Green Economy North

Green Economy North was first established in 2016, and remains Northern Ontario’s only membership-based sustainable business program. Since the program was initiated, we have supported approximately 50 different organizations through program-based activities.

We equip businesses, non-profits, and the broader public sector with the knowledge, information, and tools they need to pivot and succeed in the low carbon economy.

We produce estimates of our members’ annual Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and support the development of action plans to both reduce their impact on the environment and achieve cost savings.

Our work involves:

• Technical, advisory, and research-based programming;

• Organizing and delivering business and community-oriented events;

• Encouraging knowledge-sharing & collaboration among our virtual networks; and

• Recognizing and celebrating progress made by our program members.

Green Economy North membership involves a combination of cohort-based training sessions, 1:1 consulting hours, peer-based learning, and professional networking opportunities.

Green Economy North serves as a Hub within the wider Green Economy Canada network, which is committed to accelerating Canada’s business transition to a vibrant and inclusive net-zero future.

Green Economy Canada Hubs also serve communities in Southern Ontario, the GTA, Ottawa, Peterborough, the Province of New Brunswick, and the City of Edmonton with several new Hubs in the works – from coast to coast. Members of our regional Hub (Green Economy North) benefit from access to this wider National network.

As of 2019, over 300 organizations, representing a broad range of sectors and sizes, have committed to reducing more than 200,000 tonnes of GHGs – the equivalent of taking over 43,000 cars off the road each year.

All businesses, non-profits, and public sector organizations that join the Green Economy North program commit to setting sustainability targets, and reporting publicly on their progress each year.

Green Economy North recognizes these organizations as ‘Green Economy Leaders’ because they are making commitments to measure, manage, reduce, and report on their environmental impact and, as such, are demonstrating leadership both at an organizational level, and within the communities they serve.

Across Canada, over 250 Green Economy Leaders are demonstrating a more sustainable economy is possible.

The Green Economy North program is available to all businesses, non-profits, and public sector organizations with a physical building (owned or leased), plus other assets that can be assessed for their energy performance – whether that be an Industrial facility, a retail store, hotel accommodation, office space, or even a working scrap / storage yard.

In line with the federal interpretation of Northern Ontario, our area of coverage currently extends across the whole of Northeastern Ontario, from Sault Ste. Marie in the West, to Mattawa in the East, and from James Bay in the North, to Gravenhurst in the South.

In due course, we hope to make the Green Economy North program available to all organizations in Northern Ontario, and to collaborate with additional sector-based agencies to increase our geographic reach and influence.

Our Hub goals are to work with members to complete their GHG Inventory and initial GHG Reduction Plan within 12 months of joining, and to have GHG Reduction Targets set within 18 months of joining. To achieve this, we structure our work in roughly six-month chunks to keep things manageable for you and ensure we meet those timelines.

Once the initial milestones are complete, and a science-based interim target and/or longer-term Green House Gas (GHG) reduction target has been set; we facilitate quarterly check-ins and yearly updates to your GHG Inventory Report – so we can continue to monitor your progress. As our relationship matures, we provide you with the necessary add-on services and supports to help you either reach or positively-exceed your target(s) into the future.

Action Plans can vary considerably depending on the nature and size of an organization; however, most action plans generally include a series of defined goals, plus an outline of steps to be followed, priority tasks, and timeframes, etc.

Our cohort members’ action plans will all appear different – depending on our members’ budgets, their capacity, and where they’re already at in their sustainability journey.

Sometimes it can be as simple as making some changes in procurement decisions, retrofitting building envelopes, or swapping out lighting fixtures. In other cases, it could include pursuing the installment of more advanced energy management systems, electric vehicle chargers, or renewable technologies.

Organizations often don’t talk enough about the sustainability work they’re already doing, and sometimes find it hard to communicate about their efforts in credible ways. To make that easier for our members, we put together a communications toolkit, which includes templates on how best to share details of their work, via Green Economy North, among internal and external stakeholders.

The toolkit contains templates you can use to spread the word including announcement emails, social media messages and email signature suggestions, plus other content to include within any job postings or RFPs you may be responding to.

Our partners at Green Economy Canada were recently awarded funding for a new EV Charger Incentive Program. Check out their website for further details here: https://greeneconomy.ca/evchargerincentive