Green by the Sea: How BC’s Capital Is Leading Small Cities in Sustainable Tourism

Victoria is harnessing its local bounty -- and technology -- to become a hub for sustainable travel.

May 20, 2025 - 23:50

Green by the Sea: How BC’s Capital Is Leading Small Cities in Sustainable Tourism

On only one occasion have I been inclined to ask a restaurant’s waitstaff about the music playing inside the establishment. That occasion was in January 2025 at End Dive, a dimly-lit corner establishment in downtown Victoria, British Columbia, and the reason for my inquiry was because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing – ‘90s-era punk rock, the soundtrack to a generation of youth rebellion I aligned with as a teenager and that first showed me a school of thought beyond that of my cookie-cutter suburban childhood.

“The band is called Chixdiggit,” our waitress informed me, after checking with the heavily tattooed bartender.

I was in town with a group of writers attending the IMPACT Sustainability + Travel Conference, and though I appreciated the tunes, we’d chosen End Dive for dinner this particular evening because of its rigid mantra of local sourcing. Tabletop candles duskly lit a veggie-heavy menu derived almost entirely of ingredients grown on Vancouver Island, coupled with a wine and beer list that pushed that limit as far as the Okanagan Valley. For two hours we chatted over hors d’oeuvres and small-plate mains as fresh as the salty Salish air. The playlist was a bonus, at least in my view, and it echoed a statement the restaurant had already made loud and clear – authenticity is everything. Over six days in Victoria, this same ethos would prove itself over and over again, from our accommodations to our experiences with local businesses, and it’s the reason Victoria is leading among mid-size cities in sustainable tourism.

Across the city, sustainability starts at the dinner table – and en route to it

More than 20 miles of protected bike lanes stretch across Victoria. Photo: Tim Wenger

Victoria’s interconnected network of protected bike lanes spiderwebs through the city and into neighboring suburbs, totaling more than 20 miles within city limits. Through this network it’s possible to pedal to the vast majority of the city’s 260-some restaurants, 82 percent of which are independently owned. Eating locally-sourced, low-impact food is easy even beyond End Dive – Virtuous Pie serves up delicious vegan pizzas with local flavors (followed by the best ice cream sandwich I’ve had), WhistleBuoy Brewing Company pours beers made largely from ingredients grown in the Pacific Northwest. What unites many of the city’s food and drink hubs is a commitment to sourcing local and keeping the end product out of landfills. Food waste is a massive problem – the US wastes over 100 billion pounds of food each year, some 40 percent of its supply by some estimates. This issue is even more pervasive in Canada, where nearly 50 percent of food produced goes to waste.

Hotels, particularly large ones that frequently host events like weddings and business functions, contribute heavily to this problem. Solutions are coming forth – Populus, in Denver, installed an on-site bio-digester to compost all food waste onsite, for example. Our group stayed at Fairmont Empress, in Victoria’s Inner Harbour, where the conference took place. Under the direction of Executive Chef Isabel Chung, the Fairmont Empress in downtown Victoria is embracing newer technology to tackle food waste. Its AI-driven Orbisk food waste monitoring system uses image recognition and weighing scales to automatically track and analyze every instance of food discarded in the kitchen. The system collects detailed data on the type, quantity, and timing of waste, providing Chef Chung and her team with real-time, actionable insights.

“Sustainability is a core value in my approach,” Chung said in a recent press release. “I always strive to incorporate sustainable practices to do my part in helping create a healthier planet for future generations.”

By leveraging these AI-driven insights, the team can make immediate corrections in the kitchen, educate staff on production needs by identifying what is going to waste and why, and ultimately minimize overproduction and surplus. The results are impressive: similar systems in other Fairmont and Accor hotels have achieved food waste reductions of up to 39%, nearly in line with the company’s goal of halving food waste by 2030. The best way to experience this for yourself is to dine at Q at The Empress, the hotel’s posh restaurant that specializes in locally-sourced seafood paired with veggies grown on the island.

seafood dish at q at the empress in victoria, BC

Q at The Empress specializes in fresh, local seafood. Everything on this plate was sourced locally, with sourcing traceable via QR code on our custom-made menu. Photo: Tim Wenger

This technology is only part of the hotel’s mission to reduce its impact. The Empress earned the prestigious BIOSPHERE© Certification from the Responsible Tourism Institute. This certification recognizes public, transparent efforts toward sustainability and aligns with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, including its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, the hotel has earned a 4 Green Key Certification.

