Secure-Agro Training

Program at a glance

• Program length — 6 years
• Trainees — 113, spanning undergraduate, MSc, and PhD levels
• Provinces — Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia
• Pillars — cybersecurity, reliability, and equity

About the program

SECURE-AGRO trains highly qualified personnel to design, deploy, and steward trustworthy agricultural technologies across Canada’s agri-food sector. The program bridges Computer Science and Agri-Food Science across three thematic research areas, delivered through institutes, seminars, online courses, mentorship circles, and industry and government internships.

Thematic research areas

Equitable AgFoodTech

• Inclusive design and ethical AI for all stakeholders
• Fair trade, market access, and data equity
• Policy and governance for just adoption

Cybersecure AgFoodTech

• IoT and robotics security, and privacy-by-design
• Threat intelligence, supply-chain security, and distributed ledger technology
• Human factors, training, and secure AI operations

Reliable AgFoodTech

• Precision and smart agriculture with monitoring
• Responsible AI and assurance for critical processes
• Resilient agri-food infrastructure and automation

Training and curriculum

• Fall Institute — programme kickoff, stream selection, and the Cyber Sentinels module
• Summer Institute and Hackathon — a research showcase paired with a hackathon
• Bi-monthly seminars — hybrid talks from international experts, recorded for later viewing
• Two online courses — Computational Methods, and Building Reliable AgFoodTech
• Mentorship circles and professional development — cross-disciplinary circles, quarterly huddles, and annual professional development plans
• Professional rotations and internships, including industry placements

Leadership

Program Director: Ali Dehghantanha — Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity; Canada Cyber Foundry.

Co-Program Director: Evan Fraser — Director, Arrell Food Institute.

Associate Director: Fattane Zarrinkalam — Vector Institute Affiliate; Industry Relations & Applied AI.

Co-applicants

• Gisele LaPointe — University of Guelph, Food Science (NSERC/DFO Industrial Research Chair)
• Natalia Stakhanova — University of Saskatchewan, Computer Science (Canada Research Chair, Tier 2)
• Stuart Smyth — University of Saskatchewan, Agri-Food Innovation Chair
• Nur Zincir-Heywood — Dalhousie University, Computer Science (Distinguished Research Professor)
• Frank Rudzicz — Dalhousie University / Vector Institute, CIFAR Chair in AI
• Suresh Raja Neethirajan — Dalhousie University, Digital Agriculture Chair
• Benjamin C. M. Fung — McGill University, Computer Science (Canada Research Chair, Tier 2)
• Lenore Newman — University of the Fraser Valley, Food & Agriculture Innovation Chair

Collaborators

Collaborators from government, industry, and academia provide mentorship, project challenges, internship opportunities, and knowledge-mobilization support across Canada.

Government

• Katherine MacDonald — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Tanya Katsoulis — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Industry & non-profit

• Karen Hand — Canadian Digital Agri-food
• Steven Webb — Global Institute for Food Security
• Janos Botschner — Canadian Security & Knowledge Alliance
• Bill Greuel — Protein Industries Canada
• Eric Morin — Canadian Agri-Food Automation & Intelligence Network
• Kevin Dawson — ISA Cybersecurity
• Fred Wall — Farm Credit Canada
• Ragulan Sinnarajah — Sobeys
• Jacqueline Keena — EMILI
• Andreas Liris — Maple Leaf Foods
• Nestor Gomez — CFIN
• Denise Dewar — Bioenterprise / Syngenta
• Carla Berquo — Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine, Bioenterprise
• Miranda Burski — Protein Industries Canada
• Tiffany Stephenson — Protein Industries Canada

Academia

• Benjamin Bradshaw — Environmental Governance
• Ian Stavness — Digital Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan
• Alice Raine — Arrell Food Institute
• Rick Moroz — Canada Cyber Foundry
• Valeria Pinto — CRIFS

How to get involved

Students (undergraduate, MSc, or PhD) can apply with a short statement of interest, CV, and transcript, indicating their theme(s) of interest and home institution. Postdocs and faculty can indicate mentorship, seminar, or course contributions and supervision capacity. Industry and government partners can submit a brief outlining a challenge — the problem, available data, desired outcomes, and equity considerations — for matching with trainee teams.

Contact

ali@cybersciencelab.com — (519) 824-4120 x52999 — Suite 120, Cyber Science Lab, Canada Cyber Foundry, 150 Research Lane, Guelph, ON N1G 4T2.