On Monday, Federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau joined the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in announcing Ottawa's support for BHP Billiton's low emissions potash mine in Saskatchewan. 

The agreement means up to 100 million dollars in federal funding for the mine development at Jansen. 

This is the first new major potash project in Canada in over 50 years.

Through this project, BHP will significantly minimize the carbon footprint of the mine, improve worker safety and implement technology to further reduce emissions from mine operations. 

The Jansen mine is expected to boost Canada's potash production by nearly 22 per cent.

B-H-P will invest more than 7.5 billion dollars in Jansen Stage 1and anticipates the mine will be operational by 2027, providing an initial production capacity of 4.3 to 4.5 million tonnes of potash per year.