Transformative change is happening. Let’s talk about it.
Intervening to make School Streets Safer and Healthier
We’ve got a problem. Our school zones aren’t what they should be. 9/10 parents witness dangerous driving in school zones. School staff in Ontario spend >700,000 hours per year dealing with traffic issues! Less than 25% of kids use active modes of transportation and less than 1 in 10 kids are getting their daily recommended physical activity.
It’s time to intervene, and that’s what the National Active School Streets Initiative (aka “School Streets”) has been doing across Canada. School Streets creates car-free zones in front of schools. These car-free zones help increase rates of physical activity, create safer spaces for children to travel to and from school, improve air quality, and foster community connections.
Join us for a panel of people who have been leading School Streets in communities based in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec. Register now to hear first-hand how these implementations have provided solutions and improved community happiness and health.
Meet the Panelists:
August 19: Intervening to make School Streets Safer and Healthier
Pascale Angleviel (elle)
Pascale joined MOBI-O in 2024 to develop and implement initiatives that promote sustainable mobility. (MOBI-O = Centre d’expertise en mobilité de l’Outaouais et de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue.)
Drawing on several years of experience managing environmental projects for non-profit organizations and local communities, Pascale now leads MOBI-O’s Mobilisation team.
The Mobilisation team designs and delivers projects that promote active transportation and sustainable mobility for businesses, municipalities, and schools. The team coordinates the “Going to School on foot or by bike… I Can Do It!“ campaign, which supports schools in implementing initiatives that encourage safer and more active travel. Since 2023, the campaign has also expanded to include the implementation of School Streets in Gatineau, helping create safer, more welcoming environments that encourage children to walk and cycle to school.
Alyshia Burak (she/her)
Alyshia Burak is a School Active Travel Planner with the City of Vancouver, bringing more than a decade of experience advancing sustainable transportation initiatives that help families walk, bike, and roll to school. She leads Vancouver’s participation in the National Active School Streets Initiative and has delivered School Streets at 14 schools since the City’s program launched in 2021. As a mom of two, Alyshia is often found riding around the city on her family’s bright yellow cargo bike, sharing the freedom and joy of cycling with her kids.
Fion Ho (she/her)
Fion Ho is the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Coordinator at the City of Markham, with over 14 years of municipal experience in active transportation. She has managed a range projects, including Markham’s Active Transportation Master Plan, the Markham Cycles Bike Hub Program, Markham Cycling Day, and the Active School Travel Program. Fion is currently involved in the School Streets Project, delivered in partnership with the York Region District School Board, to help create safer and more welcoming environments around schools.
Reena Mistry (she/her)
Reena Mistry is a Senior Planner, Active School Travel Coordinator with the York Region District School Board. In this role she collaborates with school communities and a broad range of stakeholders to build capacity for active school travel initiatives and enhance school zone safety. Reena has successfully led and implemented several pilot programs designed to advance active transportation and foster sustainable travel habits among students and families. She is passionate about developing innovative strategies that encourage active lifestyles while supporting healthier, safer, and more connected school communities. Reena brings more than 8 years of experience in school travel planning.
Recordings and Resources
Growing the Mini Forest Movement in Canada
In January, 2025, Green Communities Canada celebrated the release of our 2024 Living Cities Canada Fund Impact report by hosting a Voices for Action webinar featuring Green Communities Canada’s own Tianna Mighty (Program Coordinator, Green Infrastructure), as well as Professor Tahia Devisscher (Assistant Professor, UBC Faculty of Forestry), Kristen Bill (Project Manager, Forest Health, City of Hamilton), and Sharon MacGougan (President, Garden City Conservation Society), with host Brianna Salmon, Executive Director of GCC.
Recap and More Here
Retrofitting Canada’s Homes
The Canada Greener Homes Grant program triggered an explosion in home retrofitting action that supported more than 600,000 home retrofits over a three-year period before it was abruptly cancelled in early 2024. Green Communities Canada is thrilled to release our 2025 National Progress Report on Retrofitting Canada’s Homes and host an in-depth discussion on the future of Canada’s home retrofit industry with special guest panelists Sharon Coward (Executive Director, EnviroCentre), Brendan Haley (Senior Director of Policy Strategy, Efficiency Canada), and Ralph Torrie (Director of Research, Corporate Knights).
Recap, Report, and More Here
The Many Mini Solutions Urban Communities Need
Green Communities Canada hosted a panel with the people who have been making solutions work on the front lines for Canada’s most populous city, Toronto. Our panelists have been dealing with the impacts of climate change, population growth, public health, biodiversity loss, and the climate crisis. 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.
Watch the Recording
The Benefits and Challenges of Keeping Greenspaces Thriving
Urban communities need to change. Across Canada and around the world, concrete jungles must incorporate purposeful greenspaces. Nature-based solutions can help reduce flooding, heat island effects, and poor air quality, while also boosting health and happiness. But maintenance matters when it comes to the long-term services and benefits that these greenspaces provide. As we race to create more greenspace in the communities that need it most, we must re-think how we value, plan, and prioritize maintenance.
Recap, Resources, and More Here
Evaluating Children’s Mobility Across Canada
In recent decades, communities across Canada have seen alarming trends. Physical activity rates for children and youth have declined. Unsafe road conditions have increased around schools. These trends are health and public safety issues. Researchers and practitioners across Canada are trying to address these issues. But it is challenging to get reliable, comprehensive data on how families choose to travel to school. Join Green Communities Canada and a panel of experts to discuss current evaluation practices, ongoing challenges, and the innovative work that is advancing research in this space.
Recording, Resources, and More Here
The Power of Parks and Public Spaces
The feeling that we belong is central to the human experience, and social cohesion is essential to tackling collective problems like climate change and inequity. Yet here we are in the 21st century, living in an increasingly individualistic and unequal society at arguably one of the loneliest times in human history. What happens when we leverage the power of parks and public spaces to build connection and community? What happens when we use proven community-engagement tools and consultation processes to get at-risk youth and equity-denied minorities growing and shaping the greenspaces around them?
Recording, Resources, and More Here
What is Voices for Action?
Voices for Action is a series of events hosted by Green Communities Canada. Voices for Action brings together people with lived experiences and professional expertise advancing transformative, equitable, and sustainable change in Canadian communities.
The goal of these events is to share knowledge, resources, ideas, and to connect community-based climate action across Canada, creating a national network of innovation and collaboration that elevates our collective impact.
Canada is a country of different regions, cultures, ethnicities, and needs. Voices for Action celebrates the work we do at Green Communities Canada. We honour, mobilize, and build on the knowledge and capacity rooted in our communities, rooted in environmental justice, and rooted in demonstrating that we have all the solutions we need to address the climate emergency – what we need is dialogue, connection, and collective action from communities across Canada.
Upcoming Events
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