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Bringing the outdoors into city spaces
How do Canada’s Greenest Employers (2025) celebrate nature and biodiversity?
Apiaries on-site? Indigenous gardens with native plants? Goats grazing on the lawn to keep the grass trimmed? All of the above and more. Each winning organization does it in their own unique way. The YMCA of Greater Toronto has created entire biodiverse ecosystems on its various urban rooftops and beyond, including at its Cedar Glen Outdoor Centre, a 263-acre site north of the city.
“It’s about giving people access to nature who may not normally have it,” says Alex Versluis, senior vice-president, property and development management. “A lot of what we’re trying to do is demonstrate how we can interact with the world in a healthy and respectful way.”
The Y’s many green roofs include Toronto’s largest publicly accessible one at the Cooper Koo Family YMCA. Designed through community engagement, it features wheelchair-accessible planters, urban farming areas and an educational apiary. The goal is education first, but through a lens of authenticity.
“We’re not just putting turf on a roof – we’re really trying to think through the true lens of biodiversity,” says Versluis. “You have to track the birds and the bees and the bugs – all the good stuff that comes with the green space – so we bring in a lot of signage and programming so people can see that depth of biodiversity.”
While urban honeybees aren’t a native species, Versluis says bees are an accessible way to help people understand the full biodiversity spectrum.
“A beehive where you can see the honey is a really powerful way to start making people think beyond what’s green on top of a roof,” he says. “We also have an apiary at our Cedar Glen site where they extract the honey and make it available on our farm stand. As well, we have a sugar shack there and produce maple syrup every year.”
Whether through urban farming, apiaries or educational programs, the Y is helping people form a deeper understanding of ecological interconnectedness.
“Our urban spaces create a bit of nature in the middle of the city,” he says. “It’s giving people opportunity to think about what they could plant on their balcony and actually have fresh tomatoes or fresh spices. Every little bit counts.”
METHODOLOGY
Canada’s Greenest Employers is an editorial competition organized by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project. This special designation recognizes employers that have developed exceptional sustainability initiatives and directly involve employees in their efforts to mitigate adverse environmental impacts of their operations.
Key areas of review include employee-led initiatives and programs to engage employees in creating a culture of environmental awareness. The editors also review in-house efforts for waste reduction and recycling, green procurement policies, and green building initiatives.
Any employer that has its head office or principal place of business in Canada may apply for this competition through the Canada’s Top 100 Employers application process. Organizations of any size may participate, whether private or public sector. Employers complete a single application for the national, regional, and special-interest competitions, including Canada’s Greenest Employers.
More detailed reasons for selection, explaining why each of the winners was chosen, are published on the competition’s website, Canada’s Greenest Employers.
2025 WINNERS
The following organizations have been chosen as Canada’s Greenest Employers for 2025 (employee count refers to full-time staff):
Aecon Group Inc., Toronto, Ont. Construction and infrastructure development; 7,608 employees. Offers employees a dedicated subsidy for green home improvements or sustainable transportation choices, to $400 annually.
AET Group Inc., Kitchener, Ont. Environmental consulting services; 33 employees. Has moved to an all-hybrid-truck fleet and encourages employees to shift to bicycles or low-emission, plug-in hybrid vehicles and EVs through subsidies ranging from $250 to $2,500.
Appleby College, Oakville, Ont. Elementary and secondary schools; 229 employees. Manages a dedicated “Freecycle and Buy and Sell” online channel that lets employees and students post and find everyday needed items, extending their useful life and helping to reduce waste.
Aramark Canada Ltd., Mississauga, Ont. Food service contractors; 6,183 employees. Manages a food waste prevention program that ensures employees work to identify and reduce expected and preventable food waste from their day-to-day operations.
Aviva Canada Inc., Markham, Ont. Insurance services; 4,728 employees. In support of its formal sustainability plan, employees set their own job-specific sustainability goals annually in alignment with company’s in-house targets.
