John Purkis

John regularly delivers presentations and training workshops on municipal sustainability planning, governance and decision making, The Natural Step Framework, and has advised municipalities and community groups across the country and internationally. His strong background in community and municipal development make him invaluable as Manager of Sustainable Communities. In addition to developing and delivering hundreds of presentations and training workshops on the Natural Step Framework for a wide variety of audiences across Canada, he has advised clients such as the Town of Markham, The Region of Peel, the City of Ottawa, Ontario; Regional Municipality of Halifax, Nova Scotia; City of Airdrie, Alberta; City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; the Town of Olds, Alberta; the Alberta Urban Municipal Association, the Abu Dhabi department of Municipal Affairs, the Halifax Shambhala Centre and many others.

Prior to joining The Natural Step Canada, John worked with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), where he co-developed the Municipal Building Retrofit Guide and the Sustainable Community Profile. He also helped the FCM lay the foundation for their Capacity Building Program and worked as the Development Manager for the FCM Green Municipal Fund.  

John holds a BSc in Environmental Science from Brock University and a graduate degree from Concordia University, where he studied the organizational structure and power dynamics of the Sierra Club of Canada.