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Urban Agriculture in Canada

Rayna Almas

Growing up in a mid-sized city all my life, it never occurred to me to ask whether this way of living was the way. It was all I knew and it seemed really logical - close to stores, my friends, school; all that I needed was within a short drive. And I was right: urban living has become the way of life. As of 2019, 81.5% of Canadians lived in cities. 

This is a significant change from a century earlier, when that number was approximately 47%. This upward trend corresponds with the major shifts within the Canadian economy from agricultural to industrial. Through the first half of the 20th century, the economy was based more on the primary sector than it is today. 

Today, the proportion of people living in urban areas in Canada is among the highest in the world, a fact that may come as a surprise to people considering the vast expanses of land within our country. 

With this in mind, it’s no wonder that urban agriculture has become a trendy topic in recent years, as organizations like FAO tout the importance of utilizing our urban spaces for growing food. But that’s not to say it’s a new idea. Urban farming has been practiced in Canada since the first European settlers arrived and grew “potagers” (kitchen gardens). Then, during WWll, victory gardens took center stage as upwards of 209,200 gardens produced 57,000 tonnes of vegetables that were distributed far and wide. 

Today, there are front yard, backyard, hotel, school, rooftop, and parking lot gardens scattered throughout the country, many of which can be found in major cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver (and this isn’t even touching on the many forms of peri-urban agriculture that exist). 

 

What exactly is urban agriculture? 

In the simplest of terms, urban agriculture is growing or producing food within cities and heavily populated municipalities. The global food sovereignty movement, which has been gaining traction since the 90s, brought with it a renewed interest in urban farming. In addition to the benefits of producing food locally, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions caused by transporting food long distances and supporting biodiversity in the city, urban farming (a term often used interchangeably with urban agriculture) can also carry economic benefits to communities. When carried out in an educational context, it can teach us about climate change, pollution (of air, water, and soil), and where our food comes from.

 

Examples in Canada

North American cities are currently not the leaders in urban agriculture. For many people around the world, urban agriculture is a primary source of food, with at least (and I say at least because quantifying this is really difficult) 15-20% of total global food production taking place in urban settings. We do, however, have some really wonderful examples of successful agriculture within our cities.

One of the more notable examples in Canada is TMU’s rooftop urban farm, which grows about 10,000 pounds of food each year. The food produced is distributed in various ways, including through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and to food services at the school. 

 

Other examples within our country include: 

• Lifecycles in Victoria, BC

• The Stop in Toronto, ON

• Clean Spade Urban Farm in Swift Current, SK

• Green Wheel Farms in Belleville, ON

• Leaf and Lyre Urban Farms in Calgary, AB

• Saskatoon Food Bank’s Garden Patch in Saskatoon, SK

• Lufa Farms in Montreal, QC

• Sole Food Farms in Vancouver, BC

 

And, of course, there are the many school gardens funded and supported by our very own Youth in Food Systems program.

 

Can we do more? 

Wholeheartedly, yes! As of now, there are no policies governing urban agriculture projects, something that has hindered its growth and appeal. Nor are there nationally coordinated projects. Rather, each example of urban agriculture exists as a blip on the map, often tucked away from the masses’ awareness. 

But what if there were demonstration gardens and model farms strategically located around our urban areas? What if urban agriculture was more effectively incorporated into agricultural policy? What if it was an urban planning priority? 

For some interesting and handy reading on urban agriculture in Canada, here are some recommendations: 

• The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities (Peter Ladner)

• City Farmer - Adventures in Urban Food Growing (Lorraine Johnson)

• Carrot City: Creating Places for Urban Agriculture (Mark Gorgolewski, June Komisar, Joe Nasr)

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Image credits: 

Rooftop oasis greenhouse at Resurrection C.S.S., from Youth in Food Systems

https://seeds.ca/schoolfoodgardens/gallery/2019-gallery/

 

TMU’s rooftop urban farm

https://www.torontomu.ca/university-business-services/urban-farm/ 

 

Rayna Almas is Seeds of Diversity's Media and Communications Manager, and Youth in Food Systems Program Manager

 

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