Agriculture research at Lethbridge Polytechnic in Alberta has helped propel it into the Top 10 among Canada’s research colleges.
This year, the Lethbridge Polytechnic reached ninth among the top 50 institutions in the country, according to a report released by Research Infosource Inc.
The institution continues to inch up the list, moving from 10th in 2024 and 11th in 2023.
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Applied research began with Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Aquaculture Centre of Excellence in 1999, leveraging global expertise to meet the evolving needs of agriculture in southern Alberta.
WHY IT MATTERS: Southern Alberta college continuing to make its mark nationally with its various agricultural research to aid producers.
From those beginnings, the Centre of Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CARIE) has expanded research operations significantly to encompass five themes:
- agriculture, food and environment
- business and technology
- health and wellness
- justice and public safety
- sciences, social sciences and humanities
“Being recognized for our applied research, when compared with so many other institutions across Canada, is a remarkable win for the polytechnic,” Kenny Corscadden, vice-president of academic and research, said in a press release.
“Over the past three years, we have consistently demonstrated our ability to compete at the national level. By offering applied learning and research opportunities for students and researchers in a growing number of industry and community-based sectors, Lethbridge Polytechnic is becoming an institution of choice for those interested in making a difference and taking their education and research to the next level.”
Throughout 2025, researchers at Lethbridge Polytechnic have been working on, or completing, research projects in a number of fields:
- Greenhouse lighting trials with Seyed Hashemi, research scientist
- CARIEDevelopment of youth-focused virtual reality (VR)
- Public safety exploration experiences with Dean Kolebaba, principal researcher, Centre for Public Safety Applied Research (CPSAR)
- Collaboration on non-destructive crop testing methods with Chandra Singh, Results Driven Agriculture Research chair and director of the Advanced Post-harvest Technology Centre (APHTC)
- Completion of VR training scenarios for an industry partner with Tyler Heaton, industry liaison and research adviser, Spatial Technologies Applied Research and Training Centre.
As part of a three-year College Spotlight, Research Infosource also ranked the polytechnic fourth in artificial intelligence (AI) research partnerships and AI completed research projects.
“By using AI tools in our research, such as analysis and modelling, we’re re-evaluating what’s possible — from new, non-destructive crop-testing methods in APHTC, to analyzing the ethical decision making of first responders with real-time conversational AI in CPSAR,” added Andrew Dunlop, associate vice-president of research.
“With these tools, we’re also seeing students pursue learning beyond the classroom in fields that matter to them.”
Earlier this year, the polytechnic profiled the journeys of two students , Aleksandra Calic and Sierra Stumborg, as paid student research assistants in the Mueller Irrigation Research Group and the Community Integration Through Art-Pissatsinaskssini program. Both students are counted among the 92 paid student researchers at the institution, a number that placed Lethbridge Polytechnic sixth nationally.
The polytechnic also ranked highly in several other categories:
- second in college research intensity dollars per researcher, at nearly $190,000 per
- third in college research income, at nearly $9.5 million
- ninth in research partnerships, of which the polytechnic has 62.
Additionally, Lethbridge Polytechnic celebrated a transformative $2.8 million donation from the estate of Joe and Laverna Hranac in August to support the continuation and expansion of applied research and innovation at the institution’s 385-acre research farm.
