“The projects Genome Atlantic is proud to support under this competition – spanning energy, agriculture, biology and health – reflect the distinct strengths and opportunities of Atlantic Canada. Thanks to the support of Genome Canada and the Government of Canada, we will harness these strengths through private sector leadership to generate economic impact for our region and the country.”
Steve Armstrong, President & CEO, Genome Atlantic
Four Genome Atlantic projects were awarded under Genome Canada’s National and Regional GAPP funding programs announced today by the Government of Canada. The $20 million federal investment will fund a total of 33 new genomics R&D projects across the country – an investment that will generate more than $45M in additional private and public sector co-investment.
The four Genome Atlantic projects span energy, agriculture, synthetic biology and health – and include an AI-powered platform to streamline genetic test requisitions, a genomics-based approach to de-risking underground clean energy storage, a precision fermentation project to produce a sustainable natural sweetener, and research harnessing beneficial soil microbes to protect wild blueberries from drought and disease. Full project descriptions are below.
Read Genome Canada’s full media release https://genomecanada,ca/news-and-events/news/news
GAPP National Funding Program
SmartRequisition: Modernizing How Genetic Tests Are Ordered in Canada
Awarded March 18, 2026 | Total Budget: $5,428,690 | 24-Month Project Led by IWK Health Centre and PhenoTips, in partnership with Genome Atlantic and Ontario Genomics
When a doctor orders a genetic test, they must provide detailed information about a patient’s symptoms in a precise, structured format that laboratories can use. Today, this process is largely manual, slow, and not designed to capture the level of detail that laboratories need, leading to incomplete requisitions that delay diagnoses and limit how broadly genetic testing can be offered.
SmartRequisition is a Canadian-developed software platform that automates this process using artificial intelligence. The tool reads clinical notes, extracts the relevant symptom codes, and generates a complete, lab-ready test requisition, with a clinician reviewing and approving the result before submission. The goal is to cut symptom-coding time by 67% and achieve 80% requisition completeness across partner sites.
This project has been awarded $5,428,690, including $1.8 million from Genome Canada, to deploy and validate SmartRequisition across five leading Canadian health centres: IWK Health, Alberta Health Services, CHU Sainte-Justine, CHEO, and SickKids.
Beyond improving patient care, the project has strong commercial potential. PhenoTips, the company co-leading the project, already serves 26 hospitals worldwide, and the global genetic testing market is projected to grow from US$11.9 billion in 2024 to over US$91 billion by 2034. SmartRequisition strengthens Canada’s position in that market with made-in-Canada technology, reducing reliance on foreign software while supporting faster, more accurate diagnoses for patients across the country.
Co-led by Dr. Victor Martinez (IWK Health Centre) and Orion Buske (PhenoTips)
GAPP Regional Funding Program
De-risking Underground Energy Storage in Atlantic Canada Through Deep Biosphere Genomics
Awarded March 18, 2026 | Total Budget: $896,672 Led by the University of Calgary and Triple Point Resources, in partnership with Genome Atlantic
Atlantic Canada has a significant opportunity to become a clean energy hub. The Fischells Salt Dome in Newfoundland and Labrador – a natural underground salt formation – is being developed to store compressed air and hydrogen, two technologies essential for making renewable energy systems more reliable. Underground salt caverns are well-suited for this purpose, but microscopic organisms deep below the surface could potentially affect the safety or efficiency of energy storage if not properly understood and managed.
This $896,672 project, supported through Genome Atlantic, will use genomic tools to identify and characterize the microbial community establishment in energy storage salt caverns in the Fischells Salt Dome. By understanding what microbes exist in these environments and how they might interact with stored energy, the team can assess any associated risks early, before infrastructure is built, making the project safer and more attractive to investors.
In the near term, the site is planned for compressed air storage, helping to balance electricity supply and demand in the region. Looking further ahead, the goal is to store hydrogen generated from local wind and hydropower, positioning Atlantic Canada as a clean energy exporter and contributing to Canada’s broader net-zero goals.
By applying genomics to this emerging energy challenge, the project helps ensure that underground energy storage in Atlantic Canada is developed safely, responsibly, and with confidence.
Co-led by Casey Hubert (University of Calgary) and Julie Lemieux (Triple Point Resources).
Precision Fermentation of Brazzein: A Natural, Sustainable Alternative to Sugar
Awarded March 18, 2026 | Total Budget: $1,626,624 Led by The Verschuren Centre and Biofect Innovations Inc., in partnership with Genome Atlantic
Brazzein is a naturally occurring protein, originally found in a West African fruit, that is more than 2,000 times sweeter than sugar with a clean taste that more closely resembles sugar than many existing alternatives. This project, supported through Genome Atlantic, will scale up the production of brazzein using precision fermentation, a process that programs microorganisms such as yeast to produce valuable ingredients efficiently and sustainably.
The work has two main goals. First, the team will improve the engineered yeast strains used to produce brazzein so the protein can be made more efficiently and consistently. Second, the project will scale production from the lab to larger fermentation systems and develop the purification methods needed to produce food-grade brazzein in commercially relevant quantities.
If successful, brazzein could help reduce sugar in a wide range of products including beverages, cereals, and nutritional foods, while avoiding the taste and formulation challenges associated with sweeteners (e.g., erythritol, monk fruit, stevia). This could have meaningful benefits for public health by supporting lower-sugar food options, while also reducing the land and resource demands associated with conventional sugar production.
This project helps build advanced biomanufacturing capacity and strengthens Canada’s role in the emerging precision fermentation economy. By combining Biofect’s technology with the scale-up expertise of the Verschuren Centre, the work can create high-value jobs, support commercialization, and help position Canada as a leader in sustainable food innovation. More broadly, the project supports Canada’s growing bioeconomy and helps strengthen Biofect’s path to commercialization.
Co-led by Zuzana Istvankova (The Verschuren Centre) and Louis Lo (Biofect Innovations Inc.)
Harnessing Soil Microbes to Protect Wild Blueberries from Drought and Disease
Awarded March 18, 2026 | Total Budget: $330,240 Led by Dalhousie University and Bragg Lumber, Inc., in partnership with Genome Atlantic
Wild blueberry growers in Atlantic Canada have been hit hard by drought in recent years, with some producers reporting yield losses exceeding 50%. Making matters worse, drought-stressed plants have become increasingly vulnerable to diseases like stem blight and red leaf, compounding the damage to an already struggling crop.
This project, awarded $330,240 and supported through Genome Atlantic, will investigate why drought-weakened blueberry plants are more susceptible to disease and develop a natural, locally-sourced solution to help protect them. The research team will use genomic tools to study the complex community of microorganisms living in blueberry roots and surrounding soil, examining how drought disrupts this ecosystem in ways that may open the door to disease-causing pathogens.
Armed with that understanding, the team will design and test carefully selected combinations of beneficial microbes, known as microbial consortia, that can restore the natural protective functions of healthy soil, strengthen the plant’s own defences, and improve its ability to withstand dry conditions.
The intended outcome is a natural, made-in-Atlantic-Canada biological product that boosts blueberry resilience and reduces the need for chemical fungicides, benefiting growers, consumers, and the environment alike.
Co-led by David Percival and Rhea Lumactud (Dalhousie University) and Graham Wood (Bragg Lumber, Inc.)
