The Centre for Community Energy Transformation

CCET will provide a centre for leadership, learning, collective experience, and a forum for partnership with the private sector and public organizations—bringing in direct investment and creating jobs.

The Centre for Community Energy Transformation (CCET) is a community-based not-for-profit organization that will accelerate a sustainable energy transformation, working collaboratively with partner municipalities in Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga, and the Region of Peel.

The idea for CCET was originally formed in 2018 in Brampton’s 2040 vision,  which recommended establishing an arms-length organization to the City “that combines evidence-based, scientific reasoning and community based social marketing” designed to “generate the broad and deep communal effort necessary for Brampton to become a leader in environmental sustainability and achieve the 2040 Vision of One-Planet Living.”

Then known as the “Institute for Sustainable Brampton,” the organization has since evolved into what is now CCET, an independent community not-for-profit organization operating region-wide in the Cities of Brampton and Mississauga and Town of Caledon. These municipalities, as well as Peel Region, have contributed seed funding towards CCET to implement its mandate and help reach respective municipal community energy goals with an aim to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

CCET’s mandate is focused on convening partners to implement catalytic priorities to accelerate a community transition towards a low-carbon future. CCET’s initial focus will be to collaborate with its municipal partners on:

1. Advancing deep home energy retrofits
2. District energy adoption
3. Spurring Institutional, Commercial and Industry (ICI) energy efficiency
4. Community engagement and outreach

The process to determine a structure for CCET began in 2019; a consulting team was hired to focus on facilitation, governance, and engagement for community sustainability. Research and analysis of other communities, organizations, structures, and models regarding the advancement of community energy planning and emissions reductions heavily informed the development of CCET. A full day multi-sectoral workshop was held in late 2019 with an aim to share the need for an action-oriented organization focused on advancing municipal community energy goals and co-determine the desired vision, mission, values, and mandate for the organization.

In 2020, Brampton City Council endorsed the concept of CCET and in 2021, a multidisciplinary Advisory Task Force was formed to guide the establishment of CCET and of a governance structure. At six key points in the process, meetings were held to determine the strategic direction for the new community organization. Multiple representatives from the Cities of Brampton, Mississauga, and the Town of Caledon stepped up as, crucially, did a representative from Sheridan College and the Region of Peel. Both the Region of Peel and Sheridan were formative partners in the establishment of the CCET and a presentation to the Peel Climate Change Partnership was made in 2021, to propose and seek support for the regional approach.

In early 2022, CCET held pop-up open houses to expand public awareness of the municipal partners’ work on community energy planning. Online promotion was successfully also utilized to this end.

Ultimately a public survey was conducted to help inform the final name for the entity. It was felt that “Centre for Community Energy Transformation” captured the meaningful and action-oriented spirit of the endeavour, sounding as it does less bureaucratic, formal, and research-oriented.

In 2022 a Board of 8 Directors was recruited and the not-for-profit was registered through Articles of Incorporation filed under the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010.

CCET provides a centre for leadership, learning, and collective experience. It will act as a forum for partnership that will advocate for energy investments, secure both private and public funding opportunities and be a hub for municipal energy excellence. It will assist residents, businesses, and commercial property owners with improving energy efficiency and lowering carbon emissions region-wide and in collaboration with its municipal partners. The goal of creating an organization who can be a critical player in convening community partners to advance municipal climate and energy goals through tangible projects has been met.