in the third quarter of 2027. It will employ 100 people when it reaches full capacity, initially producing 28 million square feet of flooring every year. A second phase will eventually bring the plant’s total capacity to 50 million square feet annually. The plant will be a “zero waste” facility, where all the dust and trimmings from the process will be swept up and put back into future production. In July, Emissions Reduction Alberta awarded the project $5 million through its Advanced Materials Challenge, a competition funding innovative low- emission products in the province. The funding is part of $49 million in ERA grants to 18 projects, determined after independent review by a team of experts in science, engineering, business development, commercialization, financing, and greenhouse gas quantification. Together, the projects have a total estimated value of $198 million. ERA’s goal is to accelerate projects that can improve the economy and the environment, says Justin Riemer, the agency’s CEO. “In the case of the PolyCo project, it highlights how to better utilize the supply chain we have here in Alberta. Everything this plant will need to source is literally within a three-hour drive,” he says. ERA has provided more than $1 billion in grants to more than 300 projects valued at $7 billion in 16 years across the province. “Of all the completed projects who’ve received funding, 50 per cent have been commercialized, which is a much better success rate than venture capital gets,” says Riemer, who has led ERA for three years. “It’s important to have this funding available because a lot of financial infrastructure in this country is risk-adverse to trialing and commercializing innovation technology.” The agency’s grants are financed through Alberta’s Technology Innovation and
ERA CEO Justin Riemer (second from right) joins Schulich School of Engineering Dean Anders Nygren, Alberta Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz and Pathways Alliance CEO Kendall Dilling at the launch of a $50 million oil sands Tailings Technology Challenge on Jun. 18, 2025.
“ the project and wants to see it materialize,” he says. “They are serious about real ideas that can produce sustainable and affordable products right here.” Soares is unapologetic in having his project funded by carbon levies collected from oil and gas. “We produce oil and gas more responsibly than anywhere in the world in Alberta, and I’m proud of that even though I don’t work directly in the industry,” he says.
Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund, which collects contributions from the oil and gas sector under the province’s carbon pricing and trading system. “ERA receives about 10 per cent of the TIER contributions,” Riemer says. “Through these competitions, we have managed to see successful commercialization of technologies across a broad array of sectors beyond oil and gas, including forestry, agriculture, power generation, critical minerals, and even nuclear.” For Soares, the vote of confidence given by the agency in the proposal was crucial. “This ERA grant is huge for this project to go ahead, but so was the decision. It gives us the confidence the government is behind
My grandparents moved to Canada from Portugal in 1967 and this country has given our family so much. ”
“The fact that oil and gas contribute to grants that help create more sustainable products and technologies demonstrates the province’s commitment to doing things better.”
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