About Us

Who are Master Gardeners?

Master Gardeners are part of an international non-profit movement of trained volunteers who serve their communities as volunteer gardening educators. To that end, they are educated through recognized post-secondary training programs and must meet specific standards for certification. Following certication, they maintain their credentials through volunteer activities and continuing education.

About the Manitoba Master Gardener Association (MMGA)

The Manitoba Master Gardener Association was formally organized in 2011 as the supporting and networking body for Certified Master Gardeners and Master Gardeners in Training (now called Master Gardener Interns) in Manitoba.

For information on volunteers and speakers contact: volunteers@mgmanitoba.com

History of the Manitoba Master Gardener Association

The Manitoba Master Gardener Association was formally established in 2011 as the supporting and networking body for Master Gardeners and Master Gardener Interns (trainees) in the Province of Manitoba.

Manitoba’s Master Gardener program started in the mid-2000s with the delivery in Winnipeg and selected rural communities of core training courses developed by the University of Saskatchewan. By 2007, however, local delivery of the courses had been halted due to cost-cutting. While many registrants chose to complete their courses at the USask’s annual Hort Week in Saskatoon, demand for a made-in-Manitoba training program grew.

A group of Master Gardeners began approaching educational institutions in the hope that the local courses could resume. In 2009, Brandon’s Assiniboine Community College (ACC), which had previously brokered the USask program, expressed interest. Master Gardeners around the province pledged their support, and with this assurance, ACC agreed to relaunch the brokered program in October 2010. The initial classes, first in Winnipeg and then in Brandon and Steinbach, met with an enthusiastic response.

Until 2021, the program was run by ACC’s Centre of Continuing Studies, which hired instructors recommended by the MMGA, provided them with teaching materials developed by the USask, supervised the internship hours and examination, and issued certificates.

In response to the COVID pandemic in 2020-2021, ACC shifted the courses to Zoom but had difficulty attracting viable enrolment numbers. Meanwhile, the USask had extensively revised its training program and recorded most classes to enable on-demand, online delivery. In 2021, USask ended its brokering agreement with ACC and in 2021, the MMGA took over responsibility from ACC for supervising and approving the internship (practicum) component of the program. In May 2022, the MMGA board decided to make the USask its sole educational partner for the delivery of the Master Gardener training and exam.

Thus, while the USask provides the training courses, the MMGA is now the certifying body for all new Manitoba Master Gardeners. It approves Interns’ practicum hours and then notifies the USask that they are eligible to take their exam. Upon notification that Interns have passed, the MMGA issues them their official Master Gardener certificates. In addition, the MMGA continues to serve as the supporting organization for Manitoba Master Gardeners who wish to maintain their certification credentials.

A Brief History of the International Master Gardener Movement

The Master Gardener movement began in the US in 1973 in response to public demand for practical information related to gardening. Faculty members in the federally-supported Extension division of Washington State University trained volunteers to assist them with public horticulture education. In the US, these volunteers are known as Extension Master Gardeners.

The first Canadian Master Gardener programs were founded in 1986 by Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture in several Ontario cities. Since 1998, they have been overseen by a non-profit organization, the Master Gardeners of Ontario Inc. (MGOI).

The University of Saskatchewan Master Gardener program was founded in 1989 by Sara Williams. It grew out of the USask’s popular annual Hort Week event, which had begun in 1985. Today, the program is delivered by Gardening at the USask, the community outreach arm of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources. Since the mid-2000s, Master Gardener training in Manitoba has been based on the USask training program. 

Master Gardener programs now exist in all 50 states and across Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Atlantic region), as well as in South Korea. An International Master Gardener Conference takes place every two years.