Canada ranks second globally in non-U.S. total LEED-certified commercial space, says the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC.)

The ranking, issued by Green Building Certification Inc., highlights countries and regions outside of the U.S. that are making significant strides in healthy, sustainable building design, construction and operations, according to a CAGBC news release. In 2023, Canada certified a total of 280 LEED green buildings comprising approximately eight million square metres (86,111,283 square feet.)

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and provides a framework for healthy, energy-efficient and cost-saving green buildings. The certification has been developed by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and administered by CAGBC in Canada.

“Canada has made a strong commitment to green building, recognizing its ability to drive innovation and grow the economy, along with improved environmental performance,  resiliency and health outcomes,” said Thomas Mueller, CAGBC’s president and CEO. “Canada has embraced LEED as the best system to provide guidance and verification on making meaningful progress on sustainability and decarbonization. However, much more work needs to be done to scale green building construction and retrofit across the industry.”

Mainland China ranked first on list. India, Turkey and Brazil rounded out the top five, while Saudi Arabia, Spain, Italy, South Korea and Mexico placed sixth through 10th, respectively.

The U.S. remains the world’s largest market for LEED-certified space with 51 million gross square metres (548,959,431 sf.)