GreenStep and HI Canada partner to advance sustainability in Canadian hostels

Hostelling International Canada (HI Canada), in partnership with GreenStep, has officially launched a collaboration to strengthen sustainability performance measurement and develop a long-term sustainability strategy for HI Canada’s national network.

Part of the global Hostelling International network, HI Canada is a not-for-profit, member-based organization with over thirty hostels across the country. Sustainability has long been embedded in HI Canada’s values, with a strong emphasis on environmental stewardship, community connection, and responsible travel. This new partnership represents a strategic step toward strengthening coordination and advancing these efforts across the organization.

Building a Shared Foundation for Sustainability

Sustainability is already part of how HI Canada operates. This partnership with GreenStep focuses on bringing greater clarity to those efforts by grounding future decisions in data and shared priorities.

Developing a unified strategy and baseline understanding will help connect work happening across individual properties with broader organizational goals, supporting consistent action and long-term impact.

Partnership Scope and Strategic Focus

GreenStep is working with HI Canada using the GreenStep Sustainability Framework, with an initial focus on measurement, learning, and strategic alignment.

The collaboration between HI Canada and GreenStep will include:

• Baseline Measurement of Sustainability Performance: Establishing a foundational understanding of organizational carbon footprint, property level performance in energy, water, and waste efficiency, and broader sustainability metrics to support progress tracking
• Long-Term Strategy Development: Co-creating a sustainability strategy aligned with HI Canada’s mission, establishing an overarching vision, goals, and action plan that supports continuous improvement in environmental and social stewardship

By integrating data-driven analysis with strategic planning, this partnership aims to enhance HI Canada’s capacity to minimize its ecological footprint, support local communities, and strengthen resilience across their hostel network.

Building Long-Term Success Through Partnership

“Partnering with GreenStep marks an important milestone in our ongoing commitment to responsible travel and environmental stewardship,” said Julius van Wyk, CEO of HI Canada. “Our hostels have long championed sustainability at the local level, and this collaboration gives us the tools and shared direction to elevate that work nationally. By grounding our decisions in data and aligning around a unified strategy, we’re strengthening our ability to create meaningful, lasting impact for our guests and our communities.”

“This collaboration brings together HI Canada’s commitment to responsible travel and GreenStep’s data-driven approach to advancing sustainability across individual properties and the organization as a whole,” said Angela Nagy, President & CEO of GreenStep. “It sets the foundation for coordinated action and lasting impact, and as someone who has personally stayed at many HI hostels over the years, it’s so exciting to see this partnership take shape.”

Together, HI Canada and GreenStep are laying the groundwork for a coordinated and measurable approach to sustainability, demonstrating how a clear understanding of current performance, paired with long-term planning, can support responsible travel and meaningful progress over time.