Media Release – Canada’s Top Sustainability Award releases list of Top 25 Sustainability Projects completed across Canada over the past 2 years
First Nation and Climate Charity Partnership on Sweetgrass as a Climate Solution
chosen as “Project of the Year” by in-person gathering of 144 Clean50 Sustainability Leaders
Toronto, October 17 2024 – A partnership between the Piikani Lands Department and The Resilience Institute, called “Seeding our Future with Sweetgrass,” which brought Indigenous and scientific experts together to develop new knowledge on the ability of Sweetgrass to sequester carbon and to strengthen the biodiversity of prairie grasslands, was declared “The 2025 Top Project of the Year” after a confidential vote by over 140 Clean50 sustainability leaders. The vote came at the conclusion of the 14th annual “Clean50 Summit”, held October 10th.
Following the full list of 2025 Clean50 individual leaders announced last week, the full list of the 2025 Clean50 Top Projects was announced today by Clean50 Executive Director Gavin Pitchford, and follows below. Pitchford called the awardees “remarkable Innovators driving major impacts in every region of Canada”.
The other five Top Project award winners announced today included two efforts to put solar panels in unexpected places: A project by Renuwell and the District of Taber, Alberta takes land destroyed by abandoned oil wells and covers the now un-farmable land with solar panels ranked second, and St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia replacing end-of-life external concrete cladding on a student residence with structural panels incorporating solar arrays from Toronto manufacturer Mitrex was ranked 4th. Rounding out the top 5 were the founding of the group “Women in Climate Finance” (3rd) and Vancity’s grants to non-profit housing operators to do energy efficiency retrofits (5th).
The twenty other sustainability projects recognized with Top Project awards were wildly diverse, ranging from to replacing standard roofs with green roofs, restoring wetlands, offering active retirees who give up their gas-powered cars access to a pool of electric vehicles, erecting wind turbines in the Yukon to eliminate diesel generators in First Nations communities, providing gorgeous container-based apartments to a Squamish community and the creation of a “Director of Planetary Health” role within the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine – with a wide variety of other energy and environment saving initiatives in between.
The full list and details of Canada’s 2025 Clean50Top Projects, appears below, and more details as well as the 2025 Clean50 individual honourees, Clean50 Emerging Leaders and Lifetime Achievement Honourees can be found here on the Clean50 website.
Clean50 Top Projects were selected from over 100 nominees, based on their innovation, their ability to inspire other Canadians to imitate, but mostly based on their climate-action impact.
Media Contact: Gavin Pitchford – gpitchford ~~ at ~~ deltamanagement.com M: 774.330.6606 O: 416.925.2005
Clean50 TOP PROJECT AWARDS for 2025
Selection Criteria: Projects are selected based on criteria that prioritizes “five I’s”: Impact, Innovation, Inspiring, Informative, and able to be Imitated. Once nominated, project proponents respond to a detailed form to identify their process and results.
Most honourees have agreed to be interviewed, and the Clean50 team are pleased to facilitate this.
Presented first, as ranked by 144 Clean50 Summit 14 Participants (top 5 only), and then alphabetically by lead proponent (6 through 25)
Piikani Lands Department & The Resilience Institute | Seeding our Future with Sweetgrass – Adaptation to Climate Impacts through Healthy Ecosystems and Traditional Plants in the Piikani First Nation (2025 Clean50 Top Project-of-the-Year as chosen by Clean50 Summit 14 participants)
RenuWell Energy Solutions & District of Taber |Repurposing Oilfield Liabilities into Solar Energy Assets (2025 Clean50 Top Project-of-the-Year 1st runner up, as chosen by Clean50 Summit 14 participants)
Power Sustainable, CDPQ & Joanna Klimczak | Creation of “Women in Climate Finance” (WCF) (2025 Clean50 Top Project-of-the-Year, 2nd runner up, as chosen by Clean50 Summit 14 participants)
Saint Mary’s University & Mitrex | Saint Mary’s University 22 Story BIPV Installation – Saint Mary’s University Loyola Residence Replaces Concrete Exterior Cladding with Solar Panels (4th place)
Vancity Credit Union | Vancity Nonprofit Housing Retrofit Grants Program (5th place)
Aviva Canada & Upswing Solutions | Accelerating Supply Chain Decarbonization – Aviva Canada’s supplier engagement strategy to tackle supply chain emissions
Blackstone Energy Services & Brock University | Using Data to Drive Decarbonization at Brock University via Brock University Distributed Energy Resource Management System
Camp Kawartha & Straworks | Children’s Camp Rotary Health Centre – Healthy for People and Planet – Sustainable Living in Action
CBWES Inc. & TransCoastal Adaptations: Centre for Nature-Based Solutions, Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia Department of Public Works | Restoring the Belcher Street Marsh – Managed Dyke Realignment and Tidal Wetland Restoration Project
Community Energy Association | Retrofit Assist Energy Concierge Program: Expert support for home energy and savings
CPA Canada, Clean Tech North & PwC | Green Tech Working Group collaborates to make the case to support clean tech innovation
Enviro-Stewards & Credit Valley Conservation | Smart Blue Roofs on CVC’s and Enviro-Stewards’ headquarters Drive Energy and Water Savings & provide Affordable Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
ED4S (Education for Sustainability) & Finance Montreal | Quebec Sustainable Workforce Education Initiative
Environment and Climate Change Canada (Government of Canada) | Federal Sustainable Development Strategy 2022-2026
Innocap & Finance Montréal | Investi – The fund invested for sustainable finance – Accelerating innovation in sustainable finance through collaboration
Kite Mobility Inc. & Delmanor | Sustainable Electric Vehicles for Active Retirees – Kite & Delmanor swap shareable EVs for personal gas-powered vehicles, mobilizing active retirees
LOCO BC | The Economic and Climate Benefits of Shopping / Buying Local – An Economic and Carbon Analysis of 5 Common Purchases
NERVA Energy Group | Over 10,000 suites optimized for peak performance – The Largest Multi-Residential Smart Building Conversion in North America!
Northern Energy Capital & CNLP | Empowering Yukon: Indigenous Wind Energy Revolution – Haeckel Hill-Thay T’äw Wind Project
NUQO Modular | Squamish Nation Modular Homes – Esḵéḵxwi7ch tl’a Sp’áḵw’us Place: Culturally Informed Modular Housing for Squamish Nation
QUEST Canada | Net Zero Community Accelerator
Siemens Canada, Humber College & Bishop James Mahoney HS | The Net Zero Classroom: Teaching Students about Microgrids
Teck Resources, Fenner Dunlop & Tyromer | Material Handling Conveyors Go Green – Recycling massive truck tires into material handling conveyor belts
UBC | Climate Venture Studio “entrepreneurship@UBC”
University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine | Revitalizing Medical Governance for a Healthier World – The urgent case for a director of planetary health in every faculty of medicine
