Annual Report 2022-23

Our Story of Collaboration,

IMPACT AND CHANGE

The story of EcoSchools began in 2002 when the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) created its first environmental policy to improve the ecoliteracy of students and the operational practices of schools. Inspired by the TDSB program, three years later, Ontario EcoSchools was born with a consortium of 7 school boards and 2 partners that championed the uptake of the program in their region. In those early days, participating schools reported back to us with large binders filled with all of their inspiring environmental initiatives, projects, and lessons. Each binder was a work of art.

With momentum from Ontario’s Environmental Education Policy Framework that was released in 2009, along with a community thirst to embed environmental learning and action into school practice, the EcoSchools program flourished in Ontario. Fast forward to the year 2020, which saw EcoSchools grow again by joining the international EcoSchools community and revealing our plan to scale nationally.

Over the years, the story of EcoSchools is one of collaboration and commitment—of staff, committees, board and district liaisons, teachers, students, community members, and partners. Each member of our network has harnessed the EcoSchools program to make profound changes to the landscape of environmental learning and action in Canada. From just over 100 certifying schools in 2005, we have now reached over 6,000 schools with the EcoSchools Certification Application (ECA), our award-winning online platform. The EcoSchools program offers an extensive suite of free, educational resources on topics ranging from biodiversity to energy conservation, from zero-emission vehicles to outdoor learning. The ECA is an extraordinary tool that enables schools, boards/districts, and partners to track their environmental impact over time and is helping us tell a national story of collaboration, inspiration, and impact.

Looking back at the past 3 years, since launching nationally, we often reflect on our many successes, challenges, and future opportunities to make environmental change. Our staff team consists of unbelievably talented people who bring deep knowledge, skill sets, experiences, and commitment to the work they do every day. We are also honoured to be part of a growing network of delivery partners, funders, schools, and boards/districts across the country.

The environmental challenges we face as a global community cannot be addressed without a strong commitment to collaboration. We are so excited to continue this work as we write the next chapter of our story with the launch of our 2024-27 strategic plan, to make every school an EcoSchool!

Sierra Frank and Ryan Dyment | Co-Executive Directors

Did you know that in

2022-2023

0

schools from 10 provinces and territories registered in the EcoSchools program

0k+

students were reached by the EcoSchools program

0k+

hours of outdoor learning took place. That’s the equivalent of over 80 years!

Over 0

students were part of an EcoTeam!

0+

actions completed. That’s 3,000 more than last year!

0+

teachers fostered environmental
literacy within their schools

Impacts:

SDG STATISTICS

The EcoSchools program offers over 50 distinct environmental actions that are aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During the 2022-2023 school year, these actions enabled students and educators to achieve meaningful and sustainable outcomes, including reduced energy consumption, decreased waste generation, and heightened water conservation awareness. By fostering critical and creative thinking about environmental responsibility among all members of the school community, EcoSchools has made a significant contribution to Canada’s progress towards fulfilling the UN SDGs.

In the 2022-23 school year...
0.8k+

students tracked their monthly water usage at school

0.4k+

classrooms had their energy efifciency optimized

0.7k+

students and staff members pledged to use sustainable transportation

0k+

kg of waste (recycling + organics) was diverted from landfill

0.8k+

tons of CO2e was sequestered from school ground greening activities

Low-carbon

COMMUTING

EcoSchools partnered with Natural Resources Canada and GM Canada to launch a campaign and summit on the topic of Zero-Emission Vehicles and Low-Carbon Driving. The project included a new action card, a suite of educational resources and a hybrid EcoSummit with sector experts in March 2023. Our Low Carbon Commuting panel featured leading experts who covered a wide range of sustainable transportation topics including walking and biking and scootering to school, student-focused public transit initiatives, electric cars and community events.

Over the course of this partnership, 186,936 students from 647 schools participated in actions related to fuel efficiency, eco-driving, clean fuels, and fuel diversification as reported through our online application. 481 educators surveyed at participating schools also indicated an increase in awareness of how to take positive action related to fuel efficiency, eco-driving, clean fuels, and fuel diversification.

2022-23 Audited

FINANCIALS

Revenues

  • Fee-for-service
  • Government
  • Foundation Grants
  • Corporate Sponsorship
  • Donations and Other

Expenses

  • Charitable
  • Management and Administration
  • Fundraising

A heart-felt thank you to the following amazing groups for their generous support of the EcoSchools program in the 2022-23 year.

