The Time to Build Is Now: Growcer Welcomes Canada's Productivity Mega Deduction

Ottawa food infrastructure provider says the newly proposed immediate expensing measure will accelerate investment in domestic food production and local food security across Canada 

OTTAWA – September 16, 2026 – Growcer, which builds modular container farms that grow fresh greens year-round in Canadian climates, is welcoming the Productivity Mega Deduction announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney on September 15 at the first Canada Investment Summit. The proposed measure would let businesses write off the full cost of a broad range of capital investments in the year they become available for use, including modular farms like Growcer's.

Most of the fresh produce Canadians eat in February is grown somewhere else. Imports now account for 80% of Canada's fruit and vegetable supply, and the U.S. growing regions Canada leans on hardest have been hit by droughts & winter freezes that have pushed prices up at the checkout. Growcer has spent ten years building the alternative: more than 125 farms now operate across the country, producing over 10 million servings of greens a year in places where vegetables otherwise arrive after being shipped thousands of kilometres.

"Nobody needs convincing that growing food closer to home is a good idea. A single farm has always penciled out. What's hard is building hundreds at once, and that takes capital willing to move at the speed of infrastructure," says Corey Ellis, co-founder and CEO of Growcer. "Immediate expensing gets that capital off the sidelines. Prime Minister Carney just made it easier for a business to say yes to Canadian-built food infrastructure this year instead of someday."

Legacy Co-op sells fresh produce grown steps away from the store, and customers gain access to a reliable supply of fresh produce in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.

Growcer designs modular hydroponic farms in Ottawa and manufactures them in Canada, and is deploying them with communities and businesses across the country. A container farm is equipment that arrives complete, is available for use within weeks of delivery, and produces local food in its first season. Under the Productivity Mega Deduction, its full cost comes off taxable income in year one. For a farmer adding winter production, a grocer securing its own supply, or an investor backing a fleet of farms, that improves after-tax returns and shortens payback. The federal government’s own figures put the marginal effective tax rate on new agriculture investment at negative six per cent, the most favourable of any sector in the economy. Capital that grows food in Canada now gets the best tax treatment in the country.

"For ten years, we have been building the infrastructure that moves communities from dependence on long supply chains to self-reliance in fresh food," says Ellis. "Grocery prices are only going one direction. Canada has just given its builders a reason to stop waiting. The time to build Canada’s food sovereignty is now."

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About Growcer
Growcer enables communities to become more food resilient through its hydroponic modular farms and food storage solutions. To date, more than 125 Growcer farms across Canada grow more than 10 million servings annually of nutritious greens year-round. Operators include retailers, schools, non-profits, as well as rural and Indigenous communities. Learn more about Growcer at growcer.ca.

Media Contact
Stephanie Gordon, Senior Content Manager
647-861-7723
stephanie@thegrowcer.ca
Access to photos and video reel: www.growcer.com/press