Bonus! Five more green cities

There are simply too many forward-thinking municipalities in Canada to limit our greenest cities of tomorrow to a mere nine. Our experts identified the following communities as environmental up and comers, as well.

Whistler

Carmen Bohn, of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, praises Whistler’s sustainability plan. Among other things, Whistler is working on lowering insurance rates for low-emission vehicles, restricting sprawl and implementing volume-based water pricing to encourage water conservation.

Guelph

“They just re-elected a green council and mayor, they have one of the best community energy programs in the country and they’re being really smart about new housing and subdivisions,” says World Wildlife Fund Canada’s Keith Stewart. Can’t you already practically picture new neighbourhoods full of green homes? The city’s green plan has also been lauded for significant advances in municipal waste diversion and wastewater reduction.

Hamilton

“It’s the first city in Canada, to my knowledge, to re-evaluate the way it’s growing around a new variable—energy,” says Equiterre’s Thomas Duchaine. “Energy-first planning is fundamental to measure how green can a city become.” This growth strategy and other components of Hamilton’s Vision 2020 plan, such as more waste diversion, better wastewater and stormwater management and the remediation of Hamilton Harbour, will result in cleaner air and recreational waterfront for residents.

Mississauga

“Hazel [McCallion] was the Queen of Sprawl, but she’s been schooled and there’s a chance that Mississauga might turn around,” says Stewart. “If they switch to intensification and become less suburban, that might bear fruit in 20 years.” Indeed, the city has racked up four FCM Sustainable Community Awards in the past nine years for initiatives ranging from smart transportation to energy-efficient buildings. And there’s no reason to expect Mississauga to change course.

Kingston

In addition to the Wolfe Island wind power project and aggressive 2014 greenhouse gas reduction targets, Kingston has mandated LEED green building standards for all municipal buildings. It was also first under Ontario’s Brownfields laws to put forward a plan that provides private developers with property tax incentives to clean up and redevelop contaminated, old industrial lands. Three major redevelopments have taken advantage of it and many more likely will.