Tours
Interested in experiencing a day in the life of a rooftop farmer? The Urban Farm offers free, public tours and private, chartered tours throughout the growing season, providing attendees with a behind the scenes snapshot of our operations. From ecology to food justice, tours will lead participants through the varied facets of designing and operating a rooftop farm.
Summer Open Farm at the ENG and DCC rooftop farms
TMU students, faculty and staff will have the option to visit the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre (ENG) rooftop farm on their own from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. or join a brief, guided tour that will begin at 11:15 a.m. This casual tour will touch on the Urban Farm’s history, operations and best practices, while also covering the dedicated plots for cut-flowers, pollinators, natural dye and fibres and a four-year crop rotation of annual vegetables. Afterwards, visitors are free to take in the sites at the farm on their own.
The weekly ENG tours are meant for small groups and individuals and is casual in nature. If you are a group of more than 10 people or are looking to book a longer, private tour of the rooftop sites, please consider booking a tour through our Chartered Tours program.
While walk-ins to the are welcome, we encourage guests to fill out the (google form) Registration form (external link) in order to visit the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre (ENG) rooftop farm for a tour.
Visitors looking to explore more of TMU’s Urban Farm can also visit the Summer Open Farm at the DCC located on the 8th floor of Daphne Cockwell Complex across the street from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Chartered tours of the Urban Farm are available during the following dates and times and will last approximately 1-1.5 hours.
When booking your tour, consider the timing of your requested date. While tours are available from June to October, we recommend booking tours at the height of the growing season between June and August while the rooftop farms are at their most lush!
| Day of the week | Time slots |
| Mondays | 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. | 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Tuesdays | 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. | 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
If you are interested in booking a chartered tour, please complete the (google form) Chartered Tour Google form (external link) and a member of our team will get in contact with you.
Our hour-long chartered tours are private tours led by enthusiastic and knowledgeable Urban Farm staff. Participants will learn about the Urban Farm’s history, how and what food is grown, ecological best practices in rooftop farming, emerging research in urban agriculture, green roof technology, Black and Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives, and so much more! You’ll observe food crops, wild and medicinal plants interacting in a cohesive ecological ecosystem as well as staff planting, tending to or harvesting the more than 40+ crops grown at the Urban Farm!
While farm activities may vary across the growing season, there’s always something exciting to see at the Urban Farm!
Tours may be booked at either of the Urban Farm’s two rooftop farm locations, including the ENG and DCC rooftops.
$150 + HST minimum charge for up to 15 guests. An additional $10 + HST/person will be charged for additional guests. The maximum group size the Urban Farm can accommodate is 20 people.
- One rooftop location: $150 + HST for up to 15 guests
- Two rooftop locations: $200 + HST for up to 15 guests
If your group is more than 15 guests, we will need to split your group up with additional guide(s), which would require a $50 fee per additional tour guide. We cannot accommodate groups larger than 45 people.
All proceeds from chartered tours help support ongoing programming and operations at the Urban Farm.