It is Landscape Ontario’s mandate to be the leader in
representing, promoting and fostering a favourable environment for the advancement
of the horticultural industry in Ontario. The vision of our founding members, to
find strength in numbers by serving the needs of all sectors of the lawn and garden
industry, has allowed us to become one of the largest and certainly one of the most
vital and active trade associations in North America.
Our members
Landscape Ontario serves over 2000 member companies
across the province, involved in all sectors of the industry, including landscape
contractors, grounds management contractors, lawn care professionals, retail garden
centres, wholesale nursery growers, irrigation contractors, landscape designers
and interiorscape professionals.
We are able to serve the sector specific needs of
our members through a commodity group system. (For more information, click here.)
We are able to maintain a viable communication’s
link with our membership through our chapter system. (For more information or
to find a member, click here.)
Organization
A Provincial Board of Directors governs the affairs
of the association. Our network of committees, commodity groups and chapters help
the association to deal with those many issues of specific concern to the
horticultural industry. The work of our many volunteers is facilitated with a
staff of 20 working in five departments: Membership Services, Education, Special
Events, Publications, and Accounting.
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Our location
Our head office is conveniently located on Hwy.
401, just east of Milton, and only 20 minutes west of Toronto International
Airport. Our large office building and 46-acre site allow us to offer numerous
educational opportunities to our members. The development of our site is ongoing
and future plans call for the development of a complete horticultural centre,
including demonstration gardens and a full-time horticultural school. For a
map, click here.
Education
Professional development is a priority for
Landscape Ontario. The association offers National Certification Testing,
safety training and over 80 professional development seminars and computer
courses.
For a complete overview of the many educational
initiatives of Landscape Ontario, click here.
Publications
Landscape Ontario publishes two of Canada’s leading
horticulture trade publications: Landscape Trades
has an audited circulation of
8,200 across Canada; Horticulture Review has a circulation of 2,600 in Ontario.
Congress
Congress, Canada’s International Horticultural
Trade Show and Conference, sponsored by Landscape Ontario, is one of the top
five horticultural trade shows in North America. More than 12,000 delegates and
700 leading suppliers to the industry attend the 270,000 square-foot trade show.
The conference features well-known, internationally acclaimed industry experts
from all realms of the trade.
Canada Blooms
Canada Blooms, the Toronto Flower and Garden Show,
held each spring is one of the top four flower shows in the world and features
over six acres of gardens and exhibitors. The show boasts over 115,000 international
visitors, 1,000 volunteers and nine staff.
Garden Expo
In response to industry demand, Landscape Ontario
has also announced a new fall buying show for 2000. Garden Expo will be held in
September at the Toronto Congress Centre.
Benefits of Membership
Landscape Ontario members benefit from the
association’s unified industry voice, marketing and awareness programs,
promotional and networking opportunities, education and professional
development. Members of Landscape Ontario also qualify for many cost-saving
benefits: insurance, fuel, vehicle purchase and leasing, cellular phones,
long distance, customs brokerage, business forms, credit card processing,
and more. Click here for more information.
