What is being built at 799 Wain road?
Hello and Welcome to the long overdue expansion of the local, North Saanich company Applied Bio-nomics Ltd.
Who we are?
Applied Bio-nomics Ltd is a family-owned company that produces beneficial insects and mites to be used to either replace or offset chemical pesticides in various agricultural and horticultural settings. Our products are used in North America and Europe and all of it is produced right here in North Saanich.
We began as a project of Agriculture Canada on East Saanich road, but were spun off as a private enterprise in 1979 by then owners and North Saanich residents, Don and Marion Elliott. They purchased 5 acres on West Saanich Road near Deep Cove School, where our company still operates.
In 2011, general manager Brian Spencer bought the company and continues to run it along with is wife Carrie and two sons, Adam (Candi) and David (Krista).
The Spencer family have been proud North Saanich residents since 1994. You may know some of them through their community volunteer work with the SHOAL Centre (Carrie), Coast Guard Auxiliary (Adam) and the North Saanich Fire Department (David).
We are proud to continue to live and serve our community, and be in a position to further invest in this long-serving and sustainable business.
What to expect?
799 Wain Road will be the site of a large greenhouse, built to expand our current operations. Construction began on December 6th 2024 and is expected to continue into the Spring of 2025.
The entire project is confined to the South East corner of the property.
The rest of the property will continue to be used for farming to provide farming opportunities to established local farmers and to maintain the rural aesthetics of the neighbourhood.
The gabled roof greenhouse will be 25000 square feet. The gutter height will be 14’. There will be opaque walls, light omitting curtains and a vent for the boiler.
Community impact:
Our greenhouse is less than an acre, but will produce enough of our product to provide chemical free pest control for over 200 acres per week. Those 200 acres are all over North America and Europe and will be free of pesticides or will have reduced pesticides, resulting in cleaner, healthier produce, safer employment, less chemical run-off, more pollinators and greater biodiversity.
As sustainability is foremost in our minds, we have planned for 14 foot ceilings with vertical vents so the greenhouse can ventilate with minimal energy requirements.
The house will be heated with Fortis’ “renewable” natural gas; and all rain water will be collected in cisterns with excess feeding a series of ponds to enhance the natural flora and fauna.
At night, black-out curtains will draw across the top to prevent light escape and to retain greenhouse heat. Opaque side walls will further limit light impact to the neighbourhood.
This project is expected to create at least four full-time-equivalent positions to start. We have been lucky enough to have (or have had) over 30 employees who live within 600m of our original site and we hope that the trend of filling local jobs with local residents continues.
What we and our bugs do:
All of our products, byproducts and procedures used in production are thoroughly researched and approved by Agriculture Canada and pose no environmental or human risks where they are produced or where they are permitted to be sold and released.
Click here for more information about what Applied Bio-nomics Ltd. does.