$38M sale of GTH land to Cargill approved by Sask. government

New canola crushing plant for Regina WATCH: Colton Wiens reports on what a new canola crushing plant means for local producers.

The Global Transportation Hub (GTH) Authority has been approved to sell 247 acres of land to Cargill Limited for more than $38 million.

Cargill, a food merchandising and processing corporation, announced a new canola processing facility would be located at the GTH in August 2021. The total price tag of the land purchase is $38,285,000.

When it was first announced, Cargill said the project – which is one of two new canola plants planned for the city – is estimated to have an annual production capacity of 1 million metric tonnes and employ 50 full time positions once it is operating.

Jim Reiter, Minister Responsible for the GTH, said the provincial government is excited about the new facility.

“It’s a really good economic development story for our province,” Reiter said Wednesday. “It’s just great having a project of this size, this magnitude in the province.”

The company said it will be able to use the existing highway and rail infrastructure at the GTH, and construction will cause “minimal disruption” to Regina residents since the plant is outside of the city. The company anticipates the processing facility will be operational by 2024.

Cargill announced its plans for a new canola plant last spring. The announcement was followed by a similar release from Viterra, which said it intends to build a canola crush plant in Regina with a capacity of 2.5 million metric tonnes. The plant is predicted to have the largest crush capacity in the world.

Reiter said he hopes this new plant will encourage more project announcements in Saskatchewan in the coming months and years.

“There’s been a number of big projects that have been announced over the last few months and, you know, I think the future looks bright economically,” he said.