Leading Living Cities Training Program

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Working Together to Advance Equitable Green Infrastructure 

The benefits of green infrastructure are well established. Green Communities Canada (GCC) has been demonstrating these benefits through pilot and small-scale local projects for years.

The challenge is to scale up this work beyond pilot projects. Communities across Canada must collaborate to advance green infrastructure if it is to become mainstream. Common barriers to scaling up green infrastructure include:

• the absence of core strategic documents;
• the lack of input and decision-making from community groups, neighbourhood associations, and frontline organizations;
• isolated or siloed efforts within separate municipal departments (e.g. Planning, Engineering & Public Works, and Parks & Recreation); and
• opportunistic rather than strategic site selection for green infrastructure projects.

As a result of these barriers and other factors, the most climate-vulnerable and under-natured areas often remain underserved. Marginalized and equity-deserving community members often live in these same areas. We must address these issues to create communities that are greener, more resilient, and more equitable.

What is the Leading Living Cities Training Program?

The Leading Living Cities Training Program addresses these challenges in several ways by:

• building local capacity to advance equitable green infrastructure;
• fostering collaboration between local governments and community-based organizations; and,
• providing processes, tools, and strategies to integrate green infrastructure solutions across departments and planning.

Meet Our 2025 Cohort

Green Communities Canada is launching a new Leading Living Cities (LLC) Training Program cohort in May 2025. The LLC Training Program is fully bilingual and co-led by the Centre d’écologie urbaine.

The LLC Training Program will support a cohort of 8-10 communities in 2025. Participants may be municipalities or Indigenous governments from different regions. Where appropriate, each participant will partner with a local environmental organization.

Participants will use Green Communities Canada’s Pathways to Living Cities Framework. The LLC Training Program will guide participants through a structured process that:

• evaluates existing local green infrastructure policies and programs;
• sets strategic short, medium, and long-term goals towards becoming a Living City; and
• achieves the outcome of developing a local policy pathway for their community.

LLC Training Program participants will receive:

• updated templates and planning resources;
• local climate equity maps supported by HealthyPlan.City;
• facilitated trainings and peer supports; and,
• access to GCC’s brand-new Mobilize Your Living City asynchronous online course.

This project is carried out with funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund, the Government of Canada, and Definity Financial Corporation.

Mobilize Your Living City online course

Mobilize Your Living City is a free, asynchronous online course designed for citizen groups, community organizations, as well as Indigenous and municipal governments.

Mobilize Your Living City participants learn how to develop a local green infrastructure policy pathway. This policy pathway helps to systemically embed green infrastructure into local planning. Participants learn how to identify local priorities, opportunities, gaps, strengths, and next steps to advancing green infrastructure in their community.

You can sign up here to learn more.

Past Living Cities Projects

Living Cities Pilot Communities (2021–2022)

Between 2021 and 2023, Green Communities Canada partnered with local environmental organizations (ENGOs) in five communities across the country to pilot a process for building local Living Cities Policy Pathways:

Each community developed a customized Living Cities Policy Pathway outlining the policies, programs, and partnerships that could accelerate green infrastructure in their context. Click each partner’s name above to read their local pathway report! We would like to thank the ENGOs who participated in this pilot project, and who contributed to developing their communities’ pathways.

Living Cities Canada Fund

In 2022 GCC launched our Living Cities Canada Fund which supports organizations to build public support for green infrastructure, develop their own localized policy pathways, and expand on-the-ground local action projects. The Living Cities Canada Fund has been growing year-over-year. Check out our 2024 Living Cities Canada Impact Report here.

Want to Learn More?

We’d love to connect. Contact us here.