| | Follow us on social media! | | Submissions Open - Green Office Challenge 2025 | | |
Calling All Primary Care Practices!
The Green Office Challenge 2025 is now open for submissions. Take our questionnaire to identify areas of excellence and opportunities to further implement sustainable practices.
We encourage all medial practice offices, regardless of where you are on your sustainability journey, to participate in the questionnaire. Along with our Green Office Toolkit, the questionnaire is a tool to help you learn and implement greener practices while contributing to a more sustainable future.
This opportunity is funded by Canada’s award-winning sustainable technology company, HP, Hamilton Family Health Teams’ Green Initiative, the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, and PEACH Health Ontario.
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Upcoming Webinar - Optimizing Medication Use: Strategies for Sustainable Health Care
Date: June 24th, 2025
Time: 12:00–1:00 PM ET
Think sustainability in health care is all about choosing new medication options that are better for the environment? Think again.
Join the CCGHC, PEACH and CAPhE for an insightful dive into how Medication Use Evaluation (MUE) pharmacists are shaking up the status quo—not by adding more to the mix, but by rethinking what’s already there. From identifying outdated medication distribution systems to uncovering quiet culprits of waste, MUE pharmacists are proving that smarter doesn’t always mean newer.
This session will explore how reviewing historical medication practices can unlock surprising opportunities to reduce waste, save money, and pave the way to a more sustainable health care system.
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Upcoming Webinar - The Roadmap for Planetary Health and Sustainable Health Systems
Date: June 17th, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM PT/ 3:00 PM ET
Join us for a landmark national webinar spotlighting over 100 Canadian hospitals that have phased out desflurane, a superpolluting anesthetic gas. This climate-health victory is just the beginning.
We’ll explore how small, strategic interventions can catalyze system-wide sustainability, and lay the groundwork for Sustainable Healthcare Secretariats across Canada.
Featuring Canadian and global leaders Dr Courtney Howard, Dr Anita Rao, Dr Margot Burnell, Dr Joseph LeBlanc and moderated by JP Toussaint from the Trottier Family Foundation, this session offers inspiration, practical insights, and ways to take action.
| | The Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care is a charity! | |
The Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care is proud to announce its new status as a registered charity—a significant milestone in its 25-year journey promoting environmental sustainability in Canada’s health care sector!
As a charity, the Coalition is poised to expand its impact. Together, let’s ensure Canada's health care organisations become leaders in sustainability, resilience, and climate action.
Make your donation today to drive meaningful change and champion a greener, healthier Canada!
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New EV Charger Incentive program
Green Economy Canada, with support from Natural Resources Canada, has launched a new EV Charger Incentive Program offering up to 50% of total project costs (to a maximum of $100,000) for the installation of Level 2 and DC fast chargers.
This is a great opportunity for businesses, non-profits, and municipalities to reduce upfront costs and support the shift to zero-emission transportation.
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Key details:
- Open to workplaces, light-duty vehicle fleets, and public sites.
- Covers installation of Level 2 and DC fast chargers.
- Funding is available across Canada, but open to Ontario first.
- Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until funds run out.
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Expanded energy Management (EEM) Program
Save on Energy has expanded its Energy Management Program offering for commercial, institutional and industrial facilities. EEM is a tailored energy management offering based on the unique business needs of your organisation. It offers the following paths to help facilities save energy and achieve sustainability goals:
Hire an Energy Manager
Receive funding to hire a dedicated energy manager, covering up to 50% of their salary, up to a maximum of $100,000 per facility per year.
Strategic Energy Management (SEM)
Participate in expert-led coaching, cohorts, and curriculum to identify and implement long-term energy-saving opportunities. Unlock additional incentives for achieving energy savings and meeting key milestones.
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Trees as a 'health-care ally:' How medical facilities are using plants to heal patients and the planet
Canadian Medical Association
The Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care is leading efforts to "rewild" hospital grounds across Canada by planting trees, shrubs, and grasses. Research shows that access to nature helps patients recover faster, reduces mental health issues, and mitigates heat-related health risks, particularly in urban areas with limited greenery.
