Inside Oak Meadows Elementary, school leaders have launched a program to hydroponically grow fresh lettuce and basil as part of the school district’s Farm to School initiative.

To grow vegetables hydroponically, plants grow in nutrient-rich water instead of soil.

Inside the freight farms are grow walls and nursery stations that used to grow only romaine lettuce, but have now expanded to radishes, carrots, and even strawberries. Each shipping container is equivalent to around three acres of farm land.

The freight farms give cohort participants a job as they help with the maintenance and harvest of produce each week. They get paid $15 per hour for up to 20 hours per week for each hour spent helping at the farm and in the classroom.

Through partnerships with Growcer, food banks, and community farms, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is positioning vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) as a strategic solution to climate, skills, and food access challenges.

When The Ottawa Mission, the city's oldest homeless shelter, recently installed two modular vertical farms, it became more than a food relief effort. The project, a partnership between the shelter, agtech firm Growcer, and the Royal Bank of Canada, represented a collaboration that merges philanthropy with infrastructure building.