BC Housing Management Commission, Burnaby, B.C. Provincial government, housing programs; 1,220 employees. Hosts numerous environmental awareness events for tenants every year, from recycling drives and beehive workshops to a spring Lavender Festival.
BC Hydro, Vancouver, B.C. Hydroelectric power generation; 7,301 employees. Encourages employees to consider leaving the car at home with an online carpool website to help commuters find each other, along with on-site showers and secure bicycle lockup.
BC Public Service, Victoria, B.C. Provincial governments; 37,562 employees. Encourages employees to get involved in creating a greener public service through location specific and government-wide employee green teams.
Bell Canada, Montréal, Que. Communications; 35,069 employees. Established the formal Circular Economy Task Force, a crossfunctional team of employees working to identify and implement new waste diversion initiatives.
BluEarth Renewables Inc., Calgary, Alta. Renewable power generation; 136 employees. As part of a formal habitat management program, the firm constructed a passageway that helps ensure the safe movement of a variety of animal species across a busy roadway.
Boston Consulting Group Canada ULC, Toronto, Ont. Management consulting; 567 employees. Supports employee green teams in its offices around the world and has committed $2 billion over the next decade in support of green initiatives across industries worldwide.
British Columbia Institute of Technology / BCIT, Burnaby, B.C. Post secondary schools, college; 2,275 employees. Encourages two-wheeled commuting at all campuses, offering bike racks, lockers and showers as well as repair stations with needed tools and air pumps.
Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited, Toronto, Ont. Real estate management; 1,304 employees. Supports the long-standing Green at Work program that encourages green teams at major properties to focus on sustainability in their operations.
Canada Life Assurance Company, The, Winnipeg, Man. Direct life insurance carriers; 12,891 employees. Partners with the Computers for Schools Plus program, donating thousands of used but functional laptops to schools in Manitoba and Ontario.
Canon Canada Inc., Brampton, Ont. Imaging equipment and information services; 803 employees. Through its Branch Out program, employees have volunteered with environmental initiatives in 10 cities across the country, from tree planting to invasive species removal.
Capital Regional District, The / CRD, Victoria, B.C. Municipal government; 656 employees. Encourages residents to make upgrades to their homes to make them more eco-friendly through the Home Energy Navigator Program.
CIBC, Toronto, Ont. Banking; 41,490 employees. New landmark head office in downtown Toronto is a short walk to transit and built to LEED Platinum Certification standards, the program’s highest certification level.
Conservation Halton, Burlington, Ont. Environment and wildlife conservation organizations; 151 employees. Planted more than 125,000 trees and shrubs last year, restoring over seven kilometres of stream habitat and removing invasive plant species.
Co-operators Group Limited, The, Guelph, Ont. Insurance; 6,299 employees. Manages enhanced recycling programs to divert batteries, e-waste, organics, furniture, construction materials, and more.
Coquitlam, City of, Coquitlam, B.C. Municipal governments; 1,003 employees. Offers adaptive reuse programs along with a biannual, city-wide garage sale that includes repair cafes for residents to bring in their broken items and have them repaired by volunteers.
Credit Valley Conservation Authority / CVC, Mississauga, Ont. Environment, conservation and wildlife organizations; 228 employees. Has installed a number of EV charging stations, also available for employee use, in response to plans for an eventual all-electric fleet.
Crombie REIT, New Glasgow, N.S. Property management and development; 263 employees. The company’s Scotia Square office building partnered with Bike Halifax to develop a dedicated bicycle room with storage racks, repair kits, lockers, showers and change rooms.
Crown Property Management Inc., Toronto, Ont. Property management; 190 employees. Hosts annual “energy hunts” in partnership with Energy@Work to find new energy savings and areas for improvement, leading to reductions in overall emissions.
Danone Canada, Boucherville, Que. Food manufacturing; 553 employees. Manages enhanced in-house recycling programs that capture batteries, cellphones, light bulbs, and ink cartridges with the goal of reaching zero-waste to landfill.
