Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan was declared a green champion at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Awards of Excellence ceremony on June 5.

"I am honoured and delighted to be the recipient of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Green Champion Award (for an) individual," Corrigan said in a press release. "The City of Burnaby has long been a leader in municipal sustainability initiatives. I am proud of our city's many achievements and I hope that we will serve as a model for other cities as we continue to focus on developing innovative environmental policies and initiatives."

The award ceremony was held during the federation's annual conference and municipal expo in Halifax, N.S., at the beginning of June.

Corrigan was attending the conference, along with many other municipal politicians from the Lower Mainland. He could not be reached for comment following the award ceremony.

The Green Champion Awards have both an individual and municipal category. Corrigan won in the individual category for his work with the city.

"I applaud Mayor Derek Corrigan's commitment to promoting sustainable community development and the leadership he has demonstrated over his many years of service," said Hans Cunningham, president of the federation, in the release.

Corrigan has been mayor of Burnaby since 2002, and was a city councillor from 1987 to 2002.

The press release detailed some of Burnaby's achievements while Corrigan has been at the helm, including preserving 25 per cent of city land for park or greenspace; environmental considerations in the city's Official Community Plan; the city's environmental community stewardship program; the Burnaby Lake rejuvenation project; LEED or green building standards for municipal buildings; the urban trails projects; the food scraps program, and implementing a bylaw to prohibit cosmetic pesticide use.

Corrigan is also the chair of Metro Vancouver's regional planning committee and the Sustainable Region Initiative for 2011.

The City of Burnaby won a Sustainable Community Award from the federation -with the Simon Fraser University Community Trust - for integrated neighbourhood development earlier this year.