36  / SEEDWORLD.COM  INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2026
A HALF-CENTURY AGO,  a group 
of public plant breeders and institu­
tions came together to solve a problem: 
how to get Canadian genetics into farm­
ers’ hands quickly and equitably. That 
collaboration became SeCan, which is 
celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026.
Since then, technologies have come 
and gone, markets have boomed and 
busted, and the politics of food have 
become inseparable from the politics of 
trade and national security. But through 
it all, SeCan has grown into a uniquely 
Canadian institution — part distributor, 
part funder, part bridge between public 
science and private enterprise.
“When SeCan was formed, it was by 
public breeding institutions, for public 
breeding institutions,” says Jeff Reid, 
SeCan’s longtime general manager. 
“Today, it’s by independent seed  com­
panies, for independent seed companies. 
That evolution has been key to our sur­
vival — and our strength.”
With nearly 600 members, SeCan isn’t 
just moving seed. It’s moving ideas, part­
nerships, and leverage. And as Agriculture 
and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) plans 
to pare back its role in developing field-
ready cultivars, SeCan’s function has 
never been more urgent.
PART DISTRIBUTOR. 
PART DEVELOPER. 
ALL CANADIAN.
Public or private? Celebrating its 50th anniversary, SeCan thrives by 
bridging the two worlds. Marc Zienkiewicz, Seed World Senior Editor
Matt Hooyer spent 13 years in breeding and 
product development for Syngenta, before 
he became SeCan’s Eastern product 
development lead.
“What could be more critical to 
national security than your food supply?” 
Reid asks. “That all comes back to control­
ling your own genetics.”
From Distribution to Development
In 2013, SeCan changed its mandate 
— from simply distributing genetics to 
actively facilitating their development, 
Reid says. “Since then, we’ve doubled our 
annual R&D spend. And we’ve become 
more hands-on: helping with winter mul­
tiplications, running trials, and in some 
cases, acting as an industry spokesperson 
for public breeding at a time when govern­
ments need to hear that message most.”
That expanded mandate matters, 
because public breeding is under pres­
sure. AAFC has signaled its intent to exit 
variety finishing, leaving the system reliant 
on partners like SeCan to keep the pipe­
line flowing.
“We’ve become much more than a 
distributor,” Reid says. “We’re a partner in 
making sure Canadian germplasm remains 
Canadian.”
Supporting Innovation
For Matt Hooyer, who in 2024 joined 
SeCan as its Eastern product devel­
opment lead after a 13-year career at 

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