Dr. Myles Sergeant, the Coalition’s executive director, began this work after seeing firsthand how his inner-city patients lacked green spaces, especially during extreme heat. Since 2017, the program has planted over 45,000 trees, emphasizing native, drought-tolerant species to adapt to climate change.
Rewilding also contributes to reducing the health care sector’s large carbon footprint, which accounts for over 4% of global emissions. Initiatives like reducing unnecessary medications, adopting virtual care, and sustainable hospital practices can further help reach a net-zero health system, a goal supported by the Canadian Medical Association.
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Four Years After the Heat Dome: Demand Action for Climate-Safe Communities
CAPE
As we mark the fourth anniversary of the 2021 Heat Dome—one of the deadliest environmental disasters and mass casualty events in Canadian history— Canadian Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is calling on the Government of British Columbia to follow through on its promise to ensure this preventable tragedy is never repeated. They invite you to sign on to the joint letter urging Premier Eby and key Ministers to:
- Implement the directives from the 2022 Extreme Heat Death Review Panel Report.
- Expand cooling green spaces and urban tree canopy, especially in neighbourhoods with high material deprivation.
- Empower municipalities to build communities that are not only affordable and livable, but also safe, climate-resilient, and health-promoting for all residents.
You can sign on as an individual or on behalf of your organisation.
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Examining Canadian hospitals’ support for planetary health through the implementation of green teams and sustainability offices
Dovepress
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Planetary health is the idea that human health and the health of our planet are inextricably linked. The health care sector promotes human health but has a significant impact on our natural world.
In Canada, some hospitals are leading the way towards promoting planetary health in an increasingly challenging context. The purpose of this study was to understand how Canadian hospitals support planetary health, specifically through green teams and sustainability offices.
| | NEW! RETScreen® Expert Version 9.3 | |
The RETScreen® Clean Energy Management Software Version 9.3 upgrades include a series of new energy efficient plus deep retrofit archetypes for the Virtual Energy Analyzer (VEA). In addition, key new capabilities have been added to the software to facilitate and automate the ongoing commissioning of facilities, and to help implement RETScreen as an Energy Management Information System (EMIS).
Version 9.3 of the RETScreen® Clean Energy Management Software platform is now available for download from the RETScreen website.
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2nd Forum on Healthcare Infrastructure, Atlantic Canada
Canadian Institute
Dates: July 14th – 15th, 2025
Seize the opportunity to connect with leaders in health care facilities planning, construction, design, and clinical operations at the Canadian Institute’s Forum on Healthcare Infrastructure, Atlantic Canada.
This essential event will provide critical insights into project delivery best practices, national and regional trends, and the status of major developments across Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Save 10% with the CCGHC promo code: D10-999-CCGHC25
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CHES National Conference
Canadian Institute
Dates: September 14th - 16th, 2025
Location: Calgary, Alberta
This national conference attracts leaders from across Canada and around the world in the field of health care facilities design, engineering, operations and maintenance. We also provide opportunities for supplier and corporate representatives to interact with delegates at an industry trade show and in more relaxed social settings at the Sunday Night Opening Reception and the Monday Night President’s reception, dinner, and awards banquet.
Registration is now open!
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Have you registered as an organ donor?
Contact your local organ donation agency and speak to your family about your wishes. You have the power to save and transform lives. Learn more and register to donate HERE.
| | The Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care is Canada’s premier green health care resource network, leading the evolution of green in Canada’s health sector as a national voice and catalyst for environmental change. www.greenhealthcare.ca | |
Some articles referred to in the Digest make reference to services and/or product offerings from specific suppliers. The CCGHC recommends that readers research the service and product offerings available through a wider range of suppliers for comparison purposes and in keeping with public sector purchasing guidelines. These articles should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any product or service. | | | | |
