This is Ecotrust Canada
Over our 30-year history, Ecotrust Canada has taken on different forms, approaches, and modes of working. However, that work has always been characterized by fundamental throughlines and qualities that have come to define who we are, including:
- We invest in doing, then showing — our calling card has always been to undertake projects on the ground as a way of proving what is possible.
- We assert that radical, practical change to economic systems is required to create a sustainable, just, and vibrant world.
- We amplify the power of people in place to develop place-based economies, specifically for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities in Canada.
- We have learned that the bedrock for change rests in creating lasting, reciprocal relationships with community partners, with special attention paid to the importance of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
Our Vision
Vibrant human and natural communities are connected and supported by thriving, just, and sustainable place-based economies.
Our Mission
Proving it’s possible to build an economy that provides for life.
Strategic Plan
We live in a time where life seems perched on the narrow edge of a tipping point. On one side, we sense a further descent into crisis — climatic, ecological, institutional, financial, and political. Along the other side, we feel a wave of change gathering, ready to lift us up into a world of new relationships and expanding possibilities for a more regenerative and equitable world.
We believe that Ecotrust Canada can play a critical role in tipping away from crisis and toward a more equitable, just, and sustainable world. We also believe that our organization’s most vital contribution to catalyzing this uplift is to show how a better world is possible here and now.
Ecotrust Canada and its partners are ready to prove that place-based economies — economies that intentionally connect people to the places they call home — can thrive. In doing so, these economies will provide for a healthy and resilient natural environment; sustainable and abundant energy, food, and housing; prosperous and meaningful livelihoods; vibrant cultures; and inclusive societies.
In practical terms (and we do consider ourselves a relentlessly practical organization), proving the possible means partnering with communities to create on-the-ground solutions that demonstrate how place-based economies can succeed. Further, we assert that by creating tangible, real-world examples, our successes (and failures) will inform and inspire change across communities, regions, continents, and even the world.
As we prepare for the next five years, this strategic plan takes its inspiration from this history and these learnings as we seek to redefine and sharpen our approach, programs, and systems to prove the possible.