The City of Victoria recognizes gardening and growing food as important activities that can contribute to health, well-being, social interaction and environmental education. Urban food production on public and private land can create healthy and diverse ecosystems while building community and local food security.
The City is proud to provide a variety of supportive programs, grants and initiatives.
Educational Programs
Develop your green thumb with classes, tours and events available with the City's Recreation department. Learn how to grow your own food, compost, invite pollinators into your garden and care for fruit trees. Program offerings change every season so there are always new opportunities to learn from local experts.
Community and Outdoor Recreation Programs
Food Tree Stewardship Program
Residents can apply to plant and maintain up to six fruit and nut trees in a local green space.
Learn more about the Urban Food Tree Stewardship program.
Boulevard Gardening
Boulevard gardening transforms grass boulevards into beautiful and healthy gardens that come with ecological and community-building benefits. There are over 300 km of boulevards in Victoria, and the City seeks to help gardeners transform these public greenspaces responsibly.
If you’re considering a boulevard garden, please review the Boulevard Gardening Guidelines or see Community Gardens for more information.
Growing Food at Home
Victoria is the City of Gardens and many gardeners love to grow food. There are resources and bylaws to ensure that Victoria residents are empowered to grow their own food at home.
Residents living in apartment or condo buildings can use the Growing Food and Gardening on Mixed-Use, Multi-Unit Residential Developments guide to learn more about existing good practices and opportunities to innovate.
Building design and management opportunities covered in this guide include:
• using common outdoor spaces such as rooftops and courtyards for community gardens and urban farms.
• incorporating edible landscaping and pollinator gardening into landscaped areas.
• offering educational activities and resources for home or community gardening.
• making vacant lots or underutilized spaces available for temporary community gardens or urban farms.
• integrating place-making and community gathering features complementary to urban gardening and food production.
Rooftop Greenhouses
Rooftop greenhouses can enable year-round local food production in dense urban environments. If you want to build a greenhouse on a rooftop, the Building a Rooftop Greenhouse fact sheet will help you get started.
Backyard Food Trees
Grow fruit trees in your backyard with the support of a My Great Neighbourhood Grant and access up to $1000 to expand our urban forest canopy with food trees
Keeping Bees and Hens
The Animal Control Bylaw permits an unspecified number of bee hives and up to 15 female chickens or other poultry. Beehives, coops and pens of all sizes must be set back from the property line. Check the Zoning Regulation Bylaw to see required setbacks for your zone.