Green Care Farms is building a learning portal for care farming in Canada.
Coming in Spring 2026, The Path to Care Farming will bring Green Care Farms' educational workshop series into an online learning experience for people who want to understand, adapt, and build care farming models in their own communities.
Sign up on our waitlist to hear when enrollment opens, receive early updates, and access launch pricing for the first user group.
Launch
April 2026
Format
Fully Online
Flagship Course
Recorded learning segments you can revisit on your own schedule
Live Ask Me Anything events with Rebekah Churchyard and the core team
A course model rooted in Dutch care farming and Green Care Farms’ work in Canada.
Fully Online • Asynchronous
A response to the need for care farming teachers in Canada
WHY
Green Care Farms' vision is simple: a Care Farm for people with dementia in every community in Canada. Since launching in 2020, the team has heard from many people who want to learn about care farming and bring it into their own work.
Canada still has too few teachers and too few practical examples. The learning portal is Green Care Farms' way of sharing lived experience, hard-won lessons, and an evidence-based model with others committed to growing care farming across the country.
WHAT
The Path to Care Farming
Green Care Farms has been shifting its educational workshop series, How to Start a Care Farm, into a full online learning portal. Two rounds of beta testing with Canadian community leaders have already helped shape the first release.
The flagship course summarizes the Green Care Farms model, drawing from Dutch care farming examples across the Netherlands and parts of Europe, while adapting those ideas to the Canadian context.
Schedule & Cost
1
Signup fee
$20
2
Monthly Subscription
$20
Launch
April 2026
Course Modules
Nine modules that move from vision to implementation
The course starts with the evidence, values, and core structure behind care farming, then moves into operations, people, branding, programming, and growth.
Module 1
The Why and our evidence-based model
Why people care farm, what the research says, and how Green Care Farms structures its model.
Module 2
Infrastructure planning and program operations
Practical planning for physical space, workflows, and the operational realities of running a care farm.
Module 3
Finances
Financial considerations, startup thinking, sustainability, and the questions future operators need to ask early.
Module 4
People, culture and staffing
How staffing, team culture, and leadership shape the day-to-day experience for members and care partners.
Module 5
Members, intake, assessment, liability and risk mitigation
Member fit, intake and assessment processes, plus liability and risk mitigation considerations.
Module 6
Look and feel: branding, marketing and media
How to communicate the model clearly, build trust, and shape a public-facing identity that fits the work.
Module 7
Programming and day-program structure
A closer look at the day program model and how meaningful activity is structured for people living with dementia.
Module 8
Sensory garden
Design thinking, practical lessons, and the role of the sensory garden in the Green Care Farms experience.
Module 9
Stakeholders
How care farms interact with families, farmers, professionals, community groups, and other stakeholders over time.
Who Is It For
Built for people who want to start, support, or shape a care farm
The course is delivered through recorded segments with live 'Ask Me Anything' events. It is for anyone who wants to learn how to start a care farm, contribute to one, or help bring one to life alongside a farmer or community partner.
Community leaders and future founders
People hoping to open a care farm, partner with a farmer, or help build a model in their own town or region.
Farmers, landowners and rural partners
People with land, farming knowledge, or community connections who want to explore how care farming could fit their context.
Professionals supporting vulnerable populations
Activationists, horticultural therapists, nurses, personal support workers, recreation therapists, social workers, and others working alongside older adults and people with dementia.
Anyone passionate about care farming
The example population is people with dementia, but the concepts are transferable to many other populations and care contexts.
Facilitators
Led by Rebekah Churchyard and the Green Care Farms core team
This course is taught by Founder and CEO Rebekah Churchyard with support from the Green Care Farms core team. Much of this work has been developed through volunteer effort, and enrollment directly supports the organization.
When and Where
Launching in April 2026 through an online learning experience
Each participant will have their own profile within the learning platform. You will need a computer with video capability and a stable internet connection to fully participate.
Canadian Care Farming Network
The learning portal will also support the Canadian Care Farming Network
The Path to Care Farming will become a home base for the Canadian Care Farming Network, giving people across the country a place to connect around monthly live events and ongoing learning about care farming.
This means the platform is not only a course. It is also a gathering place for people who want to stay connected to the movement, hear from others doing related work, and keep learning after the first modules are complete.
What members can expect
Monthly live events focused on care farming in Canada
A shared space for people learning, building, and adapting care-farm models
Continued access to education beyond the first flagship course
Acknowledgements
Built with volunteer energy, mentorship, and community support
Thank you to the volunteer team making this course possible. Thank you also to mentors and past funder Grebel Peace Incubator's Fund for helping make this development possible.
This learning portal is part of Green Care Farms' broader effort to share the care farming model responsibly and grow capacity across Canada.
How to Start a Care Farm waitlist
Be the first to know when the Green Care Farms learning portal opens in Spring 2026. Waitlist subscribers will receive launch updates and early pricing details for the first course group.
If you are exploring care farming for people with dementia or another population, this is the best place to stay connected.