McGill University inaugurated a teaching greenhouse and new plant-research facilities at its Macdonald Campus on 9 April 2026. The greenhouse contains seven independently controlled growing bays, practical teaching rooms, a tissue-culture facility and a classroom.
LED lighting, rooftop rainwater collection for irrigation and energy-efficiency features are built into the greenhouse. McGill reported that an application for LEED certification was in progress; certification had not been confirmed in the announcement.
The university also presented the Eastern Canadian Plant Phenotyping Platform, developed with Université de Sherbrooke. This includes pest-containment and multiscale imaging capabilities intended to support crop resilience research. The greenhouse is a teaching investment, while the phenotyping platform is a separate shared research initiative. Their inauguration establishes new capacity, rather than demonstrating that any particular automated growing strategy has already improved farm performance.
