GrowNWT 2026: Conference Schedule & Agenda (Draft)
- Mar 3
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 20
GrowNWT 2026: Conference Schedule & Agenda (Draft)
Join this interactive multi-day event to learn more about how the NWT agrifood sector is recovering and building resiliency, what business opportunities exist, best practises from experienced growers and producers and ideas for innovation. Everyone is welcome. There is no charge to attend but registration is required. Visit www.nwtagrifood.ca to register.
Date and Location
The conference will be held in Yellowknife, NWT at the Chateau Nova Hotel March 26-28, 2026. A room block has been reserved for out-of-town visitors. Please use the name of the event when booking.
Schedule Overview
Thursday March 26
1:00pm - 4:00pm
Growers Forum
Learn about agricultural projects happening around the NWT and join experienced Northern growers to discuss common issues, solutions and best practices.
6:30-8:30pm
Nourish and Network: An Agrifood Sector Networking Event and One Act Play
Sponsored by the Future Harvest Partnership (Wilfrid Laurier University, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment and the Territorial Agrifood Association)
Friday March 27
9:00am-4:00pm
MAIN CONFERENCE DAY
Full day interactive conference with the opportunity to meet one on one with funders, suppliers and subject matter experts as well as a series of panels, presentations and technical information.
5:30-7:30pm
Dinner ($50 per person)
Mix and Mingle with conference speakers, participants and funders while letting your hair down and enjoying an amazing meal and live music.
Saturday March 28
10:00am-2:00pm
SEEDY SATURDAY (open to the Public)
Seed Swap, talks and workshops. Light lunch.
Thursday March 26, 2026
GROWERS FORUM –Chateau Nova
MODERATOR: Janet Dean, Executive Director, Territorial Agrifood Association
1:00pm – 1:15pm
Conference Opening with the Yellowknives Dene Drummers
1:15pm-1:30pm
Welcome
Kevin Wallington, Chair, Territorial Agrifood Association
1:30pm-2:00pm
The State of the Agrifood Sector in the NWT
Touchback to discussions and recommendations from the 2025 conference, update on the sector as a whole.
Janet Dean, Executive Director, Territorial Agrifood Association
Joel Holder, Director Agriculture and Commercial Food Development Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment
Nazim Awan, Canadian North Development Agency
2:00pm-2:20pm
Arsenic and Yellowknife Soil
Mike Palmer, Aurora Research Institute, Yellowknife NT
2:20pm-2:45pm
Cultivating Curiosity- the role of famers and growers in research, seed saving and creating a community of practice
Julie Lacourse TAA Grower’s Liaison
Dr. Rosie Kerr, University of Guelph, Future Harvest Partnership
2:45-3:00pm
Health Break
3:00pm – 4:15pm
Northern Food Participants Panel - collaboration, collegiality and capacity
How we grow food in an isolated community
Aliya Hirch & Kathryn Scott, Garden Coordinators for Sambaa K'e First Nation's Community Garden
Learn the different locations and crops grown at the Sambaa K'e Community Garden - over 20 different varieties of fruits and vegetables with programs that involve different community members and age groups.
Creating avenues for budding local food producers
Lyndsay Matesic, Harvesters Table Coordinator Yellowknife Farmers Market
The Yellowknife Farmers Market Harvesters Table is a program that connects the public with fresh produce grown and harvested by backyard gardeners, with the goal of supporting northern food sovereignty and developing local food production.
A journey into forest gardening
Devon Koeller & Olivier Duret, Five Snares Homestead
200km beyond the last road on a small island in the East Arm, Devon and Olivier are exploring the challenges of building soil, a balanced nutrient cycle, & long-term sustainability, while using as few outside “inputs” as possible. A sharing of experiences & lessons learned in conversation with the land.
Growing connections and revenue through agritourism.
Hélèna Katz
With many years' experience in tourism and farming, Fort Smith farmer Helena will share her experiences with agritourism and her alpaca farm.
