Ready for take-off at Toronto Climate Week

What started out as a soft launch with 20 events became a 100+ event launch for Toronto Climate Week - a sign of how much is already happening. Rather than trying to manufacture momentum, this week felt like a recognition of the already work underway.

Even with shifting politics and economic headwinds, the message across TOCW was that Canada has a rare opportunity to lead on climate - but that securing that leadership is far from a sure thing.

🔍️ A window of opportunity

Canada has a huge opening to lead on climate. As the U.S. walks back key pieces of federal climate policy and public incentives, the rest of the world continues to treat the clean economy as a central pillar of competitiveness.

We already have some of the top climate tech startups (9 of the Global Cleantech 100), talented researchers, scientists and founders, and a cleantech ecosystem worth more than $41 billion.

But Rick Smith from the Canadian Climate Institute offered a reality check: American disinterest won’t last forever. The intervening period is our moment to lead - but the window will close.

PwC’s Elliott Cappell picked up on the same signal at New York Climate Week: big corporates haven’t slowed their climate investments; they’re just using different words and being quieter about it.

Takeaway: The coming months and years will test our ability to seize the moment and back home-grown climate winners. We need to show that climate ambition = economic ambition.

⛔️ Uncertainty is slowing us down

Uncertainty is the constant undercurrent. From the unpredictability of our biggest trading partner to our own backyard - cancelled carbon pricing, on-again-off-again incentive programs, and endless pilots.

This in-between era is leading to a “wait and see” approach for many investors, but entrepreneurs and climate builders are adapting. Jouleia unveiled its home retrofit financing platform to keep retrofits moving without relying on government incentives, while nature-based solution startups are responding to lost trust in the voluntary carbon markets with higher integrity standards and diversified revenue models.

Takeaway: Builders are doing their part - policymakers and regulators need to match that urgency by creating near-term clarity and frameworks to build and deploy climate solutions.

🤝 Action takes a village

Real climate progress depends on partnership - across governments, communities, and industries. What stood out at TOCW was how it expanded the tent beyond the usual tech and finance people and brought in Indigenous voices, community organizers, artists and more.

Working with Indigenous peoples is key to climate action: not just for consent, but for partnership and ownership. Done well, Canada can be a model for driving clean economic growth and reconciliation.

That looks like equity partnerships in major projects but also investment in Indigenous-led work like Carolinian Canada’s biodiversity and climate resilience projects or Onion Lake Cree Nation’s rooftop solar project.

Cities also hold a ton of potential. We often overlook them, focusing on federal actions, but they’re responsible for the gritty details of waste, water, distribution grids and more - key levers for climate action.

And while they’re often cash-strapped, they can be more nimble than higher levels of government: A collaboration with MaRS led to the City of Toronto buying 58 low-carbon systems from Effenco to decarbonize its fleet of heavy-duty vehicles.

🔑 Key takeaways:

1. We need a sense of urgency to meet the moment. Ecosystems and organizations face inertia, and we need individuals to kickstart action and accelerate the pace of change. My hope is that by next year we’re seeing step-level changes (i.e. from million-dollar pilots to $100 million-dollar scale-ups) across capital, corporate and policy.

2. Get ready for the next inning. In the next few years, more and more climate tech startups will start scaling up. To win, they’ll need new financial tools to fuel growth and fund first-of-a-kind and then next-of-a-kind projects.

3. Stay connected to the land. Sometimes it feels like tackling climate change or building a climate venture exists in a world of theory or numbers. Whether it was Waabshkigan Shane Monague from Sacred Earth Solar reminding us that “our purpose is to live in better relationship with the land and with each other”, or Graeme from Taking Root’s reflection on getting out into the field to see trees growing, it’s a reminder that climate work exists in the real world. And sometimes you need to touch grass.

A huge shoutout to Becky, Chloe, and the rest of the TOCW team. I’m already looking forward to the first full Toronto Climate Week - kicking off June 1st - 7th, 2026.

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