Update:
Canada’s House of Commons has declared a national climate emergency
Source: CTV News
It’s true that our climate is changing – and we know it is because of human influence.
Recently, Canada’s Changing Climate Report, led by Environment and Climate Change Canada, was released and stated that Canada is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world.
The report contained alarming facts on the state of climate change in Canada and an urgent warning to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
While it might be kinda tempting to throw your hands up and panic, feel nervous, anxious and feel reallyyyyy uncomfortable….
We here at Random Acts of Green want to help.
Thankfully, 499 Canadian municipalities have joined forces with an international movement to declare a state of emergency regarding the climate crisis!
We wanted to take a moment and champion them here – and hope that more cities take charge 🙂
Listed here are 96 Canadian Champions declaring climate emergencies from coast-to-coast.
1. Vancouver, British Columbia
Declared January 26, 2019
Image Source: City of Vancouver
2. Halifax, Nova Scotia
Declared January 26, 2019
Image Source: Canadian Encyclopedia
3. Kingston, Ontario
First city in Ontario declared on March 6, 2019.
Image Source: Canadian Encyclopedia
4. Richmond, British Columbia
Declared on March 25, 2019.
Image Source: Tourism Richmond
5. Hamilton, Ontario
Declared on March 27, 2019.
Image Source: City of Hamilton
Capital Regional District (CRD)
The Capital Regional District (CRD) is the regional government for 13 municipalities and three electoral areas on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, serving more than 413,000 citizens. The board voted unanimously in favor of making a Climate Emergency Declaration on February 13 2019.
Image Source: Victoria’s Intersecting Municipalities
This includes:
6. Central Saanich, British Columbia
7. Colwood, British Columbia
8. Esqimalt, British Columbia
9. Highlands, British Columbia
10. Langford, British Columbia
11. Metchosin, British Columbia
12. North Saanich, British Columbia
13. Saanich, British Columbia
14. Oak Bay, British Columbia
15. Sidney, British Columbia
16. Sooke, British Columbia
17. Victoria, British Columbia
18. View Royal, British Columbia
19. Edmundston , New Brunswick
First city in New Brunswick declared on February 19, 2019.
Image Source: Tourism New Brunswick
20. Powell River, British Columbia
Declared on February 21, 2019.
Image Source: Tourism Powell River
21. Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia
Declared on February 12, 2019.
Image Source: Tourism Nova Scotia
22. Islands Trust Council (Bowen Island Municipality), British Columbia
The Islands Trust is a federation of local government bodies representing 26,000 people living within the Islands Trust Area and another 10,000 non-resident property-owners.
The area covers the islands and waters between the British Columbia mainland and southern Vancouver Island. It includes 13 major islands and more than 450 smaller islands covering 5200 square kilometers.
Declared on March 25, 2019.
Image Source: Map Island Trust
23. Moncton, New Brunswick
Declared on April 1, 2019.
Image Source: Wikipedia
24. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Declared on April 8, 2019.
Image Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia
25. London, Ontario
Declared on April 23, 2019.
Image Source: London Academy
26. Burlington, Ontario
Declared on April 23, 2019.
Image Source: City of Burlington
27. Ottawa, Ontario
Declared on April 24, 2019.
Image Source: Wikipedia
28. Nanaimo, British Columbia
Declared on April 29, 2019.
Image Source: Nanaimo Bulletin
29. St. Catharines, Ontario
Declared on April 29, 2019.
Image Source: City of St. Catherines
30. Saint John, New Brunswick
Declared on May 6, 2019.
Image Source: City of Saint John
31. Halton Hills, Ontario
Declared on May 6, 2019.
