August 2025 | Canadian Food Inspection Agency | by Mike Rathjen
Most wine lovers in Canada have probably never heard of the Centre for Plant Health. But without it, many of Canada’s favourite vintages might never make it to your glass.
The Centre sits on Vancouver Island’s Saanich peninsula, overlooking picturesque Bazan Bay and the southernmost Gulf Islands. Operated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Centre for Plant Health includes a brand new, cutting-edge science facility as well as greenhouses, screenhouses and fields for test plots, propagation and plant health research and diagnostics.
In addition to screening for plant diseases and other scientific activities that support Canada’s orchards and berry farms, the work at the Centre is foundational to the health and success of Canada’s growing wine industry. And I should know – not only do I work at the Centre, but I have been growing and making Canadian wines for years!
My name is Mike Rathjen, and I am currently a Grapevine Propagator at the Centre for Plant Health. Here, I grow and care for berry plants and grapevines to support the Centre’s diagnostic work to detect plant diseases, and to grow disease-free plants for export and planting across Canada.
My own journey in winegrowing
I was born and raised in Kelowna – the hub of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley – known for its fruit farms, orchards and of course, wine. As was considered a rite of passage at the time, I left for the big city of Vancouver as a young adult to study and then pursued a career as a photographer. I first got into the art and science of growing and making wine in Vancouver with my brother-in-law. We would take road trips back to the Okanagan to source grapes and ferment them in the garage.
After my wife and I moved to the Island in 2011, I traded the garage in Vancouver for my basement in Victoria, which became affectionately known as the “Wine Bunker.” This is where my fascination for growing grapes and making wine really took off. At the same time, I was working as a Field Technician at the Centre for Plant Health, where I spent my days learning all about farming operations to grow and maintain grapevines and orchard fruit.
When it came to my personal winegrowing and winemaking endeavours, I narrowed my focus to exploring local Vancouver Island grapes. The climate here on the Saanich Peninsula is mild to moderate, almost like the northern Mediterranean – famous for its long history of “old world” wines. Good soil quality and relatively long growing seasons on Vancouver Island are well suited to a variety of crops, including grapevines.
I took a leap in 2016, opening Rathjen Cellars, my own farm-based winery that used 100% Vancouver Island grapes and low intervention winemaking techniques. We focused on showcasing the natural depth and vibrance of local grapes and the terroir of our island vineyards.
Our region was blessed with a string of great growing seasons from 2015 to 2021 which made my work in the cellar that much easier. A personal highlight from these years was taking home the first-ever Platinum medal for Vancouver Island from the National Wine Awards of Canada.
It was an amazing experience to explore and contribute to this emerging wine region on Vancouver Island, but in 2023 we made the difficult family decision to close our winery. While I often miss the ups and downs of full-time winegrowing, it’s great being back at the Centre for Plant Health and shifting my focus to work that supports winegrowers across Canada.
The science behind healthy grapevines
The Centre for Plant Health has a unique and important role in supporting Canada’s wine industry. Many of the grapevines planted in Canadian vineyards today originated from stock that was screened or certified through the Centre.
When many imported vines enter the country, the Centre acts as Canada’s gatekeeper – the vines are carefully screened for viruses and virus-like diseases to detect even the slightest signs of infection. This post-entry quarantine program is the only one of its kind for grapevines in the country.
The Centre also plays a critical role in supplying what is known as Generation 1 virus-free vine stock. These are plants that have been rigorously tested and confirmed to be free of viruses that can then be used for propagation, helping to ensure that subsequent generations are also healthy. These “clean” vines are essential for healthy Canadian vineyards, making sure that what gets planted is as healthy as possible from the first generation, minimizing disease outbreaks and supporting productive yields.
It’s thanks to these programs that Canada’s winegrowers can plant and cultivate a diversity of varietals with confidence.
Renewed facilities for a sustainable future
The Centre for Plant Health has changed a lot since I started my first job here in 2012 – when the Centre was already 100 years old!
In 2025, the CFIA officially opened a new science facility and greenhouses for diagnostics and research that directly support the productivity and sustainability of Canadian farmers and winegrowers. This CFIA project was supported as a pathfinder for the Laboratories Canada strategy, with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) leading on the project design, delivery and construction, in close collaboration with our teams at the CFIA.
The new facility is state-of-the-art and enables our use of cutting-edge tools like high-throughput sequencing and robotics to detect plant viruses faster and more accurately. This can help growers access new varieties more quickly and supports Canadian producers in getting their products to market faster and more economically.
On top of being high-tech, the new building also has some great sustainability features: it’s a net-zero carbon facility powered by geothermal energy, one of the Government of Canada’s first buildings to use a geothermal field as an energy source.
It’s a beautiful place to work, made even more so by a series of artworks created by local First Nations artists that have been installed around the site. You can explore a gallery of some of my photos of the metal panels, a wood carving, a handcrafted paddle and a totem pole that are on display at the Centre. We were also recently gifted a new name – ÍY¸NOṈET¸ÁUTW̱ E TŦE SJESEṈENEȻ – which means “the place that is good for the plants” in SENĆOŦEN, the traditional language of the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.
I have a unique appreciation of the important work we do here at the Centre for Plant Health, and how it supports healthy vineyards and a growing wine industry. I am reminded every time I enjoy a great glass of wine grown right here in Canada – including the wines I’ve grown myself!
Now, more than ever, Canadians have been clear that they want to support homegrown businesses and buy Canadian products. So, the next time you take a sip of your favourite Canadian wine, give a toast to our passionate winegrowers across the country and to the scientists at the Centre for Plant Health.
Cheers!
More information
- Digging through the past and planting seeds for the future
- Bees, our unparalleled allies in detecting viruses in fruit trees
- Meet Tracy Lawrence, CFIA virology technician
- Collaborating with genome specialists to protect Canadian wine
- Podcast with Anna-Mary Schmidt, Head of Grapevine Diagnostics
- Making grapes into wine – it's di-vine!
- Laboratories Canada Long Term Vision and Plan