These accolades are no small achievement for a hotel with over a century of history. Commissioned by the Canadian Pacific Railway and designed by architect Francis Rattenbury, the hotel officially opened its doors on January 20, 1908. The Empress was envisioned as a grand chateau-style hotel to serve affluent railway and steamship travelers, and its name pays homage to Queen Victoria, who was also Empress of India during the final decade of her reign. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981, and its most recent $60 million renovation completed in 2017. The Castle on the Coast, as its known locally, isn’t cheap – rooms here often run north of $300 per night – but for that spend an eco-conscious guest can rest easier knowing their travel dollar is in good hands.

Victoria is a hub for sustainability innovators

sign depicting FED Urban Farm in front of farm

FED Urban Farm grows veggies for local restaurants and CSA customers. Big Wheel Burger returns compost to the farm. Photo: Tim Wenger

There are countless grassroots developments taking root in Victoria as well, often led by women and Indigenous creators. Inside a collective of maker businesses, Meaghan McDonald operates Salt Legacy, upselling used sailcloths into handbags, purses, and backpacks. Inside downtown’s Bay Centre mall, Market Collective – led by local artists and entrepreneurs Katrina Dwulit, Vanessa Gaudet, and Cory Judge – highlights local makers and artists by providing a central place to display and sell their work. A few miles away, Sarah Rhudey and partners do the same for Indigenous artists and makers at Aunty Collective.

With enough dedication and support these efforts can reach scale. Such is the case with Big Wheel Burger, which claims to be the first carbon-neutral fast food chain in Canada. Beef, of course, is notoriously high-emissions – the company rigorously measures its greenhouse gas and methane emissions and offsets what it cannot reduce through verified projects like the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project, supporting both climate action and First Nations communities. During the Day of Impact preceding the conference, I had a crispy chickpea burger and it was full of flavor, far from the bland yet all-too-common frozen veggie burger patty offered by casual spots as the vegetarian option.

Big Wheel Burger’s takeout containers are compostable, and the company buys its vegetables from Victoria’s FED Urban Farm and then returns its compost back to the organization for circularity. It is also the first restaurant in North America to achieve Biosphere Certification, thanks in part to its efforts to recycle used cooking oil into biodiesel and handle deliveries with an electric van.

wall of upcycled sailcloth bags at Salt Legacy in Victoria, BC

Salt Legacy upcycles used sailcloths into bags and more. Photo: Tim Wenger

As part of the conference’s Day of Impact, we boarded a whale watching boat operated by local outfitter Prince of Whales and departed Victoria Harbour to tour the Upper Harbour channel and then head out into the Salish Sea to sightsee. On this overcast January day, the dark blue water of the channel was lightly translucent, allowing us just occasional views of the dynamic estuarine ecosystem here that supports a diverse array of aquatic life. This area, including the adjacent Gorge Waterway, is characterized by tidal estuaries, intertidal mudflats, and abundant eelgrass beds. 30 years ago, however, life of any type was hard to find in the channel, thanks to decades of coal gasification, tanneries, sawmills, and shipbuilding operations.

Starting in the 1990s, local volunteers, notably the Veins of Life Watershed Society, began removing debris and garbage from the water and shoreline, inspiring broader community involvement and regular cleanups by local groups, businesses, and government agencies. The city of Victoria implemented effective regional source control programs to restrict pollutants entering the waterway from sewers and storm drains, addressing the legacy of industrial and sewage pollution that had resulted in the disheveled state of the Gorge. Habitat restoration projects, environmental education, and public outreach further supported the recovery of the waterway’s ecosystem, and the results are tangible.

“No one would swim in the gorge 10 years ago,” Nik Coutinho, Sales & Marketing Director for Prince of Whales, told our group. “Now, on a summer day you’ll see 1,000 people swimming.”

My favorite thing about traveling to Victoria, and British Columbia more broadly, isn’t the good urbanism, stunning coastal mountains and inlets, or the unmatchable friendliness, but the fact that I know this is a place where maintaining my values while traveling is easy to do. That’s because we share similar values – of doing right by the planet and people. Of low-impact eating and high-octane adventuring. And a common belief that we can strive to be better and do better each day. While in Victoria, a friend back home in Colorado texted with an invite to ski, and upon learning where I was replied, “Ah, BC, you’re second home.” I may never be so blessed, but I will return every chance I get.

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