4:15pm – 4:45pm
Networking and Q and A
A series of spotlight questions designed to spark discussion, identify resources and foster collaborations amongst northern producers, growers, harvesters and processors.
TOPIC: Next steps for NWT Growers, creating a wish list for the future in a world of food sovereignty, arctic sovereignty, trade tariffs, relaxed interprovincial trade and climate change.
Facilitated by Janet Dean, Territorial Agrifood Association
4:45pm – 5:00pm
Day 1 close
6:30-8:30pm
Nourish and Network: An Agrifood Sector Networking Event and One Act Play sponsored by the Future Harvest Partnership
Enjoy Dale Hamilton’s touring one act regenerative agriculture play “The Gardener and the Golfer” while dining and networking with peers. Join in a collaborative dialogue post play and hear what other audiences across Canada have been saying.
Included with conference registration
Friday March 27, 2026 Chateau Nova
8:00 am- 9:00 am
Continental Breakfast and Conference Check In
9:00am-9:20am
Welcome
The Honorable Rebecca Alty (video)
MP House of Commons, Ottawa
The Honourable Jay Macdonald
Minister of Environment and Climate Change
tba
Yellowknives First Nation
Mayor Ben Hendriksen
City of Yellowknife
Kevin Wallington
Chair of the Territorial Agrifood Association
9:15am – 9:40 am
KEYNOTE 1: Dinner on Mars: What Remote Food Systems Teach Us About Feeding the North Mars is too far for takeout—and so is the North
Dr Evan Fraser Arell Food Institute, University of Guelph, Sustainable Futures for Canadians Project
Learn why northern food systems need foundational supports, not just projects,
why commercial food production is part of the solution but is not a replacement for traditional hunting, harvesting, or sharing economies and that the answer lies in collaboration over competition
9:40am – 10:00am
Panel: Community Food projects – the importance of project management in realizing impactful outcomes
Kevin Wallington, North Star Agriculture
Jonathan Luckhurst, Founder, Sea to Sky Botanics
Dr Andrew Spring, Wilfrid Laurier University
10:00am- 10:20am
Health break
10:20am-10:40am
NWT Local food survey – what we heard
Danielle Klassen, University of Waterloo Future Harvest Partnership Survey Team
10:40am-11:40am Table Talks – the speed dating of the conference world ( 2 sessions)
Visit the speakers at their tables for Q&A. Then visit the next on your list until time is up.
Ecology North
Aurora College/ Aurora Research Institute
Composting – Net Solutions Inc.
Funding for agri-food in the North –ITI
Wilfrid Laurier Northern Research Office
Tastes of the North
SF4C
Territorial Agrifood Association -Farmer Led Research
Scotia Bank
Office of Official Languages
Sea to Sky Botanics
Madeline Lake Market Garden
Laughing Lichen
11:40-noon
Agrifood Innovation and Youth – what we heard at the SF4C Youth Hackathon and the importance of amplifying the voices of youth
Tiffany and Carl Jr Kodakin-Yakelya, Territorial Agrifood Association
Noon- 1:00pm
Buffet LUNCH
Video highlights of the Territorial Agrifood Association’s work over the last year will be shown over lunch.
1:00pm - 1:30pm
KEYNOTE 2
The NWT Agricultural Frontier Under Climate Change
How scenario modelling can help our sector plan for the future.
Dr. Elena Bennett, Dr. Yehui Zhong McGill University Future Harvest Partnership
1:30pm- 1:50 pm
Soil Stories – update on NWT soil research
Jane Mariotti, MSc, University of Guelph
1:50pm- 2:10 pm
The Little Greenhouse That Could –a unique model of indoor farming
Trina Semenchuk, CEO & Founder Biosystems EIT
Winnipeg Manitoba
2:00pm- 2:30 pm
The importance of Food Sovereignty:
Growing food and traditional harvesting are both important pieces of the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Puzzle
Speaker to be confirmed
Cultural Food Sovereignty
Toyin Kayo-Ajayi, Canadian Black Farmers Association
Mission, BC
2:45pm – 3:00pm
Health break
3:00 pm – 3:30pm
Table talks: second round
Visit the speakers at their tables for Q&A. Then visit the next on your list until time is up.