Desjardins Group / Mouvement Desjardins, Lévis, Que. Financial institutions; 51,261 employees. Engages employees in becoming advocates for sustainable development through its formal in-house Striving for Sustainability training program.
DIALOG, Calgary, Alta. Architecture; 518 employees. Offers employees shared-use commuter bikes that are located on-site and free for employees to sign out when needed.
Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc., Toronto, Ont. Architecture; 284 employees. Created a unique “ecoMetrics” database of completed projects to create energy simulation models that help designers better understand energy reduction methods.
Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology, Oshawa, Ont. Post secondary schools, college; 838 employees. Opened the on-site Centre for Organic Regeneration in 2023 that features a unique biodigester system, reducing food waste by up to 90 per cent by creating usable compost.
EfficiencyOne, Dartmouth, N.S. Energy conservation advocacy; 223 employees. Beyond its line of business, employees are encouraged to participate in the “Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up” event focused on removing litter across the province.
Emterra Group, Oakville, Ont. Recycling and waste management services; 800 employees. Is a founding partner of the Canada Plastics Pact that’s working with industry partners to rethink how “we design, use and reuse plastic packaging to realize a circular economy for plastic.”
ENMAX Corporation, Calgary, Alta. Electric power distribution; 1,657 employees. An employee-led team spearheaded the acquisition and ongoing management of beehives at the ENMAX Calgary Energy Centre.
Export Development Canada, Ottawa, Ont. International trade financing and support services; 2,094 employees. In-house environmental resource group manages a website to provide employees with eco-friendly tips and an internal blog dedicated to sharing ways they can reduce their own environmental impacts.
Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan Inc. / Farm Mutual Re, Cambridge, Ont. Direct property and casualty insurance carriers; 107 employees. In partnership with Sustainable Waterloo, the company designed and planted a unique micro-forest on its grounds to help create a natural habitat for insects and animals.
FortisAlberta Inc., Calgary, Alta. Electric power distribution; 1,277 employees. Manages unique grant programs to assist communities and schools within its service area, helping them to expand existing environmental initiatives and develop new ones.
GHD Ltd., Waterloo, Ont. Engineering services; 1,935 employees. Nearly 300 employees and volunteers participated in the company’s inaugural East to West Coast Shore Clean Up, picking-up litter from St. John’s, N.L. to Vancouver.
GlaxoSmithKline Inc. / GSK, Mississauga, Ont. Pharmaceutical manufacturing; 1,701 employees. Formal sustainability committee at the Sainte-Foy, Que. location meets monthly to discuss sustainability initiatives, from sustainable transportation to water-use reduction.
G&W Electric, Brampton, Ont. Switchgear manufacturing; 225 employees. Partners with a third-party firm to conduct independent environmental audits, leading to a number of green initiatives from enhanced training to e-waste collection programs.
Hatch Ltd., Mississauga, Ont. Engineering services; 4,435 employees. Ensures recycling and proper waste disposal happens on all project sites, including hazardous waste, scrap metal, treated lumber, insulation, pipes and more.
HDR, Inc., Toronto, Ont. Architectural services; 543 employees. The employee-led Sustainability Stewards Program champions numerous initiatives across the firm, from bike to work challenges to e-waste collection drives.
Home Depot Canada Inc., Toronto, Ont. Retail; 16,010 employees. Operates three LEED store locations and utilizes a building automation system at all Canadian stores that provides needed data to help make informed energy savings decisions.
HP Canada Co., Mississauga, Ont. Computer technology and services; 782 employees. Offers extensive training for employees through its Sustainable Impact Champions program, beginning with a two-hour sustainability session as part of new hire onboarding.
Humber Polytechnic, Toronto, Ont. Post secondary schools, college; 1,986 employees. Manages an on-campus Commuter Hub that features 100 secure bike parking spaces, along with 16 EV charging stations and a 700 kW solar panel installation on the roof.
Hydro Ottawa, Gloucester, Ont. Electric power distribution; 656 employees. Is the largest municipally-owned producer of green electricity in the province, generating power through a mix of hydroelectric, solar and landfill gas power generation.
