Collaborating with Canon to Build a School Rain Garden

Three people standing on a wood walkway, in front of a newly planted garden.

Building Resilient Communities with Canon Canada

Our Students for Stormwater team has been busy at schools in the watershed, teaching students and staff about the importance of stormwater management and how rain gardens can help to reduce the risk of flooding in our communities.

Rain gardens are a type of green infrastructure that help us adapt to our changing climate, where we are seeing more rain and heavy rainfall. That’s why we’ve partnered with Canon Canada to improve stormwater management on school grounds in the Credit River Watershed.

Thanks to Canon Canada’s generous contribution of $35,000, we installed a rain garden at George Kennedy Public School in Halton Hills.

The funding is part of Canon’s Branch Out Program, an environmental volunteer initiative allowing Canon employees to support their community and organizations like Credit Valley Conservation (CVC).

George Kennedy Public School Rain Garden

Small trees and shrubs in a garden covered in mulch with a playground in the background.
Newly planted rain garden installed at George Kennedy Public School.

George Kennedy Public School is in the Hungry Hollow SNAP neighbourhood. It was selected as the top priority site to develop a school rain garden.

Through the project we are able to address:

  • Drainage issues
  • Erosion at the black top area, beside the playground
  • Soggy spots in the grass, making it too damp for mowing and unsuitable for kids to play on during recess
A deep crack in the middle of a grassy lawn filled with water.
Drainage issues and erosion found on the lawn of George Kennedy Public School before the rain garden installation.

Rain gardens are effective stormwater solutions on school properties because they tend to have large amounts of impervious surfaces, such as rooftops, blacktops, sidewalks and compacted soil. Stormwater runs over these surfaces and flows into storm drains, eventually making their way into our rivers and lakes. Rain gardens help prevent stormwater pollution by slowing down, soaking up and filtering rainwater, stopping pollutants from entering storm drains.

Getting Students Involved

A group of people planting trees and shrubs in a garden.
Students hard at work planting trees and shrubs in the rain garden.

Rain gardens make the perfect outdoor classrooms. Teachers can use the outdoor space to enhance learning with environmentally focused curriculum.

At George Kennedy Public School, 366 kindergarten to grade 5 students helped select native plants and finished the planting. We provided presentions to students about the Credit River Watershed, the benefits of rain gardens and the impacts of climate change in their community. We also shared more actions they can take at home and in their community.

Rain Garden Maintenance and Care

Like all gardens, rain gardens need regular weeding and maintenance to thrive. Our staff are supporting George Kennedy Public School staff and students showing them how to identify and remove weed species. We also conduct regular performance monitoring of the rain garden to make sure it’s working as intended.

On the Ground Help from Canon

Two people giving each other a high five while standing in a garden.
Canon staff enthusiastically helped plant the George Kennedy Public School rain garden.

The on-the-ground help of Canon was crucial to complete the rain garden. Thanks to the hard work of 25 Canon employees, we were able to complete the rain garden construction.

A group of people on a small wooden bridge over a newly dug garden.
CVC and Canon staff successfully build the new rain garden in Hungry Hollow SNAP.

The valuable support of corporate partners like Canon makes it possible for communities to take climate change action in their communities.

Through their Branch Out Program, over 100 Canon Canada staff participated in events hosted by Credit Valley Conservation this year. These events included maintaining the St. Joseph Public School rain garden that Canon sponsored in 2023, an invasive species removal, bird habitat box building and tree plantings.

We have had the pleasure of working with Canon Canada over nine years across 32 events, with their staff providing 5,000 staff hours of service.

With Canon’s support, we have made some extraordinary accomplishments:

  • Planted almost 2,000 trees and shrubs.
  • Planted over 3,500 wildflowers.
  • Removed 2,206 metres of invasive species.
  • Restored 1.4 hectares of land.

We express our gratitude to Canon for their assistance in making significant progress in greening our communities.

Take Your Team Outside

Is your company actively pursuing leadership goals in environmental and social responsibility? Foster team building and energize your group with hands-on activities like tree planting and removing invasive species to make a positive impact on nature with us. Learn about our programs for corporations and institutions.

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By Sarah LeBret, Associate, Marketing and Communications

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