About us

Less™ aims to provide the highest quality carbon offsets available in Canada.

Less' international-based offsets are derived from Gold Standard-certified projects, as endorsed by leading environmental groups, including WWF International. The projects produce Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) following the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) protocols and also meet the Gold Standard Foundation's sustainable development criteria.

Less' Canadian-based offsets are sourced from projects that have achieved certification under the VER+ Standard, an internationally recognized standard that also follows the UN's CDM methodologies. VER+ certification applies to projects in developed countries.

Our flight offset program is also the only offset program certified by Environment Canada's EcoLogo^M program.

Less provides businesses and individuals interested in lessening their environmental footprint with two convenient options for purchasing offsets. Through Lessen My Flight™, Canada's first EcoLogo^M-certified, independently audited flight offset program, customers can calculate and purchase offsets to help mitigate the GHG emissions associated with air travel. Alternatively, customers who have conducted their own carbon calculation may purchase the highest quality carbon offsets available in Canada from Less by the tonne.

EcoLogo is North America's oldest environmental standard and certification program. Launched in 1988 by Environment Canada, its mission is to help purchasers identify, trust, buy, and sell environmentally preferable ("green") goods and services. Certification under EcoLogo demonstrates environmental leadership in the category of carbon offsets.

The Less Approach

At Less, we recognize that offsetting is an imperfect solution to the complex issue of climate change. As a result, along with environmental groups like WWF, we stress that offsetting should be a last resort only. In keeping with this, Less advises a three-step approach to reducing a home or organization's impact:

For more on the Less Approach, click here.

The Less Difference

Less is committed to providing reliable and transparent methods of addressing carbon emissions with the highest quality offsets. The Less Difference ensures that businesses and individuals can purchase offsets with confidence, eliminating the risks inherent in purchasing low quality offsets.

Gold Standard certified—a global standard for projects in developing countries that verifiably achieve GHG emissions reductions at the source and create positive impacts on social networks and their local economy. Follows the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) protocols.

VER+ Standard certified—a global standard for voluntary GHG emissions reduction projects. Follows the United Nations' CDM methodologies and enables projects located in developed countries—and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the Gold Standard CDM certification program—to meet equivalent performance standards and deliver high quality emissions reductions.

Independently audited—Less has committed to publishing an annual independent audit carried out by an internationally recognized auditing firm.

EcoLogo-certified—Lessen My Flight is the only carbon offset program in Canada to earn Environment Canada’s certification for excellence in environmental products.

Serialized offsets—All of our offsets are serialized and tracked on internationally recognized registries, providing complete transparency for your offset purchase. Our Gold Standard-certified program ensures that each tonne of CO₂e emissions reduction is serialized on a registry established pursuant to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Our Canadian-based offsets are serialized and listed on the BlueRegistry database pursuant to the VER+ standards.

Less has pledged 10% of its profits to organizations that support sustainability in the community.

Learn more about the Less Difference here.