Ice River Sustainable Solutions, Shelburne, Ont. Bottled water manufacturing; 603 employees. Purchases 80 per cent of its plastic from Ontario’s Blue Box program for the recycling and the manufacturing of new plastic water bottles, made with only recycled plastic.
IGM Financial Inc., Winnipeg, Man. Financial services; 3,659 employees. Partners with Green Standards when renovating or closing properties to ensure furniture and other usable items are recycled, resold or donated to charitable organizations.
IKEA Canada Limited Partnership, Burlington, Ont. Home furnishings retail; 3,937 employees. Offers a 90-day mattress return policy for customers, which is supported by a partnership with Furniture Bank that collects, inspects for reuse and donates mattresses to families in need.
Keilhauer Ltd., Toronto, Ont. Furniture manufacturing; 230 employees. Formal Take-Back program allows customers to return some of their used furniture items for disassembly and proper recycling.
Labatt Breweries of Canada, Toronto, Ont. Breweries; 3,312 employees. The company’s introduction of recyclable paper beer can rings for six and eight packs has led to the elimination of 20 million nonrecyclable plastic rings annually.
Loblaw Companies Ltd., Brampton, Ont. Supermarkets and grocery stores; 31,967 employees. Introduced its first electric truck in 2023 for short-haul deliveries in the Greater Montréal Area and has since added over 35 new short-haul electric trucks to its fleet.
Manitoba Hydro, Winnipeg, Man. Hydroelectric power generation; 5,097 employees. A North American leader that produces virtually all of its electricity from self-renewing hydroelectric power, recently adding geothermal and wind power to its renewable portfolio.
MEC Mountain Equipment Company Ltd., Vancouver, B.C. Retail stores; 634 employees. Each store location supports a dedicated Sustainability Ambassador who works with fellow employees and customers to help create awareness and implement new ideas.
Medtronic Canada ULC, Brampton, Ont. Electromedical apparatus manufacturing; 630 employees. Employees have taken the lead organizing an office supply reuse program and the company makes sure to recapture its used medical devices for proper recycling.
Metrolinx, Toronto, Ont. Public transit; 6,681 employees. Has partnered with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to create a vegetation guideline that includes the planting of pollinator habitats on property grounds.
Miovision Technologies Inc., Kitchener, Ont. Computer software and consulting services; 260 employees. Recently partnered with the Veritree tree planting program, planting one tree every month for each employee, to a minimum of 5,000 trees.
Mohawk College, Hamilton, Ont. Post secondary schools, college; 1,228 employees. Hosts sustainability webinars and a dedicated leadership program for students that features a range of online courses, from growing food locally to green jobs in the economy.
Mott MacDonald Canada Limited, Vancouver, B.C. Engineering services; 421 employees. Recognizes its sustainability leaders annually through the People and Planet Awards.
Nature’s Path Foods Inc., Richmond, B.C. Food manufacturing; 232 employees. Each location targets a waste diversion rate of 90 per cent through extensive employee efforts to capture everything from soft plastics and chopsticks to batteries and pens.
Nestlé Canada Inc., Toronto, Ont. Food manufacturing; 3,362 employees. Supports an employee-led Sustainability Committee, comprised of 60 employees, that organizes guest speakers as well as educational events for employees.
Newfoundland Power Inc., St. John’s, N.L. Electric power distribution; 690 employees. Has partnered with community organizations since 1977 in support of Envirofest, reviewing and funding public proposals for green space beautification projects.
NovAtel Inc., Calgary, Alta. Satellite communications systems; 497 employees. Environmental committee organizes numerous environmentally-friendly events and cleanups across Calgary to encourage local environmental stewardship.
OpenText Corporation, Waterloo, Ont. Software publishers; 2,807 employees. The Richmond Hill office recently hosted a fun challenge to test employees’ waste-sorting knowledge to raise awareness for its newest waste management program.
