Green Communities Canada

We are pleased to release our 2025 National Progress Report on Retrofitting Canada’s Homes. This report analyzes five years of federal data from over 600,000 retrofits. These retrofits reduced fossil fuel emissions and household energy bills in Canada’s low-rise housing sector. However, more than 11 million homes across the country still require retrofitting. Green Communities Canada is calling for a fresh start and a new domestic stimulus program with greatly increased ambitions. Big thank you and much appreciation to Kai Millyard, our EnerGuide Service Organization Manager, Jared Kolb, Managing Director, and to our expert panelists on today's Voices For Action launch event, Sharon Coward (Executive Director of EnviroCentre), Brendan Haley (Senior Director of Policy Strategy with Efficiency Canada), and Ralph Torrie (Director of Research with Corporate Knights). Thank you to the THE PETER GILGAN FOUNDATION, the McConnell Foundation, and the Trottier Family Foundation for your generous support of GCC’s Deep Energy Retrofit Program. Recording, details, and much more coming soon! Watch this page: https://buff.ly/I7g3ReH

Living cities are places where all residents have access to healthier, safer, and greener spaces! 🌳🚶🚴 Through the Living Cities Canada Fund, Green Communities Canada is supporting local organizations in co-creating green spaces with and for marginalized communities. One of those initiatives was led by #GreenUP! The plan included planting 20 trees and more than 94 plants, enhancing stormwater management and food security, and creating new shaded areas. The final transformation featured: 🌱Two rain garden planter boxes filled with species like the blue flag iris, brown fox sedge, and swamp milkweed. 🌳A diverse mix of trees, including a row of birch, black cherry, and sugar maple. 🍎 A small community orchard featuring apple, pear, peach, and apricot trees. Read about how the Living Cities Fund has supported GreenUP programming in this blog released by GCC: https://lnkd.in/eKNHurzB

Today is huge: More than 125 mayors, councillors and other local elected leaders from coast to coast to coast have united to say #ElbowsUpforClimate in an open letter to the five main federal party leaders. While we’re already feeling the effects of U.S. trade attacks through lost jobs, uncertainty for businesses, and increased costs of living, we also know that our communities are increasingly facing another type of crisis: recurring wildfires, floods, storms and deadly climate events. We believe this is the moment for Canada to fight back by investing in national projects that will connect and protect our country from the dual threats of tariffs and climate change. It is time for us to get to work. We are proposing five bold and achievable ideas the next federal government can implement as soon as it is elected, to tariff-proof our economy and create a jobs boom in every community: ⚡ create a national East-West-North clean electric grid, delivering affordable energy to urban, rural and Indigenous communities across the country;  🚄 build a national high-speed rail network, and extend it with locally-made electric buses to reach every community in this country; 🏡 build at least two million non-market, energy-efficient homes, creating more affordable, transit-linked communities; ❄️ make our homes and buildings warmer in winter, cooler in summer with retrofits and heat pump installations across the country, that will cut energy bills and pollution; 🆘 …. and fund a national resilience, response and recovery strategy so our communities can prepare for the climate disasters we know are coming, respond when they hit, and rebuild afterwards. Help us say #ElbowsUpForClimate. Read the open letter and share widely. https://lnkd.in/d4vytWAX

⚡️ On peut surmonter les coûts initiaux élevés des autobus scolaires électriques et favoriser leur adoption. Voici les recommandations de L'Alliance canadienne pour l’électrification des autobus scolaires (#ACEAS), initiative d'Équiterre et de Green Communities Canada.

📢 On April 3, Green Communities Canada released our 2025 National Progress Report on Retrofitting Canada’s Homes and hosted an insightful discussion on the future of home retrofits in Canada. Missed it? Catch the full webinar recording and explore key resources here: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gbMTwKBm Stay tuned for more Voices for Action highlights! #DeepEnergyRetrofits #VoicesForAction #ClimateAction 🏡💡🌱 Alt text: The Voices for Action logo is at the top of the image, followed by a navy blue color-blocked section with the text "2025 National Progress Report on Retrofitting Canada's Homes. 3 April, 2-3 PM ET." There is an orange rectangle underneath with the text "Recording Available Now" left-aligned and the Green Communities Canada logo right-aligned.

As part of our goal to become Net Zero by 2040, we’re looking into key actions to decarbonize Toronto’s building sector by focusing on reducing emissions and connecting residents with the right resources and tools to make energy improvements.🏠 We want to understand how we can make it easier for low-rise building owners and tenants to realize the benefits of making energy improvements and reducing emissions in their homes. If you live in a low-rise residential building (less than three storeys), complete our quick survey before April 14: https://lnkd.in/gpNNA-BD

With the snow melting and spring in full bloom, now is the perfect time to start planning your next planting project! 🌱 Register for our FREE Mini Forest course and learn how to bring these powerful, pocket-sized ecosystems to life. Mini forests help reduce air pollution, boost biodiversity, prevent flooding, and cool our cities—while also creating peaceful, green spaces that support mental well-being and bring communities together. 🌳💚 The comprehensive training curriculum covers: 🌳 Introduction to mini forests 🌳 Budgeting and fundraising 🌳 Site preparation and plant selection 🌳 Event day planning and safety 🌳 Maintenance and monitoring 🌳 Impact communication strategies Sign up now and start your journey to creating vibrant green spaces in your community! 🌱 https://lnkd.in/gV5DpERk Alt text: An image with a solid light-grey background. The mini forest logo is at the top in a dark green font color. The bottom has the text "About this course" followed by a small line underneath. There is a tag icon with "Free" next to it and a play button icon underneath with the text "1 hour of video content."

Attention waterfront property owners! 📢 We are in search of riparian restoration sites in the Greater Saint John Region! This includes the City of Saint John, Rothesay, Quispamsis, Grand Bay-Westfield, Kingston, Saint Martins, and more. For eligible properties, we can offer a free site visit, advice and recommendations on issues such as erosion, and free trees/shrubs that will be planted by us! 🌳🌱 To see if your property is eligible and to get involved, send us an email at tori@acapsj.org

We're hiring a Digital Content Specialist to assist our Communications team! 👨💻 Submit your application now 📄 The deadline is Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 11:59 PM ET. 🕔 For more information and how to apply, visit our careers page: https://lnkd.in/gZHk5dr Alt text: A decorative image with a green background and a hand holding a speakerphone on the bottom right side of the image. The text says: "We are hiring" and "Digital Content Specialist, Remote, anywhere in Canada," followed by "Application deadline: May 7, 2025, 11:59 PM ET."

Are your walls sweating like a cold bag of milk on a hot summer's day? 🧱💧 No one likes moist, clammy walls, so it might be time to get that fixed with good wall insulation! With the extra padding, you have the extra benefit of protecting your peace for a quiet night's sleep. 🛏️😴 Find out more 👇 https://lnkd.in/e3rmMhrK Alt text: An image with the title "Wall Insulation" and the text " Insulation is designed to prevent heat from being transmitted from one area to another, with the added benefit of dampening transmission of sound. The type of insulation you need will depend on the type of walls in your home."