O’Citrus: Overcoming the odds of growing citrus in Québec

Vyckie Vaillancourt's greenhouse O’Citrus is the first-ever operation to grow citrus fruit in Québec in any sort of commercial way.

Mayssam Samaha

March 28, 2024- Read time: 5 min

Vyckie Vaillancourt’s genius was taking the idea for a fictional start-up and transforming it from a passion story into a concrete project: O’Citrus. | Photograph: Peter Currie / @peterdcurrie

Before O’Citrus, Vyckie Vaillancourt grew up on a farm, Ferme Vaillancourt, just north of Montréal that was founded by her ancestors in 1823 and has been family-run since. No one expected her to take over the farm.

Being an only child, Vyckie was constantly worried that the farm, which had been in her family for 7 generations, would no longer be theirs and could potentially be sold. This concern was too much to bear, convincing her to move back and try her hand at running it to see if it suited her.

The Vaillancourt farm grows a lot of the same produce harvested at some of their neighbouring Laval farms: Eggplants, peppers, tomatoes and about a dozen other crop which are then sold exclusively at the farm stand on the premises or integrated to their subscription baskets. You can also pick your own berries in season or purchase some preserves made from family recipes.

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