Tennis Canada agrees to multi-year partnership with sustainability consultant as organization strives to be world leader by 2030

For a number of years, Tennis Canada has worked tirelessly to minimize its environmental footprint to become a leader in sustainable development by 2030, not only in Canada but also throughout the world of sporting events. To continue this endeavour, Tennis Canada is pleased to announce it has agreed to a multi-year partnership with Dr. Jennifer Lynes to be the sustainability consultant in Toronto. 

In this role, Lynes will work alongside Tennis Canada’s sustainability committee with a focus on continuing to make the National Bank Open presented by Rogers environmentally and socially responsible. In Montreal, Tennis Canada will continue to partner with CQEER on its environmental and social responsibility efforts. 

“Sports is an area that is just starting to think more about sustainability from a bigger-picture perspective, and there’s so much potential,” said Lynes, who previously worked in a similar role with Tennis Canada in 2024. “There’s a really exciting opportunity for Tennis Canada and the NBO to be a leader in moving the momentum forward.” 

Lynes is an associate professor and co-director of the Sustainability and Financial Management program at the University of Waterloo. With an educational background in marketing and environmental studies, Lynes’s work focuses on marketing for sustainability.  

For the past 25 years, Lynes has been dedicated to working with a range of organizations to develop sustainability initiatives: from international airlines to local non-profits. Notably, she partnered with music industry leaders, including Jack Johnson, Live Nation, AEG, Effect Partners, and Reverb, to establish the Sustainable Concerts Working Group. More recently, Lynes has been working to implement sustainability principles into sporting events. 

Lynes combines her passion for sustainability with her teaching and research roles at the University of Waterloo. Current sustainability management graduate student Kari Gunton, who will work alongside Lynes, is applying her experience as a former world-ranked junior tennis player through her lead role in sustainability initiatives on the ground at the NBO in Toronto.

“Tennis Canada was integral in my tennis development as a junior tennis player and has provided me with amazing opportunities in the sport. I’m excited to now be partnering with them as I focus my thesis on the National Bank Open’s sustainability efforts,” Gunton said.

Lynes and Gunton will help create a long-term plan to meet the organizational goals by 2030. They will also put research into practice in terms of engaging the fans who visit Sobeys Stadium during the NBO to be active participants in the process.

“In the work that we’ve done with Tennis Canada thus far, it is clear that they are serious about being leaders in sustainability,” Lynes said. “The fact that they are interested in making changes that will have lasting impacts makes our job a whole lot easier.”