PCL Construction, Edmonton, Alta. Industrial, commercial and institutional buildings construction; 3,105 employees. Leading advocate for greener building and construction practices with over 300 LEED-credentialed employees and other environmental accreditations.
Perkins&Will Canada Architects Co., Vancouver, B.C. Architectural services; 244 employees. Works closely with Passive House Canada in the development of an industry training program, as well as having over 50 certified Passive House designers in Canada.
Pomerleau Inc., Montréal, Que. Construction services; 3,210 employees. One of the early members of the Canada Green Building Council, the firm has more than 200 projects certified or pursuing sustainable certifications.
Printing House Ltd., The, Toronto, Ont. Commercial printing services; 475 employees. In partnership with Forest Farmer, the company has repopulated a tree plantation site in Alberta with trees native to the area, helping to provide habitat for native wildlife.
Rogers Communications Inc., Toronto, Ont. Communications; 22,111 employees. Supports an employee-led Workplace Ambassador program to help manage recycling and reuse initiatives, as well as helping in the transition to a paperless work environment.
RONA Inc., Boucherville, Que. Retail; 10,795 employees. Manages the unique Take Back program that encourages customers to return unused paint from home improvement jobs as well as dead batteries, light bulbs and more.
Sanofi Canada, Toronto, Ont. Pharmaceutical manufacturing; 2,068 employees. Ongoing environmental stewardship initiative within a 30 hectare ravine adjacent to the head office, in partnership with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the City of Toronto and the University of Toronto.
SAP Canada Inc., Vancouver, B.C. Custom computer programming services; 3,167 employees. Reached its carbon neutrality goals by the end of 2023 and sources 100 per cent of the electricity used since 2014 from renewable sources.
SaskTel, Regina, Sask. Telecommunications; 2,819 employees. Established the EnviroCare network to create a greener community and promote environmental awareness and initiatives through the collaboration and engagement of employees.
Schneider Electric Canada Inc., Mississauga, Ont. Industrial automation and controls; 2,118 employees. Environmental green teams have become more formal and comprehensive, with all Canadian locations featuring Site Sustainability Ambassadors on-site.
SEKISUI Diagnostics P.E.I. Inc., Charlottetown, P.E.I. Medical diagnostic products; 204 employees. Partnership with the Island Nature Trust, with employees heading out to volunteer during beach cleanups and tree planting initiatives.
Siemens Canada Limited, Oakville, Ont. Engineering services; 2,323 employees. Head office features numerous energy-savings features, from building automation controls and lighting sensors to EV charging stations for EV commuters.
Sleeman Breweries Ltd., Guelph, Ont. Breweries; 1,089 employees. Maintains a formal Environmental Steering Committee that’s responsible for reviewing and managing the company’s formal environmental initiatives.
Sodexo Canada Ltd., Burlington, Ont. Food service contractors; 4,364 employees. Long-standing partnership with Bullfrog Power to ensure all Canadian offices, and one warehouse location, are powered with green electricity.
Staples Canada ULC, Richmond Hill, Ont. Retail stores; 5,020 employees. Maintains a long-standing partnership as an “Ultimate Sponsor” of Tree Canada, planting more than 250,000 trees over the past decade.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ont. Hospitals; 6,781 employees. Celebrates Earth Week every year with a number awareness events and activities, ranging from guest speakers to heading out and cleaning up the campus grounds.
Surrey, City of, Surrey, B.C. Municipal governments; 2,236 employees. Operates a unique organic biofuel processing facility to collect and process organics, generating natural gas that is used to help power its growing fleet of gas-powered garbage trucks.
Symcor Inc., Mississauga, Ont. Data processing and support services; 1,320 employees. Supports alternative commuting options with an on-site bicycle loan program at the head office, transit subsidies, dedicated EV parking and preferred parking for carpooling employees.
Sysco Canada Inc., Mississauga, Ont. Food service contractors; 5,174 employees. Supports the Nourishing Neighbours program, donating food waste to communities in need or repurposing it as animal feed to divert nearly 90 per cent of food waste.