Supporters, Donors, and Friends
  • Alberta Council for Environmental
  • Education
  • Arc Skoru
  • Athlon
  • Canada’s Forest Trust
  • Canadian Electric School Bus Alliance
  • Carton Council of Canada
  • Cascades Inc.
  • Center for Green Schools (US Green Building Council)
  • Centrale des syndicats du Québec of 9405
  • Centre for Global Education
  • Centre for Social Innovation – Annex
  • Community Foundations of Canada
  • Conservation Corps Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Coop FA
  • Earth Day Canada
  • Earth Rangers
  • ECO Canada
  • EECOM
  • Enviro Éduc-Action
  • Environment and Climate Change Canada
  • Finnovate
  • Fishing for Success
  • FoodCycler
  • Foundation for Environmental
  • Education
  • General Motors Canada
  • Government of Canada
  • Green Communities Canada
  • Greenbelt Foundation
  • GreenLearning
  • GUEPE
  • Health Canada
  • Idée Éducation Entreprenariale
  • Keep Britain Tidy
  • KPMG Foundation
  • Laurentien
  • Level Studio
  • Moccasin Identifier
  • Mouvement ACTES – Centrale des syndicats du Québec
  • National Wildlife Federation
  • Natural Curiosity
  • Natural Resources Canada
  • Nutritower
  • OISE (University of Toronto)
  • Ontario Ministry of Francophone Affairs
  • Outdoor Learning Store
  • Pacific Museum of Earth
  • Pine Project
  • Planet in Focus
  • RBC Tech for Nature
  • Roberta Bondar Foundation
  • SaskOutdoors
  • SK Films
  • Take Me Outside
  • TD Bank
  • TD Friends of the Environment
  • Foundation
  • Trottier Foundation
  • The Gaia Project
  • The United Nations Association in Canada
  • The Water Brothers
  • Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
  • Toronto District School Board
  • WWF-Canada
EcoSchools Program Advisory Committee (EPAC)
  • Beatrice Groux, Conseil scolaire Viamonde
  • Xavier Fazio, Brock University
  • Jenn Vetter, Toronto District School Board
  • Leandra Coore, Durham District School Board
  • Matthew Kovacs, Halton Catholic District School Board
  • Olena Olafson, Calgary Board of Education
  • Peggy Cheng, Toronto and Region
  • Conservation Authority, Peel EcoSchools
  • Suzanne Burwell, Halton District School Board
  • Ryan Dunne, Thames Valley District School Board
  • Tanya Murray, York Region District School Board
  • Xena Biffert, Calgary Catholic School District
Board of Directors
  • Lindsay Bunce
  • Michelle Boutin
  • Bala Gnanam
  • Jeremy Lin
  • Jacob O’Connor
  • Ryan Silva
  • Raquel Fontaine

Finance Committee

  • Belinda Mark
  • Priscilla Leung
  • Evnah Ramiah
Youth Advisory Committee (YAC)
  • Cara, SCDSB, grade 12
  • Abdullah, HDSB, grade 11
  • Erica, Independent, grade 12
  • Izabelle, TDSB, grade 11
  • Maya, DPCDSB, grade 9
  • Samuel, YRDSB, grade 10
  • Sarah, YRDSB, grade 11
  • Valentina, YRDSB, grade 12
  • Sehij, PDSB, grade 10
  • Yasmine, YCDSB, grade 11
  • Maggie Chang, Post-Secondary Advisor
Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
  • Marisol Campos-Navarrete, Sheridan College
  • Katie Harper, Project Neutral
  • Antoine Marchal, IT Projects Manager, Coop FA

 

EcoSchools Canada Team

Full time

  • Ayoub Hammoudi
  • Clara Luke
  • Courtney Clarke
  • Emilie Rayner
  • Erin Ring
  • Constanza Mora
  • Jose Marulanda
  • Poppy Burbidge
  • Ryan Dyment
  • Sierra Frank
  • Theresa Ramirez

Part time

  • Aisha Zubair
  • Alejandro Ramos
  • Anjana Nadarajah
  • Frédérique Guay
  • Ilyes Taileb
  • René Daranjo