Umalia is proud to be part of the B Corp impact community since 2020. This certification reflects our ongoing commitment to rethinking our practices and innovating to unlock the potential for impact with our partners and clients.
It also signifies our adherence to the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.
Umalia achieved a recertification score of 153.9 in 2023, placing it among the highest-scoring businesses in Canada. Named "Best for the World" in 2022 in the "Customer" impact area, Umalia excelled in the "Community" and "Employee" impact areas in 2023.
Learn moreIn 2013, the commune of Sô-Ava in southern Benin sollicits Umalia's support for its development plan. Rich in human value, this multifaceted project is central to our commitment and the development of our practices and expertise.
"Sô-Ava is a lakeside community, but its surface and even underground waters are not accessible to the population for its economic activities. Its waters are either polluted or unsuitable for consumption... Climat'Eau is much more than a simple success for us, because we actively participated, contributed to obtaining significant results, and the producers are happy and very happy. I can therefore testify that this pilot project has been a blessing for us in the search for sustainable and adapted solutions for our populations."
Jean Zannou Avihoue, Mayor of Sô-Ava
"In the face of climate change, it is crucial to combine our efforts to find sustainable solutions co-constructed with communities, as we deeply believe that any organization, regardless of its size or sector, can contribute to solving social, environmental, or economic problems with insight, creativity, and determination. Together, we can accomplish what none of us can achieve alone."
Lucie Bourgeois, President of Umalia
Climat'Eau serves as an open-air laboratory demonstrating the local ecosystem's capacity to mobilize and take action.
Funded by Fonds Vert Québec and the International Climate Cooperation Program, the project is managed by Umalia from 2017 to 2020.
The project is structured around four pillars:
The project's outcomes are numerous and enduring: mobilization of the population on climate change, significant improvements in water quality and its reuse in agriculture, insights into collaborative governance at the local level, new agricultural methods, substantial increases in producers' incomes, and much more!
A unique multi-sector partnership
Alongside the development and strategic planning mandate at Sô-Ava, the commune invites Umalia to participate in community projects. As Umalia's involvement grows, a dream begins to take shape: a community school.
Led by Umalia and Boussole de la Cité, a local NGO, the volunteer project mobilized the Sô-Ava community to build a school. Thanks to annual fundraisers, the participation of over 200 volunteers from Quebec and Benin, and contributions from several NGOs (Mission Inclusion, Idée Éducation Entrepreneuriale, Nutrition Sans Frontières) and businesses (Papillon MDC, NTD Apparel, Télio), the school welcomes its first students in 2018.