Ecology North
Aurora College/ Aurora Research Institute
Composting – Net Solutions Inc.
Funding for agri-food in the North –ITI
Wilfrid Laurier Northern Research Office
Tastes of the North
SF4C
Territorial Agrifood Association -Farmer Led Research
Scotia Bank
Office of Official Languages
Sea to Sky Botanics
Madeline Lake Market Garden
Laughing Lichen
3:30pm- 4:00pm
Amplifying Voices for a Collaborative AgriFood Sector
A summary of conference outcomes and calls for the future of NWT food.
4:00pm – 4:30pm
Continuing our call to Action for NWT Livestock and Meat Regulations and
Closing Remarks
Janet Dean, Executive Director Territorial Agrifood Association
Optional Friday Dinner ($50 per person) Elks Lodge
6:00pm- 9:00 pm
An Agrifood Sector Dinner Event
Mix and mingle with other participants at this buffet catered by the Northern Chicks (maximum 60 people) while participating in agrifood related trivia before live music from the TAA’s own 17-year-old retail clerk and her band Raskl.
Saturday March 28 – Seedy Saturday (open to the public)
9:30am - 10:00am
Coffee and sign in
10:00am-10:30am
Square Foot Gardening: Growing More with Less Space
This practical, beginner-friendly session introduces square foot gardening as an efficient, low-cost method for growing fresh food in small or challenging spaces—perfect for our northern and urban environments. Participants will learn how to plan crops using the square grid system, and maximize yields while minimizing weeding, water use, and inputs. Participants can enter to win a square foot gardening wooden template created by YK MakerSpace
10:45am – 11:15am
Seed and Garden Trivia
Test your seed and gardening knowledge with this fun set of trivia. Enter to win a set of small home gardening tools and a gift certificate to Tastes of the North
11:15am - noon
Soil vs. Hydroponics: Home Growing in Northern Environments
This engaging session explores two accessible approaches to growing food at home—traditional soil-based gardening and hydroponic systems. Designed for northern and small-space living, it will help participants understand the benefits, challenges, and practical considerations of each method.
Noon – 1:00pm
Soup and Sandwich Lunch buffet
Chat with Territorial Agrifood Association Chair Kevin Wallington over lunch and/or bring your backyard chicken questions to this longtime sector advocate and former owner of Polar Egg in Hay River.
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Planning Your Backyard Vegetable Garden
This practical session will guide you through the key steps to planning a successful vegetable garden. Learn how to choose the right location, decide what to grow based on your climate and preferences, and design a simple, productive layout that makes the most of your space.
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Seed Saving Basics
This practical session introduces the fundamentals of saving seeds from your own garden to replant year after year. Learn which crops are easiest for beginners, how to properly harvest and clean seeds, and the basics of drying and storage to maintain viability—especially in northern climates.
We’ll also touch on pollination basics, avoiding cross-breeding, and how to select strong plants for seed saving to improve your future harvests. Whether you’re looking to save money, build resilience, or preserve favourite varieties, this session will give you simple, reliable tips to get started with confidence
Show Your Badge Program
This is an opportunity for conference delegates from outside of Yellowknife to access special promotions from local businesses. To access these promotions, delegates simply present their event badge displaying the NWT Show Your Badge Program Logo or show the coupon they received at registration at the participating business. Thank you to the generous sponsors who help make the Show Your Badge experience possible. Email events@nwtagrifood.ca if you wish to receive your coupons in advance to help you plan your stay.
Conference Sponsors
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