Ontario Climate Summit

Hosted by the Urban Climate Alliance (UCA), the Ontario Climate Summit is a gathering of local climate action organizations from across the province to come together and work for stronger climate action in communities across Ontario.

In this 3-day summit, climate activists from across Ontario will connect, build skills, and collaborate to drive inclusive, effective, sustainable, and coordinated climate action in Ontario’s municipalities. The summit’s focus: Building Climate Action in Ontario Municipalities.

Overall Summit Agenda:

Day 1 - Friday, October 3, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Opening and An Evening with David Miller. Keynote on "Community Climate Action in an Era of Disasters and Misinformation"
Venue: The Faculty Club (Wedgwood Room), 41 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 1C7 (Map)
**Please note the venue bar is cashless and accepts card payment only.

Day 2 - Saturday, October 4, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
A full day of speakers and workshops focusing on policy and skill development
Venue: University College, 15 King’s College Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3H7 (Map) 
Registration in Room 148

Day 3 - Sunday, October 5 morning
Facilitated tours of environmentally significant sites in Toronto. Attendees may attend one of the following.
-Biidaasige Park (10:30 AM) - meet at snow owl playground
-St James Town Climate Resilience Project (10:00 AM) - meet at Sherbourne's station Glen Road exit
-University of Toronto's Landmark Park and Geothermal Project (10:00 AM) - meet at glass pavilion structure on southeast corner of King's College Circle

Full Event Info, Good-to-Knows & FAQs

CLICK HERE to view program details, agenda, full accessibility info, travel info, hotel suggestions, and FAQs. Feel free to check back time-to-time for updates. 

Speakers & Panelists

Keynote Speaker on Fri, Oct 3, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM:
David Miller, C40 Cities & Former Mayor of Toronto 

Speakers/Panelists on Sat, Oct 4, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM:
August Pantitlan Puranauth, TTCriders
Bryan Purcell, The Atmospheric Fund
Derek Coronado, Citizens Environment Alliance (Windsor)
Emmay Mah, Toronto Environmental Alliance
Evan Ferrari, eMERGE Guelph
Fizza Khalid, Scarborough Environment Association
Gabriella Kalapos, Clean Air Partnership
How-Sen Chong, Toronto Environmental Alliance
Ian Borsuk, Environment Hamilton
Jacqueline Wilson, Canadian Environmental Law Association
Lana Goldberg, Stand.earth
Trevor Imhoff, City of Hamilton
William van Geest, Ecology Ottawa

Facilitated Morning Tours on Sunday, October 5:
Biidaasige Park, led by Cynthia Wilkey, West Don Lands Committee
St. James Town Climate Resilience Project, led by Anushen Selvasegar, St. James Town CREW (Community Resilience to Extreme Weather)
University of Toronto Landmark Park and Geothermal Project, led by Kevin Leong, University of Toronto Sustainability Office

Who should participate?

Participation in the summit is free and by invitation. We seek the participation of diverse organizations advancing climate action at the municipal level, whether in geography, size, mandate (within climate), municipality type, and more. We would particularly welcome the participation of Indigenous-led organizations.

To support participation and reduce financial barriers, travel and accommodation stipends are available for organizations outside of Toronto, with a minimum one-day attendance. Applications must be submitted during registration, and reimbursements will be processed after the summit upon receipt of an invoice.

If your organization is interested in participating in this summit but did not receive an invitation from the UCA, please contact us via the "Contact Us" button on this page or email uca@torontoenvironment.org and we will get back to you. 

Venue Accessibility

Day 1 venue at The Faculty Club and Day 2 venue at University College are wheelchair accessible.
Day 3 tours will be on wheelchair accessible routes. 

Sustainability

Help us drive climate actions by creating less waste in this gathering. For Day 2 and Day 3, if you can, please bring a filled reusable water bottle (to reduce lineups at water fountains).You may also bring your reusable coffee cups. 

About the Urban Climate Alliance

Ontario Climate Summit is hosted by the Urban Climate Alliance (UCA), a network of municipal-level environmental nonprofits working to advance climate action in their communities. The Urban Climate Alliance consists of: Toronto Environmental Alliance, Ecology Ottawa, Environment Hamilton, and Citizens Environment Alliance in Windsor.

Funders & Partners

The Ontario Climate Summit is made possible by the generous support of the Echo Foundation.
Thank you to our collaborator, Toronto Climate Observatory.