As a student leader at the University of Waterloo, I have seen first-hand the rising fear and anxiety my peers experience regarding the present realities and the future of our communities and the planet.
Post-secondary institutions such as U of T should be leading the response to the global environmental threat by offering clear, transparent and detailed proposals backed by genuine accountability.
Inspired by high school climate strikes and building on the success of the university divestment movement, a new era of student organizers is turning its attention to Canada’s banks.
Students are demanding the University of Toronto's federated schools also commit to moving their investments out of fossil fuels. Less than an hour’s drive north, students at York University want their school to follow suit.
The boards of Canada’s largest pension funds are already inundated with fossil fuel connections and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is about to add a former executive with ongoing ties to the industry to the mix.
The British Columbia Investment Management Corporation holds a total of $199.6 billion in managed assets and oversees retirement savings for the province's teachers, nurses, municipal workers and other government workers, according to its site.
As the world navigates an energy transition, Canada’s bankers find themselves neck-deep in oil money with a choice to make: Turn their backs on fossil fuels or keep financing the very activity threatening all life on Earth.
A string of major Canadian universities committed in 2020 to consider climate change when managing their assets. The C.D. Howe Institute took a look at how they’ve done since.