Image Source: InHalton
32. Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation – Old Crow, Yukon
Declared May 19, 2019
Image Source: Wikipedia
33. West Nipissing, Ontario
Declared April 23, 2019
Image Source: Baytoday.ca
34. Greater Sudbury, Ontario
Declared May 28, 2019
Image Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia
35. Prince Edward County, Ontario
Declared May 28, 2019
Image Source: Visit PEC
36. Wolfville, Nova Scotia
Declared May 21, 2019
Image Source: Town of Wolfville
37. Vaughan, Ontario
Declared June 4, 2019
Image Source: Wikipedia
38. Brampton, Ontario
Declared June 5, 2019
Image Source: InBrampton.com
39. Port Moody, British Columbia
Declared June 11, 2019
Image Source: City of Port Moody
40. Sarnia, Ontario
Declared June 17, 2019
41. Kitchener, Ontario
Declared June 24, 2019
42. Oakville, Ontario
Declared June 24, 2019
43. Squamish, British Columbia
Declared July 2, 2019
44. North Vancouver District, British Columbia
Declared July 8, 2019
45. West Vancouver, British Columbia
Declared July 8, 2019
46. Chatham-Kent, Ontario
Declared July 15, 2019
47. qathet Regional District, British Columbia
Declared June 18, 2019
48. Mississauga, Ontario
Declared June 19, 2019
49. King Township, Ontario
Declared July 8, 2019
50. Smithers, British Columbia
Declared July 9, 2019
51. Duncan, British Columbia
Declared July 15, 2019
52. Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
Declared May 8, 2019
53. North Cowichan, British Columbia
Declared July 17, 2019
54. Langley Township Council, British Columbia
Declared July 22, 2019
55. Milton Town Council, Ontario
Declared July 22, 2019
56. Edmonton, Alberta
Declared August 27, 2019
57. Burnaby, British Columbia
Declared September 9, 2019
58. Peterborough, Ontario
Declared September 23, 2019
59. Annapolis County Council, Nova Scotia
Declared September 23, 2019
60. Whitehorse, Yukon
Declared September 23, 2019
61. Woolwich, Ontario
Declared September 24, 2019
62. Wilmot Town Council, Ontario
Declared September 24, 2019
63. Kenora, Ontario
Declared September 17, 2019
64. Canmore, Alberta
Declared October 1, 2019
65. Toronto, Ontario
Declared October 2, 2019
66. Wellesley Town Council, Ontario
Declared October 8, 2019
67. Waterloo, Ontario
Declared October 9, 2019
68. Barrie, Ontario
Declared October 7, 2019
69. Berwick, Nova Scotia
Declared October 8, 2019
70. Peel Regional Council, Ontario
Declared October 24, 2019
71. Bowen Island Municipal Council, British Columbia
Declared October 28, 2019
72. Surrey, British Columbia
Declared November 4, 2019
73. St.John’s , Newfoundland
Declared November 4, 2019
74. Brantford , Ontario
Declared November 13, 2019
75. Collingwood, Ontario
Declared October 16, 2019
76. Central Elgin, Ontario
Declared October 28, 2019
77. Windsor, Ontario
Declared November 18, 2019
78. Meaford, Ontario
Declared November 18, 2019
79. Cobourg, Ontario
Declared November 25, 2019
80. Brant County, Ontario
Declared November 26, 2019
81. Tecumseh Town Council, Ontario
Declared December 10, 2019
82. Amherstburg Town Council, Ontario
Declared December 11, 2019
83. Pickering, Ontario
Declared December 16, 2019
84. Thunder Bay, Ontario
Declared January 13, 2020
85. Newmarket, Ontario
Declared January 13, 2020
86. Goderich, Ontario
Declared January 13, 2020
87. Durham Regional Council, Ontario
Declared January 25, 2020
88. Caledon, Ontario
Declared January 28, 2020
89. St. Thomas, Ontario
Declared February 10, 2020
90. Stratford, Ontario
Declared February 10, 2020
91. Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Declared February 24, 2020
92. Shippigan, New Brunswick
Declared March 2, 2020
93. Clarington, Ontario
Declared March 3, 2020
94. White Rock City Council , Ontario
Declared January 3, 2020
95. Muskoka District Council, Ontario
Declared October 20, 2020
96. Essex Town Council, Ontario
Declared February 16, 2021
Additionally, a movement has grown in Quebec that has seen more than 403 municipal councils endorse a Declaration d’urgency Climatique.
First Nations leaders from across Canada passed a resolution declaring a “global climate emergency” at the Assembly of First Nations, representing 634 First Nations across Canada.
There are a number of municipalities across Canada that are currently debating declaring a climate emergency.
Many councils end up debating the particular language used when addressing climate. For example, the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) in British Columbia serves 60,000 residents in 11 electoral areas and nine member municipalities. They declared a ‘climate action imperative’ on April 11th rather than a climate emergency. The City of Guelph in Ontario voted to ‘acknowledge a climate crisis’ rather than declare a climate emergency.
Many of these cities are also part of The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Partners for Climate protection (PCP) program. This is a network of 350+ Canadian municipal governments who have committed to reducing greenhouse gases and acting on climate change.
The evidence provided in the most recent report confirms that Canada’s climate has warmed in response to global emissions of carbon dioxide from human activity.
This is a clear wake-up call for all Canadians that climate change is real and requires urgent action – and we want to help!
The science is clear that we all need to reduce our carbon footprint.
The Random Acts of Green® mobile app is designed to help you understand your impact by quantifying the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be reduced when you make low-carbon lifestyle choices. Our app provides individuals with a range of behavior-based approaches to achieve a daily carbon reduction target that best fits your lifestyle.
Take action TODAY.
Download the App
Take real action confronting your IMPACT on the Earth across sectors like Transportation, Waste, Food, Water and Energy.
Join these brave municipalities who have the courage to acknowledge the situation we are in and commit to do something about it – Today. 🙂
Ohhhh, Canada…!! Our home and native land… Let’s do something good…. to help protect it 🙂
Last Updated: March 23, 2021
Regarding street and road maintenance many of these municipalities have failed. They have not incorporated green technology and are not interested in it at all. Even if it requires no extra spending but is just replacing worn out end of life equipment. Many times the excuses are such as. “we don’t want to train our employees” “We are used to doing it this way”
What the overall feeling I get is that they are too lazy to change even a little bit. So the conclusion I draw is they are just placating constituents with a false sense of we are doing something when they wont do or even look at the most practical and easy ways of combatting climate change. No many of these municipalities do not deserve to be recognized as leaders in climate change.