Loyal to the Soil: Eco-villages and Eco-communities in Canada
March 26 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
A conversation with practitioners exploring collective land-based living, climate resilience, and the barriers facing eco-villages in Canada.
This conversation looks beyond idealism to examine the legal, cultural, and structural barriers to climate-conscious collective living.
Communities across the country are searching for ways to address housing affordability and climate change together. Loyal to the Soil brings together practitioners from ecovillages and ecocommunities representing different regions to explore how collective, land-based living can support both climate resilience and social equity, and why these models remain the exception rather than the norm.
What We’ll Explore
• Housing affordability and climate resilience
• Collective land stewardship and ecovillages
• Rural, agricultural, and urban contexts across Canada
• Structural barriers to land-based living
• Governance, intentional community, and shared housing models
Join the Conversation
This HCRC webinar invites planners, researchers, organizers, and community members into a grounded conversation about housing, climate resilience, and collective land stewardship in Canada.
Speakers
Killick Ecovillage Co-operative — Wendy Reid Fairhurst
Wendy Reid Fairhurst is a founding member of Killick Ecovillage Co-operative, a 57-acre regenerative farm and planned 51-unit mixed-income cohousing community near St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The project is adapting the Mutual Home Ownership Society (MHOS) model to make rural ecovillage living more accessible. She also helps lead Reclaim Community CDO, sharing tools and lessons from the project to support community-led housing initiatives across Canada.
Biblioterre — Rob Cole
Rob Cole is chair of the agroecological co-op Biblioterre and treasurer of Habitation Biblioterre, a housing co-operative near Wakefield, Québec on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnabeg. His work connects affordable housing, agroecology, and collective land stewardship through farming, reforestation, and community projects. Outside the co-op, he works locally as an arborist.
Junction Village Community Land Trust — Mary-Kate Craig
Mary-Kate Craig (she/her) is a community catalyst, researcher, and co-founder of Junction Village Community Land Trust in Guelph, Ontario. Her work focuses on housing transformation, land stewardship, and regenerative futures. Through Junction Village, she is helping to develop an urban intentional community grounded in shared spaces, collective governance, and long-term land stewardship.