What Sustainability Solutions Group does

Sustainability Solutions Group (SSG) is a Canadian worker cooperative founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, with approximately 50 worker-members and employees operating across Canada, Chile, and the United States. The firm provides climate action consulting and a proprietary suite of modelling tools (ScenaSuite) to municipal, regional, state/provincial, and federal governments, as well as higher education institutions and large public-sector organizations. Its core technology stack centers on a family of purpose-built scenario modelling tools: ScenaCommunity and ScenaCorporate for emissions and equity-aware community scenarios, ScenaAdaptation for climate hazard and infrastructure cost modelling, ScenaEnergy and ScenaHourly for energy transition planning, ScenaLocale for neighbourhood-scale energy optimization, plus the free Municipal Toolkit, the open-access Municipal Energy and Emissions Database (MEED), the methane-focused CH4 Pathways Tool (with Global Methane Hub), and the Land Use Impact Calculator (LUIC) co-developed with FCM and CMHC. SSG's underlying analytical engine combines emissions inventories, energy systems modelling, and optimization scenarios rather than disclosed AI/ML systems.

SSG generates revenue primarily through project-based professional services engagements with public-sector clients, supplemented by thought-leadership content and free tool distribution that functions as top-of-funnel demand generation. The firm has delivered over 300 climate action projects across the Americas, with notable engagements including TransformTO for the City of Toronto, the Oregon Joint Task Force on Resilient Efficient Buildings, the St. Louis Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan, and regional climate plans in Chile and Quebec. Its go-to-market combines direct enterprise-style consulting sales, RFP responses, strategic partnerships with multilateral institutions (IDB, Global Methane Hub) and national housing bodies (FCM, CMHC), and conference-driven thought leadership (Reset Connect, London Climate Action Week). The cooperative ownership model, B Corp certification, and Creative Commons-licensed publications are central to its positioning in government procurement.

Name

Sustainability Solutions Group

Legal name

Sustainability Solutions Group

Website

https://ssg.coop

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sustainability Solutions Group is a Canadian worker cooperative that provides climate action consulting and proprietary scenario modelling tools (ScenaSuite, MEED, LUIC, CH4 Pathways) to municipal, regional, state, and federal governments and institutions across the Americas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Action Consulting Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainability & ESG Consulting (BPAHACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Climate Target-Setting, Transition Planning & Performance Management Platforms (EUABAEAF), Regulatory & Disclosure Strategy (CSRD/ESRS, ISSB/IFRS S2, SEC, TCFD) (EUABAKAH), Sustainability & ESG Reporting (GRI/SASB/ISSB/CSRD) (EUAHAJAB), Climate Adaptation & Resilience Programs (BPADALAD)

Keywords

• Climate action consulting
• Climate mitigation planning
• Climate adaptation planning
• Energy transition planning
• Municipal sustainability services

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Climate Action Consulting Services: SSG provides professional consulting services to governments and institutions for climate action planning, including climate mitigation planning, climate adaptation planning, mid-transition energy planning, and climate action implementation. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements with public sector clients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Sustainability Solutions Group is a worker cooperative that provides climate action consulting services to governments, municipalities, and educational institutions, including climate mitigation planning, climate adaptation planning, mid-transition energy planning, greenhouse gas inventories, scenario modelling, and implementation support. The firm complements these services with a proprietary suite of climate and energy modelling tools (the ScenaSuite) and free public tools such as the Municipal Toolkit, MEED, LUIC, and CH4 Pathways.

Product overview

Sustainability Solutions Group offers a comprehensive suite of climate action planning products and services. The core offering consists of the Scena platform family of modeling tools (ScenaCommunity, ScenaCorporate, ScenaAdaptation, ScenaEnergy, ScenaHourly, and ScenaLocale) designed for governments, utilities, and institutions to model climate scenarios, energy transitions, and risk assessments. Additionally, SSG provides the free Municipal Toolkit suite and Municipal Energy and Emissions Database (MEED) for Canadian municipalities. Specialized tools include CH4 Pathways for methane reduction analysis in South America and the Land Use Impact Calculator (LUIC) for assessing development impacts. These products work together to provide end-to-end climate action planning capabilities from community engagement to energy optimization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ScenaCommunity: A climate action modeling tool that leverages data on how people live, work, and move to identify affordable and equitable climate action scenarios.
• ScenaCorporate
• ScenaAdaptation
• ScenaEnergy
• ScenaHourly
• ScenaLocale
• Municipal Toolkit
• Municipal Energy and Emissions Database (MEED)
• CH4 Pathways Tool

