MLT Aikins regularly contributes legal insights to members of the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN). CFIN brings together the most robust, active and collaborative food business community in Canada. Their membership spans across the food value chain, bringing food professionals together to connect, collaborate and position Canada as a global leader in food innovation.
Breaking barriers to investment in foodtech: Aligning capital, policy and fiscal tools to scale Canada's food economy, originally distributed in December 2025 and reproduced here with permission, is a comprehensive summary of a roundtable held at this year's Food Leadership Summit in Calgary. Speakers at the Summit included MLT Aikins lawyer Scott Exner and CFIN CEO Dana McCauley.
Participants identified three recurring barriers to foodtech investment: A shortage of growth-stage equity, regulatory systems that lag commercial timelines and weak alignment between innovators, industry and policymakers. Within the article, we summarize the barriers identified by roundtable participants and the practical levers that could strengthen Canada's ability to invest in, scale and deploy foodtech as a key driver of productivity, resilience and global competitiveness.