Becky Park-Romanovsky, a co-founder of non-profit Climate North, envisions turning Toronto into a hub for climate-focused businesses with her newest venture Toronto Climate Week.

Announced today, Toronto Climate Week is designed as a city-wide conference consisting of panels, presentations, art installations, technology demonstrations and discussions under one umbrella. The events will bring together companies, venture capital firms, policymakers, activists and artists to network and collaborate.

Toronto Climate Week is planned as a two- or three-day soft launch in September, followed by a full, week-long event in June 2026.

A range of public, private and non-profit partners such as the MaRS Discovery District, ArcTern Ventures, the Centre for Social Innovation, Deep Sky, Women and Climate, and Carbon Removal Canada are expected to host at the fall event.

After repeatedly hearing “Is there a climate week in Toronto? When is Toronto Climate Week coming?” from the Climate North community, Park-Romanovsky decided to take the plunge herself, leaving her job to found and organize Toronto Climate Week full-time.

With the U.S. retreating on climate leadership, the moment is ripe for Canada and Toronto to be at the forefront, she said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

“I want to have a central, made-in-Canada hub where our talent and investments can stay and flourish in Toronto and in Canada.”

A decentralized climate conference

The model for Toronto Climate Week comes from the likes of Climate Week NYC, SF Climate Week in San Francisco and London Climate Action Week.

Unlike most conferences, Toronto Climate Week is intended to be decentralized. There will be no main venue or event; rather, dozens of smaller events held across Toronto will be organized and “anybody can host an event within certain guidelines”.

This will allow for a broad variety of stakeholders to participate, Park-Romanovsky said, from businesses, investors and governments to local food vendors and artists. Public awareness about climate issues will be increased, which will boost investment and support innovation, she added.

“The idea behind it is to make a shift in climate culture and make it inclusive and inviting to anyone who wants to participate.”

For potential event locations, Park-Romanovsky is looking to connect its partners to a list created by Climate North, made up of offices, breweries, restaurants and art gallery Arcadia Earth Toronto. If the City of Toronto decides to partner with Toronto Climate Week, she said venues owned by the city could also be used.

Park-Romanovsky hopes the fall pre-launch will attract 1,500 attendees for 30 to 40 events, to catalyze $1 million to $3 million in investment, and have between five and 10 startup deals initiated. For the full event next year, Park-Romanovsky is targeting 6,000 attendees, 100 events and to stimulate $5 million to $10 million in investment.

Her hope is for Toronto Climate Week to then become an annual event.

Cross-border collaboration on the climate crucial

Park-Romanovsky is a sustainability professional who founded a Toronto-based startup that helped event planners source carbon- and plastic-free supplies, and last worked as a carbon credit project developer. She helped found Climate North, which arranges monthly events about climate issues in Toronto for professionals.

Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, she has heard American friends in the sustainability sector who had never seriously thought about expanding to Canada turning their attention to the country because of its supportive, friendly environment for climate action.

“There's a lot at stake right now in terms of the economic development that we need to push the gas on, cross-sector collaboration, cross-border collaboration in our emission targets in Toronto and Canada.”