April 22, 2015

There are always good reasons to celebrate Earth Day, but now the University of Toronto has one more.

U of T has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for 2015. This is the second time the University of Toronto has been honoured with this award.

Recognizing employers that “lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness in their organizations,”  the Canada’s Greenest Employers competition was launched in 2007 and is organized by the editors of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project.

Each employer is evaluated in terms of:

• The unique environmental initiatives and programs they have developed;
• The extent to which they have been successful in reducing the organization’s environmental footprint;
• The degree to which their employees are involved in these programs and whether they contribute any unique skills; and,
• The extent to which these initiatives have become linked to the employer’s public identity and whether they attract new people to the organization.

In collaboration with various constituencies of the University, the Facilities & Services department within the Division of University Operations facilitates the ‘Greenest Employers’ application. “This award is an extremely rewarding and well-deserved recognition of the tremendous efforts being made by a large network of people who work to integrate sustainability into every facet of our organization.” said Ron Swail, Assistant Vice-President of Facilities & Services.

“From the many dozen student groups, to our three sustainability offices, to the hundreds of academics engaged in research and education, to our facility departments, to our alumni network and our incubator activities where research, teaching, and creativity blend into products and services which reduce our environmental footprint, the University of Toronto is truly a leader in sustainability.”

Some of the unique reasons cited for U of T’s recognition as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers include:

• our maintenance of Sustainability Offices at each of our three campuses
• our 60+ active environmentally-focused student groups found across all campuses – from urban agriculture to sustainable engineering to the green chemistry initiative;
• our waste diversion rate of 72.1% – we recycle everything from batteries to organics to asphalt and concrete;
• our unique “Swap Shop” on the St. George campus where members of the university community can drop off and pick up items such as furniture and office equipment throughout the academic year – over 40 tonnes of gently used items have been processed; and,
• our operation of the unique not-for-profit “Bikechain” shop that acts as a hub for the university’s large cycling community, offering affordable repairs and educational opportunities for students, faculty and staff

U of T has many environmental achievements to celebrate year round, but especially on Earth Day, it is a wonderful to see this recognition of U of T’s ongoing efforts.

More information in the University of Toronto’s sustainability initiatives can be found on the Facilities and Services website.

To view the 2013 – 2014 Sustainability Yearbook, which highlights the many reasons why it is “Greener here”, please visit the Sustainability Office website.

Canada’s Greenest Employers is an annual competition run by Mediacorp Canada Inc. in partnership with the Globe and Mail and eluta.ca. U of T was recently named as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2015, one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers for 2015, one of Canada’s Top Diversity Employers, one of the Top Employers for Canadians Over 40, and one of Canada’s Top Family-Friendly Employers for 2015.