Cellulosic biomass from the perennial legume alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) could be a key element to the sustainable production of bio-ethanol and the generation of additional livestock feeds and bio-products for Canada. The research team at AAC Québec City has a long term expertise in alfalfa selection and germplasm development. This multidisciplinary team has joined its efforts to other scientists of CBioN for a synergistic approach to hit the road to cellulosic ethanol from alfalfa. We will illustrate how integrated efforts are being devoted to increase biomass production and degradability through: 1) Biochemical analyses of cell wall properties that affect enzymatic degradation; 2)  The study of cell wall maturation at the molecular level and the identification of genomic regions that affect degradability; 3) The development of new cell wall deconstruction strategies through the identification of enzymes with superior performance and the production of transgenic plants that accumulate highly active enzymes.  This research is being integrated into the production of alfalfa germplasm that can achieve sustainable production of ligno-cellulosic ethanol.