About CEA

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), also known as Protected Cropping or Indoor Farming, refers to the cultivation of crops at times and in places where the outdoor weather would not allow, using the indoor environment of a building. This is not new, of course, but in recent years has been driven by advances in technology.

The modern CEA movement is also propelled by growing global interest in local food production, and in heavily urbanized cold-climate countries like Canada, it largely overlaps with “urban agriculture.”

As a counterpoint to globalized big-Ag, growing food near cities and towns promises to shorten and make supply chains more resilient, to improve produce quality, and to rejuvenate communities' participation in feeding themselves.

Controlled environments allow growers to avoid the use of pesticides and fungicides and enhance food safety, flavour and shelf life.

An Opportunity Just Out of Reach

CEA is eco-friendly in many ways, but typically not yet in energy use or carbon footprint. Current approaches use too much energy for each unit of food produced; the obvious ways of reducing energy use are hugely capital and space-intensive.

About Us

Can Grow Here Inc. is a pre-seed company being incubated in the Clean Energy Zone of Toronto Metropolitan University. Our innovation focus is at the intersection of Agri-Food, Clean Technology and Renewable Energy, aiming to enable the expansion of Canada’s year-round supply of local farm-to-table produce by designing energy-efficient low-carbon growing facilities.

Our Partners

TMU's Centre for Urban Energy is our home base, connecting us to resources through the Zone Learning program's energy-focused incubator.

This innovative farm is our Atlantic Canada partner for piloting and demonstrating new ways to grow.

Working with Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Services (ARIES), we are discovering and testing components of a new, better way to grow indoors.

Funded in part by

Also supported by

UWindsor's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is powering our simulation-based design exploration and optimization work.