Canon Canada is putting in the work on sustainability

When Diana Kouril’s parents immigrated from what’s now the Czech Republic in the 1980s, they bought a Canon camera to document their new life in Canada. The camera captured the family’s most important moments — and was part of the reason Kouril took a job with Canon Canada in 2018.

“That camera was always part of our childhood,” says Kouril. “I had this connection to the brand, and to me that’s an important piece, to feel connected to the brand and the products, where you do feel motivated to push the company in a positive direction.”

That’s now a central part of her job as a senior specialist of environmental, social and governance (ESG). Kouril’s role involves maintaining Canon’s certification under the stringent ISO 14001 framework for implementing sustainability practices and continuously improving each year, as well as overseeing community partnerships, the company’s net-zero activities, and other company social and governance commitments.

“The exciting part of my job is that looking at sustainability is always a moving target — the job is never quite done. The world is changing, technology is changing, and the business is evolving toward that,” she says. “It does require this multi-disciplinary thinking behind how we approach it.”

Justin Lam, executive vice-president of the business operations group, says Canon Canada’s approach to environmental stewardship is guided by its parent company’s philosophy of kyosei, a Japanese term for living and working harmoniously together for the future.

At the local level, the company’s Branch Out program gives employees paid time off to volunteer with local environmental organizations, including building rain gardens, restoring parks, planting trees and shrubs, rooting out invasive species and more. Canon marked the 10th anniversary of Branch Out in 2024.

“Our president is out there, planting trees and getting blisters. I’ve stood in streams counting fish and invertebrates in the water. We’ve done some really cool things,” Lam says. “At the end of the day, it’s great to bring it back to that hands-on level. For employees to be able to get out from their desk and volunteer, it makes it very real.”

At the global level, Canon has made a commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with a detailed corporate plan for making progress every year. The company’s annual sustainability report details how it delivered against its yearly goals, such as sourcing more recycled materials for its products, engineering products to be lighter and use less materials, reducing its energy consumption, and cutting the emissions involved with transporting products across the globe.

The company is also thinking critically about how it can extend the lifespan of its products — but that’s certainly not new. Take Kouril’s parents’ camera: it’s still capturing important family memories today, nearly 40 years after they bought it.

“Canon takes a lot of pride in developing quality products,” Kouril says. “The company offers on-site servicing of Canon products, ensuring they are maintained to Canon’s high standards and extending their lifespan.”

Lam says the transparency of the company’s sustainability report is reflective of the company’s overall approach to sustainability. From its annual ISO recertification to its green procurement policy, “those things take effort to do. They’re challenging things to have to go through. But they make sure we’re accountable to the things we said we would do,” he says.

That continual effort, Lam says, is why he’s been with the company for just over 20 years. “For people who think those things are important, working for a company like Canon makes you feel proud that you’re working for a responsible company.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Greenest Employers winners, published April 22, 2025 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.