About Evergreen

Evergreen is working to create cities that are livable, green and prosperous.

For over 30 years, we’ve been facilitating change in communities through connection, innovation and sustainable actions. We work with community builders across sectors to solve some of the most pressing issues cities face: climate change, housing affordability, and access to nature and public spaces.

Our approach is to bring together different people and lead with a mindset focused on solutions so we can test and scale the ideas needed in cities. We believe that no one actor can solve these challenges alone. We convene and engage to revitalize and transform spaces into great places that are inclusive to all people and sustainable at their core.​

Through our work at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto, our collaborative initiative Future Cities Canada, and programs across the country, we’re working to make our communities flourish.​

Visit our project page to see how we are facilitating change across Canada.​

Our Mission

To make cities more livable, green and prosperous.

Our Vision

Flourishing cities where all will thrive.

What We Believe

Diversity, equity and inclusion matters.

It is essential to the values that we hold and the work that we do. It strengthens our connections, drives innovation and positions us to build a more sustainable and equitable future for all.   

To achieve our mission, we rely on the unique backgrounds, experiences and viewpoints of our staff, volunteers and partners. We understand that diverse perspectives require an inclusive culture in other to thrive - a culture that is respectful and welcoming to all.

Our Commitment

We are committed to creating a place where employees, volunteers, partners and visitors are included, regardless of background, age, religion, race, gender, gender identity and expression, physical ability or sexual orientation; a place where one can be their whole self, and where that whole self feels celebrated. 

We believe cities of the present and future are for everyone. We will continuously strive to be a stronger ally to diverse communities, to do more, and to learn and grow.

As stewards of public space in Canada, Evergreen recognizes our responsibility in taking tangible steps towards Truth-telling and Reconciliation with Indigenous communities. Looking to Indigenous land stewardship as a solution to the climate crisis, we can ignite the potential of public spaces to bridge this divide.

We haven’t always gotten it right. In fact, sometimes we’ve gotten it wrong. We are learning and continue to unlearn. In the last two years we have been actively exploring ways to Indigenize our cities, which involves the incorporation of Indigenous perspectives, knowledge, cultures, and practices into urban environments. We are grateful to our partners, Indigenous consultants, and others who are guiding us on this journey.

Our Values 

Evergreen Brick Works, located in Toronto’s ravine system, is Evergreen’s national headquarters. Since 2010, it has been a year-round destination where the world comes to experience sustainability in action. Once an industrial brick factory, now it is an internationally renowned showcase of green design, an award-winning public space and a test site to pilot ideas that can be scaled across the country to shape our cities for the better.  

Acknowledging the Land and First Peoples

The sacred lands upon which we operate, and the built communities and cities across the country, are the traditional territories, homelands and nunangat of the respective First Nations, Métis Nations and Inuit who are the long-time stewards of these lands.

These are occupied lands and subject to inherent rights, covenants, treaties, and self-government agreements to peaceably share and care for the lands and resources across Turtle Island. These regions are still home to diverse Indigenous peoples and we are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on these lands.

The Evergreen Brick Works site is built on occupied Indigenous territory – the traditional homelands of the Wendat (Wen-dat) and Petun (Pah-toon) First Nations, the Haudenosaunee (Ho-den-O-Show-nee), and the Mississaugas of the Credit. The territory is governed by Treaty 13 and is subject of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee (Ho-den-O-Show-nee) and Anishinaabek (A-Nish-Naw-bek) Confederacies and allies to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.

Today, the meeting place of Toronto, including this Waasayishkodenayosh area of the Lower Don River, is still the home to many Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work within this territory and the community as a whole.

*Waasayishkodenayosh is one name for this area along the Lower Don River, interpreted to mean ‘Burning bright point’ in Anishinaabemowin. The spelling and meaning of the name is still being decided on by a Language Circle of First Nations knowledge and language-carriers and allies.