April 23 in Ottawa was a beautiful day to take a dozen Tourism HR Canada team members out around City Hall to participate in the Cleaning the Capital initiative that takes place every spring.
Since the start of Tourism HR Canada’s staff-led sustainability committee, Common Ground, our goal has been to inspire collective action and drive positive change within the Canadian tourism sector.
Last fall, the organization took the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge to increase its sustainability performance each year, through to 2030, using an assessment based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Council criteria and aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This includes efforts to lower the organization’s carbon footprint, grow its social handprint, and integrate sustainable practices into workforce development initiatives.
Among its key activities and achievements, Common Ground has been revisiting its overall corporate and strategic processes to include more transparency on the way sustainability goals align with the organization’s mandate of facilitating, coordinating, and enabling human resource development activities to support a globally competitive and sustainable tourism industry.
Looking at Tourism HR Canada’s mandate, projects, and programs under the lens of sustainability has put the emphasis on the importance of building a more diverse, inclusive, and resilient workforce. Awareness sessions and training have been provided to the team on various aspects of sustainability, DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion), and accessibility, which led to the development of the “IDEAL Workplace: Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable, Accessible, Leading” and “Compensation Culture” concepts.
Since the organization moved to a new LEED office location in late 2023, it has benefited from new solutions to lower the organization’s carbon footprint. But to successfully continue its sustainability journey, the organization really depends on the commitment of its team and leadership. As a human-centred sector, tourism can be a force for good…and be a lot of fun!