The very notion of a thriving garden within an urban parking garage is counterintuitive. Growing Prospects Inc. is a hydroponics operation located in a parking facility adjacent to the Forks Market, in downtown Winnipeg. Growing Prospects Inc. aims for economically and socially sustainable food production in extreme conditions of site and climate.

The concept for Growing Prospects evolved out of the efforts of a teacher, Dave Taylor, and his class at Dufferin Elementary School in 1991. Dave had established an outdoor garden at the school to provide lettuce for a classroom-cooking program. Soon Dave and his students began to investigate opportunities to extend their growing season into Winnipeg's difficult climactic constraints.

Growing Prospects Inc. was established in 1998 as an opportunity for training employment available to youth receiving income assistance. The Winnipeg Police Services provides Growing Prospects with hydroponics equipment that has been seized in drug raids. Traditionally, equipment seizures of this nature have been destroyed and delivered to a landfill site. Now the same equipment is used to grow pesticide-free herbs and vegetables for the retail market.