Edmonton college’s new greenhouse business program has waiting list

A greenhouse program at Norquest College designed to help people with food insecurity is already at capacity. CTV News Edmonton's Marek Tkach explains.

A fledgling Edmonton college program for people interested in greenhouse food production is full with a waiting list.

NorQuest College’s greenhouse microcredential program began last year, and has its first intake of 70 students splitting their time between online instruction and hands-on learning in a hydroponic greenhouse.

Jelena Bajic, the dean of NorQuest’s faculty of business, environment and technology, said the school expects interest in the program to increase in the wake of a federal government announcement of a $150-million food security fund to help small- and medium-sized greenhouse operations to expand.

“Not only does it support individuals who are interested in learning more about the space, it also supports smaller businesses that are looking to expand their operations,” Bajic told reporters on Tuesday.

The program teaches students about plant propagation, plant care, greenhouse technology and business decision-making.

Student Tashia Quewezance said she was drawn to take the course because she wanted to further her skills and knowledge about plants by learning more about gardening and growing food.

“I’d really like to teach my community because we don’t get fresh food sometimes in those kind of areas, and if you do, it’s really expensive because of tariffs and all that’s going on, so food and fresh food is getting more expensive,” said Quewezance, who grew up on an Indigenous reserve. “If we can teach the community to grow it on their own, maybe we can cut costs.”