TD Bank Group, Toronto, Ont. Banking; 65,644 employees. Manages the long-standing TD Friends of the Environment Foundation that has supported a wide range of local environmental initiatives over the past three decades.
The Beer Store, Bolton, Ont. Beer, wine, and liquor retailers; 2,313 employees. Has operated the beer bottle deposit and reuse program since 1927, with each beer bottle reused an average of 15 times.
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Vaughan, Ont. Environment, conservation and wildlife organizations; 547 employees. Numerous community partnerships, from wetland restoration work with Ducks Unlimited and Hydro One to the Black Creek Community Farm Harvest Share program that provides access to healthy food.
Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Toronto, Ont. Administration of housing programs; 2,302 employees. Long-standing Green Office program encourages a range of environmentally-focused initiatives, from waste diversion initiatives to reductions in single-use vehicle travel.
Toronto Zoo, Toronto, Ont. Zoos and botanical gardens; 298 employees. Offers extensive and educational recycling and waste diversion programs, capturing everything from hazardous waste and coffee pods to used gloves.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. / TMMC, Cambridge, Ont. Automobile manufacturing; 8,500 employees. Dedicated over 80 hectares of its surrounding land to wildlife habitat and worked to establish a healthy monarch butterfly habitat with the Canadian Wildlife Federation.
TransLink (South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority), New Westminster, B.C. Public transit; 8,224 employees. Set formal emissions targets as part of its long-term Climate Action Strategy and continues to expand the number of electric transit buses in its fleet.
Tru Earth Environmental Products Inc., Port Moody, B.C. Detergent manufacturing; 109 employees. Employees are encouraged to get involved in many environmentally-focused projects in partnership with Ocean Wise and The Salish Sea Research and Education Society.
UBC / University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. Post secondary schools, university; 16,079 employees. Home to inspirational natural beauty, the campus features an operating and instructional 24 hectare certified-organic farm with over 200 crop varieties.
Unilever Canada, Inc., Toronto, Ont. Consumer product manufacturing and distribution; 983 employees. A founding member of the Canada Plastics Pact, the company has set tangible targets to move to recycled plastics for its packaging.
University Health Network, Toronto, Ont. Hospitals; 14,252 employees. Encourages two-wheeled commuting with over 1,000 spots of secure bike parking, support for the annual bike month and discounts on the city’s bike sharing system.
University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, B.C. Post secondary schools, university; 650 employees. The UNBC Energy-Wise program hosts an annual conservation awareness campaign that offers gentle reminders of the small but impactful actions employees and students can take.
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. Post secondary schools, university; 12,258 employees. Recently installed a massive rooftop solar panel project with over 1,000 panels at an off-campus library storage facility, doubling the university’s solar-generation capacity.
University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. Post secondary schools, university; 3,230 employees. Supports a campus community garden with 90 plots and a small bee apiary and also offers gardening workshops for those interested in learning.
Vancouver, City of, Vancouver, B.C. Municipal governments; 8,736 employees. Maintains a Sustainable Commuting program that includes a number of incentives to encourage employees to walk, cycle, take transit or carpool to work.
WalterFedy, Kitchener, Ont. Architectural and engineering services; 289 employees. Employee-led Sustainability Advisory Committee hosts a number of eco-friendly initiatives, from community gardening to sustainable commuting challenges.
Waste Management of Canada Corporation, Kitchener, Ont. Waste management services; 1,614 employees. As the largest waste management company in North America, it continues to build its capacity for the safe processing of almost everything, from household recycling to hazardous industrial waste.
YMCA of Greater Toronto, Toronto, Ont. Individual and family services; 3,377 employees. Main facility features one the city’s largest public green roofs, including a habitat for wildlife, walkway, native plant species garden and space for outdoor yoga and exercise.
York University, Toronto, Ont. Post secondary schools, university; 5,264 employees. Along with its recent connection to the city’s subway system, employees are encouraged to leave the car at home with transit subsidies, as well as on-site bike repair stations for two-wheeled commuters.
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Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.