Products and services

• Climate Mitigation Planning Project-based consulting service that helps municipalities, regional governments, and institutions reduce greenhouse gas emissions through climate action plans, GHG inventories, and emissions reduction roadmaps.
• Climate Adaptation Planning Consulting service that identifies climate hazards (floods, heat waves, wildfires, etc.), assesses impacts on communities and infrastructure, and develops prioritized adaptation actions to reduce damages and costs.
• Mid-Transition Energy Planning Consulting service for governments and utilities that identifies reliable, affordable, and equitable pathways through the energy transition, including renewable energy deployment, alternative fuels, and efficiency strategies.
• Climate Action Plan Implementation Consulting service that supports governments and institutions in implementing their adopted climate action plans, including designing programs and policies that reduce emissions and deliver equitable outcomes.
• Scenario Modelling Project-based modelling service that uses the ScenaSuite of tools to compare climate, energy, and land use scenarios and translate them into actionable plans for governments and institutions.
• Greenhouse Gas Inventories Consulting service that develops greenhouse gas inventories for municipalities, regions, institutions, and other organizations to establish baselines and track emissions reduction progress.
• ScenaCommunity Proprietary modelling tool that leverages data on how people live, work, and move to identify affordable and equitable climate action scenarios for communities, used by SSG consultants and made available for community planning purposes.
• ScenaCorporate Proprietary modelling tool for government agencies, companies, or institutions to identify cost-effective approaches to decarbonize and manage operations and assets.
• ScenaAdaptation Proprietary climate adaptation tool that models climate hazards and compares the cost of inaction versus the cost of upgrading infrastructure, indicating where to invest and how many people can be kept safe.
• ScenaEnergy Proprietary energy transition planning tool that guides governments and utilities in planning their energy transition, providing analysis on renewable energy needs, alternative fuels, and efficiency strategies for decarbonization.
• ScenaHourly Proprietary energy modelling tool that tracks hourly supply and demand, assesses distributed energy resources, and explores new energy project and policy scenarios for meeting local energy needs while transitioning to renewables.
• ScenaLocale Proprietary neighbourhood-level optimization tool that finds the best energy systems while reducing emissions in existing and proposed neighbourhoods for municipalities, developers, or design teams.
• Municipal Toolkit Free suite of self-serve tools made available by SSG to municipalities for climate action planning, decision-making, and implementation.
• Municipal Energy and Emissions Database (MEED) Free open-access online database offering every Canadian community the energy and emissions data needed to begin acting on climate change.
• CH4 Pathways Multilingual online platform developed with the Global Methane Hub to support national and regional policymakers in South America with methane reduction pathways, featuring an interactive Pathways Explorer loaded with country-level emission projections.
• Land Use Impact Calculator (LUIC) Free Microsoft Excel plug-in developed with FCM and CMHC that helps local governments assess the financial and greenhouse gas impacts of new land use developments.

Quantifiable outcome

• SSG helped Toronto achieve net-zero target by 2040 (a decade ahead of typical targets), with $114B in projected savings and 50k new jobs
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 December 2023SSG collaborated with IDB to develop the guide 'Planning Climate Action in Cities and Regions' for local governments in Chile and other countries. The guide provides step-by-step resources for climate action planning.
• Global Methane HubcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSG collaborated with Global Methane Hub to develop the CH4 Pathways Tool, a multilingual platform supporting policymakers with methane reduction in South America. This partnership resulted in an award-winning tool that helps national and regional governments cut methane emissions.
• whatIf? TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSG partnered with whatIf? Technologies to help the City of Toronto develop its TransformTO Net Zero Strategy. Together they modelled emissions reduction action pathways to explore how the city could reach net-zero emissions.
• Rocky Mountain InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSG partnered with Rocky Mountain Institute and whatIf? Technologies for the Roadmap to Low-Carbon Operations in the National Capital Region project for the Canadian government. The partnership focused on strategic investments in aging federal buildings to reduce carbon footprint.
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSG developed the Land Use Impact Calculator (LUIC) with FCM and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The tool helps local governments assess the financial and greenhouse gas impacts of new developments.
• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSG developed the Land Use Impact Calculator (LUIC) with CMHC and Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The free tool helps municipalities assess climate and financial impacts of land-use decisions.
• Government of CanadacoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSSG worked with Public Works and Government Services Canada to develop the Roadmap for Low-Carbon Operations in the National Capital Region, helping the federal government achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Carbon Trust: Mission-driven climate advisory firm helping cities, governments, and businesses develop decarbonization strategies and measure emissions; very similar business model and buyer profile to SSG.
• South Pole Group: Climate solutions provider and advisory firm helping governments, institutions, and companies set science-based targets and develop net-zero strategies; closest mission-aligned competitor to SSG.
• Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI): Independent nonprofit energy and climate research/advising organization that partners with governments and utilities on decarbonization roadmaps - SSG is an active partner on the federal Canada roadmap, making it a coopetitor in the same buyer set.
• whatIf? Technologies: Canadian modeling firm specializing in energy and emissions scenario modeling for cities and utilities; has partnered with SSG on Toronto TransformTO and the federal Canada decarbonization roadmap.

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: Global infrastructure consultancy with a sizable Climate, Energy, and Sustainability practice serving municipal, state, and federal government clients on decarbonization planning and adaptation - direct competitor for large public sector RFPs.
• ICF International: Large publicly traded consultancy with a dedicated Climate Change & Sustainability practice serving US federal, state, and municipal clients on GHG inventories, climate planning, and adaptation - directly competing with SSG for public sector climate advisory work.
• Ramboll: Global engineering and sustainability consultancy with deep municipal climate advisory capability, particularly in Europe and North America; competes with SSG on urban climate planning and energy transition engagements.
• WSP Global: Canadian-headquartered global engineering and environmental consultancy with major climate, energy transition, and municipal sustainability practices; competes with SSG on multi-disciplinary municipal climate action plans.
• Stantec: Canadian-headquartered global engineering and environmental services firm with a Community Development and Climate action practice; competes with SSG on municipal climate action plans across North America.

Emerging players

• Element Energy: Specialist climate and energy consultancy supporting public sector clients on net-zero pathways, energy transition modeling, and adaptation; comparable to SSG in scope though UK-focused rather than Americas-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@sustainabilitysolutionsgro1605
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sustainability-solutions-group-ssg
• Xx.com/ssgcoop
• Facebookfacebook.com/SustainabilitySolutionsGroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sustainability Solutions Group