Canada Life supports non-profits across eight provinces

Green Standards and Canada Life have worked together since 2009 to sustainably remove furniture, fixtures, and equipment from scores of corporate real estate projects across Canada. Through this partnership, more than 250 non-profit organizations have benefited from in-kind donations and 1,867 tons have been kept out of landfills. 

Challenge

More than a decade ago, Canada Life required a turnkey provider with the specialized knowledge, networks, and processes in place to facilitate the decommission and donation of tens of thousands of items while maintaining project timelines and budgets in multiple regions.

This leading Canadian insurance and financial services company (that now includes Great-West Life and London Life) had an ambitious 95%+ landfill diversion goal. Canada Life needed in-depth reporting to benchmark the environmental and social performance of their projects, including landfill diversion metrics, item-by-item tracking, and estimates of the fair market value of in-kind donations and CO2e emissions avoided.

It was also important to Canada Life that the sustainable decommissioning process could be repeatable in cities throughout the country so that the reporting could be streamlined, consolidated, and filtered efficiently through one source.

Solution

For Canada Life, reducing their carbon footprint while revitalizing their nation-wide corporate offices was a significant goal. Across over 130 projects — with many more planned — their fundamental approach to corporate waste sparked a partnership with Green Standards, managing and measuring their impact on local communities as well as the environment. 

Green Standards took responsibility for the entire process: From onboarding and managing commercial movers, to engaging eligible local non-profits, coordinating and documenting asset delivery, and providing environmental and community impact reporting.

Result

Canada Life has deployed Green Standards services nationwide, with notable projects in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Kingston, London, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Thunder Bay. Overall, these projects have achieved a landfill diversion rate of 98%.

The in-kind donations to date are valued at $902,584 and have benefited hundreds of partner organizations including Habitat For Humanity, March of Dimes, The Salvation Army, and dozens of school districts across the country.

Asset Distribution