PLAN AHEAD FOR THE 2025 SYMPOSIUM & AWARDS

The countdown is on! Join us in beautiful Stratford, Ontario from October 16–18, 2025, for the Communities in Bloom Symposium & Awards.

Hotel Room Booking

If you haven’t yet reserved your room, we encourage you to contact the hotel directly before September 1st to take advantage of our group room rate. 

Early Bird Registration – August 15, 2025

There’s still time to save! Register by August 15 and receive a $50 discount on your Full Symposium registration.

Let’s celebrate community, collaboration, and everything in bloom—see you in Stratford!

THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS 

AND LOCAL VENDORS

#SOUPALICIOUS - SHARE YOUR RECIPES!

Edible gardens are growing… and they’re deliciously inspiring!

At Communities in Bloom, 2025 is all about Edible Gardens — celebrating the joy of growing, sharing, and savouring food from your own garden. This month, we’re excited to kick off a delicious campaign in partnership with the Compost Council of Canada, Soupalicious®, and Plant • Grow • Share a Row.

Do you have a delicious garden-to-bowl soup or seasonal recipe to share? Post it on social media using #soupalicious and tag us (make sure the post is public so we can see it!). You can also email it directly to us.

Every Friday, we’ll feature some of the most inspiring recipes shared by YOU, celebrating the bounty of edible gardens and the warmth of community spirit.

Let’s get growing, cooking, and sharing together!

EDIBLE GARDENS IN BLOOM

How Self-Watering Planters Are Revolutionizing Urban Agriculture

With Communities in Bloom declaring “Edible Gardens” as its 2025 theme, towns and cities across Canada are embracing the opportunity to grow fresh food in creative, sustainable ways. From community gardens to sidewalk herb beds, one solution stands out for its simplicity, efficiency, and long-term value: Desert Planters– polyethylene self-watering planters.

These planters offer more than just a place to grow. Manufactured through rotational molding, their seamless polyethylene construction is engineered for durability. They won’t rust, crack, chip, peel, or dent, making them ideal for public spaces, commercial zones, schools, and residential areas. Their weather resistance ensures they can handle everything from scorching summers to Canadian winters.

NUTRIENTS FOR LIFE IS CELEBRATING!

Nutrients for Life Canada is celebrating! This is our tenth year of promoting and supporting school Learning Gardens. We have assisted 500 Canadian schools with grants and resources for learning gardens.

Learning Gardens are outdoor, educational environments where students discover soil science and agricultural sustainability through hands-on practice. 

Digging into collaboration, exploration, and food security to harvest skills, community spirit and knowledge about where food comes from and

the environment.

View our Celebration video in English or French to see the inspiring activities happening in School Gardens with the help of Nutrients for Life’s School Learning Garden Program.

#GREENMYCITY GRANT

AWARDS & CONTESTS

Cultivating a Greener Future: Urban Agriculture

examples from Portugal, Germany, and Brazil

In an increasingly urbanised world, our cities are bustling hubs of innovation and culture. Yet, many urban areas face pressing challenges: rising food insecurity, environmental degradation, and a growing disconnect between people and their food sources. 

The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) presents three urban agriculture initiatives from Portugal, Germany, and Brazil that are addressing these challenges to cultivate vibrant, green futures. These initiatives were Finalists for the ‘Living Green for Urban Agriculture & Food Systems’ category of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2024.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT:

Clean, Green, Beautiful North Bay

Written by: Maggie Horsfield, Hariett Madigan, Andrew McGarrity

North Bay's Communities in Bloom journey began in 2023 when Clean, Green, Beautiful North Bay partnered with the City of North Bay to join this inspiring initiative. After competing provincially in 2023, we entered the National category (population over 50,000) in 2024. We're proud to have received 5 Blooms, a special mention for the Northern Pines Crisis Center, and an Outstanding Achievement Award for Community Appearance.

In 2025, as we continue on the national stage, we celebrate North Bay's 100th anniversary as a City. From a population of 12,000 in 1925 to just over 50,000 today, North Bay has always embraced its heritage while looking to the future.



This milestone year is filled with free, accessible events for all ages—concerts, drone shows, and increased funding for community gatherings—to celebrate our vibrant, growing city.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:

The Two Daves: 20 Years of Blooming Brilliance

Since its inception in 2006, David Sollows and David Warner have been active

members of the Town of Yarmouth Communities in Bloom Committee. It would

be impossible to list all of their contributions to the CiB effort, both individually

and as a team. On an annual basis they organize and execute the Judges’ visits to Yarmouth which over the years has resulted in a long list of special awards

culminating in Yarmouth being a National Winner in 2023. While one David

undertakes to coordinate the CiB entry in the Spring Living Show each year, the

other is visible in the community planting flowers and teaching children the

importance of both our history and how to care for plants. Each of them was

instrumental as well in the successful application to host the CiB National

Symposium in 2019, an event which attracted delegates from all over the world

with Yarmouth notably being the smallest community to ever host this event.

Their passion for their community has resulted in accolades from the National

Association. This year, as Yarmouth competes at the international level and has

once again applied to host the 2027 Symposium, their enthusiasm has not waned.

As they celebrate their 20th anniversary as members of the CiB team, they are as active and instrumental to the mandate of CiB as they were on day one and

deserving of the gratitude of our entire county.

David Sollows last years planting with grade one students

David Warner

ALWAYS TOGETHER ROSE

COMING TO MARKET IN 2026

If you have any questions, please contact: 

Sonia Parrino

Program Specialist

1-514-694-8871

 bloom@cib-cef.com