News Release
QUEST Canada Announces its 2023-2025 Strategic Plan
QUEST Canada Announces its 2023-2025 Strategic Plan
June 20, 2023 – QUEST Canada is excited to announce the release of its 2023-2025 Strategic Plan, detailing the organization’s updated vision, mission and values as well as their new strategic priority and key activities for the next coming years.
While there are many significant global challenges being faced by governments and communities around the world today, the need to address climate change has become a mainstay and continues to increase in importance. Domestically, Canada’s motivation and actions to implement solutions to reduce emissions is not only seen as a climate objective, but also as an opportunity for social reform including, but not limited to, reconciliation, equity, diversity and inclusion, poverty reduction and economic growth.
In Canada, energy use by the multiple sectors at work in communities, from housing to transportation to local industry, account for 60 per cent of total energy consumption and half of Canada’s emissions. As a result, the pathway to net-zero emissions in Canada must be led by local governments as the key drivers of change. Local governments are also the primary agency that can build and maintain buy-in and support for the actions that bring us to a net-zero economy. The challenge is that they don’t have the capacity—knowledge, tools, resources and financing—to take the lead.
“There’s an urgency for Canada to enable diversified solutions that align with local needs and opportunities in order to achieve a net-zero emissions economy. QUEST Canada has positioned itself strategically to dramatically increase the number of communities that are starting to thrive as a result of having built the capacity and ability to implement net-zero emissions strategies by enabling informed energy decision-making and successfully advocating for supportive energy policy structures.”
In the next three years, QUEST Canada plans to inform and influence the evolution of governance, policy and program development in the community energy sphere. This will be realized through the development of a position paper that will inform and represent the foundation of QUEST Canada’s positions on relevant climate and energy policy issues. This will enable the organization to focus on advocating for energy and climate governance structures that support local action and system integration at both the provincial and federal levels.
QUEST Canada also plans to accelerate the implementation of community energy and emissions plans (CEEPs). By the end of 2025, the organization will be actively working directly or indirectly via partnerships with 200 communities as part of its Net-Zero Community Accelerator Program and related initiatives, starting from a baseline of 26 direct communities in 2022. Of the 200 communities, 50-60 per cent will be focused on developing strategies and 40-50 per cent will be focused on implementing strategies.
These key activities will enable QUEST Canada to further its mission to help communities in Canada establish coordinated local action on energy and emissions, creating a sustainable net-zero future where communities across Canada are prosperous.
To learn more about QUEST Canada’s 2023-2035 Strategic Plan visit their website and join their mailing list for future updates
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About QUEST Canada
QUEST Canada is a national non-profit that supports communities in Canada on their pathway to net-zero. Since 2007, we’ve been facilitating connections, empowering community champions and influencing decision-makers to implement efficient and integrated energy systems that best meet community needs and maximize local opportunities. We develop tools and resources, convene stakeholders and rights holders and advise decision-makers — all with the goal of encouraging and enabling communities to contribute to Canada’s net-zero goals.
Media Contact
To set up an interview, please contact:
Melissa Schweyer,
Senior Lead, Communications
t: 866-494-2770 ext. 704
e: [email protected]
Quotes
Tonja Leach, Executive Director at QUEST Canada
Read the quote
“There’s an urgency for Canada to enable diversified solutions that align with local needs and opportunities in order to achieve a net-zero emissions economy. QUEST Canada has positioned itself strategically to dramatically increase the number of communities that are starting to thrive as a result of having built the capacity and ability to implement net-zero emissions strategies by enabling informed energy decision-making and successfully advocating for supportive energy policy structures.”
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