an engineer himself, says the mining industry is dependent on quality engineers, and the talent coming from the University of Saskatchewan is important to Nutrien.

“We need geotechnical engineers, and we need mechanical engineers, of which I’m one,” said Seitz. “And we need civil engineers, and we need electrical engineers and chemical engineers, because we have to put our potash through our mills and get that chemistry right.”

With so much advanced equipment in the agriculture industry today, the two faculties say they work closely with each other at the university.

“All of the agriculture industry requires advanced equipment,” said Michael Bradley, College of Engineering dean.

“A lot of automation coming into that now. And so there’s a really strong relationship between the various industry sectors there.”

Over the years, Nutrien has given more than $50 million dollars to the University of Saskatchewan.