Please join us when Professor Viktoriya Galushko, Dept. of Economics, University of Regina, will present a seminar titled "The Importance of Location Determinants in Food Manufacturing Investment in Canada".

Agriculture and agri-food system is an important element of the Canadian economy contributing around 7% to the country’s GDP. While most Canadian provinces have developed a very strong primary agriculture base, some provinces have not succeeded in building a strong food manufacturing core. This study identifies the determinants of food manufacturing investment in Canada between 1990 and 2012 to gain an improved understanding of how communities can attract and retain agri-food processing firms, as well as assist in their future growth. The results reveal that factors characterizing input markets such as minimum wage legislation, union coverage, unemployment rate and factors characterizing government fiscal policy are of utmost importance. Food manufacturing investment is attracted to regions with lower minimum wage, lower union coverage, higher unemployment rate, and lower corporate and sales taxes. Government spending on health care and education is also an important factor to attract food manufacturing investment.