The province has officially announced plans for a new plant and animal health centre in Abbotsford, but plenty of details have yet to be worked out en route to the $496 million facility opening in 2031.
“This is probably the biggest announcement agriculture has made, in my time at least,” BC agriculture minister Lana Popham said in announcing the project on October 14, a day after highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed at an Abbotsford egg farm. “It is a game changer for the agricultural sector right across the province. … It’s going to serve producers, veterinarians, communities.”
The current lab conducts 100,000 tests annually, work that was largely done outside the province when the lab sustained significant damage during the flooding of Sumas Prairie in 2021.
The new centre will be located outside the floodplain at 34252 King Road, next to the University of Fraser Valley’s Abbotsford campus. Access off Highway 1 will be via the same exit used to access the existing 30-year-old centre on Angus Campbell Drive.
The province confirmed the location of the lab earlier this year to the Fraser Valley Current, which reported that Pacific Land Group had filed an application to subdivide an 86-acre parcel to allow construction of the new lab. The province intends to acquire 40 acres of the property, located within the Agricultural Land Reserve, for the new facility. Sixteen acres will be developed while the remaining 24 acres will be reserved for future research and development activities.
The new facility will be 177,600 square feet, more than twice the size of the existing centre, which doubles as the ministry’s Abbotsford office.
However, much remains to be sorted out prior to construction.
The province will need the Agricultural Land Commission’s approval to subdivide the property for non-farm use. It also needs to acquire the property from the existing owner, as well as the usual preliminary planning and pre-construction work required before any project of this scale breaks ground.
The province hopes to begin construction in 2027, with completion set for 2032.
Ag Days foregrounds sector priorities