Three quarters of Canadians – nearly 30 million people – live in urban communities. Between 2020-2025, many of those people experienced the impacts of climate change first hand for the first time: devastating flooding, a heat dome that killed over 600 people, and forest fires so big they’re called “giga-fires” and they produce smoke that created the worst air quality in the world.
At the same time communities are also dealing with housing, affordability, and inequity crises. The challenges to fixing all this are real. But the most impactful solutions are also real and local. We are not talking about those solutions enough.
In 2025, Green Communities Canada connected with leaders who have been making solutions work on the front lines for Canada’s most populous city, Toronto. They have been dealing with the impacts of climate change, population growth, public health crises, biodiversity loss, and more.
Together, we explored the potential to “elevate expectations” for nature-based solutions and green infrastructure right where it matters most for the majority of Canadians – in our urban communities. We documented that exploration through the following series of video interviews as well as a Voices for Action panel discussion.
Thank you to Dr. Eileen de Villa (former Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto), Joyce Chau (Evergreen Canada), Aaron Barter (Waterfront Toronto), Amanda O’Rourke (8-80 Cities), and John Stille (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority) for generously sharing their time and experiences.
Climate Solutions Close to Home: Video Series
Voices for Action: The Many Mini Solutions Urban Communities Need
About Green Communities Canada and our work in community-based green solutions:
Since 1995, Green Communities Canada has been leading a community-based climate action movement for transformative, equitable, and lasting change. We envision “living cities” as communities where green infrastructure — wetlands and mini forests, tree-lined streets and parks, bioswales and rain gardens, green roofs and permeable pavements — is equitable, abundant, and thriving. Building on our decades of green infrastructure work through Depave Paradise and Rain Community Solutions, our Living Cities Canada Fund has been supporting community-based groups to create living cities one project at a time. Learn more here.
Funding for this video series was provided by:
