Looking out for our most vulnerable during extreme heat events
Heat events can have a major impact on health in Canada and around the world. For example, in 2003 Europe experienced unseasonably hot weather which…
Green Energy
‘Streets For All’ or ‘Streets for the Housed’?
TCAT, like many active transportation and road safety organizations, has long been a proponent of Complete Streets, an approach to road design that seeks to…
Implementation of Nature-based Solutions by Municipalities to Advance Climate Action
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are multi-functional, economical and provide a variety of benefits for local government and communities, such as improved health and well-being, reduced pollution and revitalized urban spaces.
Single Occupancy Electric Vehicles – a Stopgap, not a Climate Solution
North American cities have undergone dramatic changes over the last century. Locations that were once inconvenient have become accessible through extensive road networks leading to…
Clean Air Partnership’s Annual General Meeting
Clean Air Partnership will be hosting its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, June 15th, 2022, at 5:30 PM Eastern Time. The meeting will be…
Is a Lack of Data around Best Practice Informed Policy a Problem for the Active Transportation World?
Active transportation (AT) researchers, advocates, and practitioners are data-hungry people. We continuously seek out slightly newer best practices and slightly more robust case studies. This…
Getting to Zero Emissions in Municipal Buildings
For several years CAP has facilitated the Municipal Corporate Energy Managers Community of Practice, where designs and plans have been advanced. Scaling up climate action…
Clean Air Partnership launches the Climate Action Atlas
Climate change is the most critical challenge of our time. Around the world, people are accustomed to thinking about climate challenges as future threats leading…
What if Culture Matters Just as Much as Infrastructure?
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a virtual seminar mostly comprised of other BIPOC attendees when a young woman shyly said, “Some of…
Electrifying Light Duty Equipment
When we think of activities that contribute to climate change, we often think of industrial-scale activities such as manufacturing. Rarely do we associate routine activities…
Home Energy Labeling – a Natural and Necessary Complement to Energy Efficiency Programming
While we rightly expect transparency from labels on our food, appliances and vehicle purchases, our homes, the single largest purchase most Canadians will ever make,…
Red Light for Automated Speed Enforcement
“Roadway design/maintenance has never been objective. Design and engineering are more effective than policing.” – Dr. Destiny Thomas Toronto City Council recently approved a plan…
We are Hiring a Freelance Report Designer
We are looking for a freelance Report Designer to join our team. They will be responsible for designing Clean Air Partnership reports on an ad-hoc…
Climate Accountability in Municipal Decision Making
Over 500 Canadian municipalities have now declared climate emergencies. These Declarations often include direction for staff to apply a climate lens (or similar measure) to…
Clean Air Partnership’s 2021 at a Glance
2021 was a year like no other. Despite the pandemic bringing sustained challenges, Clean Air Partnership continued to engage municipalities and stakeholders and made progress…
Ensuring New Buildings are EV Ready
Electric vehicle (EVs) adoption is growing rapidly. Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts that within five years, the cost to produce EVs will be equivalent to…
TCFD for Canadian Municipalities
The Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was created in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board of the G20 group of nations. Designed primarily to…
That’s a Wrap on the Third Season of Markham Cycles
Markham Cycles is a community program with the goal of increasing cycling in Markham by removing barriers and building a cycling community. Launched in July…
Why Half a Degree Matters so Much.
In 2021, North America witnessed severe heatwaves and searing wildfires in British Columbia, California, and other parts of the west. Lytton, BC recorded a Canadian…
Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Management
Think of the saying, when it rains, it pours and then add snowmelt, impervious urban areas that don’t absorb precipitation and what do you get?…
Equity and Climate Change Integration into City of Toronto’s Transportation Planning
Cycling is a mode of transportation that is not only good for your waistline and health but also for the environment. Recognizing the significant role…
Smart Cities – The Way Forward
Rapid urbanization and unsustainable development have catastrophic consequences affecting the health of the population. Cities are by far the largest contributors to GHG emissions, consuming…
Climate Action Support Centre (CASC) Retrospective Blog
The Climate Action Support Centre (CASC) project was implemented to address staff and budgetary constraints faced by municipalities in implementing climate action. These constraints posed…
Steps to Reduce In-vehicle Air Pollution Exposure
If you walk along a busy road, you are likely to inhale vehicle exhaust. Surprisingly, drivers and passengers in passing cars are breathing even more…
Deep Energy Retrofits Part 2- The City of Vancouver Advances Net Zero Emission Buildings
Why do energy retrofits matter and what are Canadian cities doing to advance them? The City of Vancouver has a target to reduce 50% of…
Deep Energy Retrofits Part 1-New York Retrofit Challenges and Advantages of Retrofits
Buildings account for almost 70 per cent of New York City’s Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Advancing energy efficiency retrofits within our existing building stock…
The Federal Government’s Race to Zero
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and poses major threats to human health, biodiversity, and economic development. In the…
Geothermal’s Super Power: Fighting Climate Change While Managing Electricity Demand
One of the challenges of weaning our society off the use of fossil fuels to heat our buildings is determining what this increased reliance on…
Heat Pumps and their Role in the Low Carbon Future
To achieve our climate targets, we must reduce the use of fossil fuels to heat our homes. Heat pumps offer an efficient and cost-effective way…
Geothermal as a Climate Solution
During May we will be sharing a few blogs on the role that heat pumps and geothermal can play in helping to reduce greenhouse emissions…
Using Non-profits to Deliver Municipal Climate Action
In Ontario, municipal governments are responsible for providing most services within the municipal boundary including, but not limited to, water and sewage, electric utilities, road…
Complete Streets in the 15 Minute City
After decades of automobile-centric planning, cities around the world have begun to reimagine and redesign their streets to be safer and more inviting for everyone,…
Hamilton Senior Housing Becomes Climate Champion
Advancing the energy efficiency of existing buildings is a critical part of any community’s climate action plan and social housing retrofits presents an ideal opportunity…
CAP’s releases Green Fleets Support Package
In a previous blog post we discussed some of the challenges and opportunities of fleet electrification. Together with fleet managers from over 30 municipalities, we…
Markham Cycle’s 2020 Season a Success
How do you increase cycling in places where very few people bike? Since 2014, The Centre for Active Transportation, a project of Clean Air Partnership,…
Applying a Climate Lens to COVID Response and Recovery Plans
At Clean Air Partnership we have created a climate lens for use in municipal decision making. The climate lens asks, ‘how will a municipal decision…
Fleet electrification – challenges and opportunities
Transportation is a significant source of GHG emissions in most municipalities. Therefore, a transition towards a low carbon fleet is needed. Clean Air Partnership works…
TCAT Releases New Report on Health, Equity and Active Transportation in Markham
Neighbourhoods in Markham with more low-income residents have higher rates of pedestrian and cyclist collisions, finds a new research report by The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT)…
Celebrating Ten Years of Co-Designing Active Cities
In April 2020, the Active Neighbourhoods Canada [ANC] network celebrated ten years of co-designing active communities across Canada. The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) at…
Why Standards for Green Development Should be a Standard Part of Municipal Climate Action
Housing development in Ontario seems to be proceeding frantically. In Toronto, there are no shortage of towering condo developments appearing as if by magic. Across…
Climate Action in Small Communities
There are 444 municipalities in Ontario. Approximately 90% of these communities are populations of less than 25,000. Tacking climate change poses specific challenges for communities…
Needed During Covid: Space & So Much More
“I haven’t been on a bike in years, and this will help so much!” These were the words of Jessica, an addiction services worker, who recently…
Incubating cycling in suburban communities
Cycling offers communities a wide range of potential benefits, including improved health, friendlier streets, reduced traffic congestion, reductions in GHG emissions, and improvements in air…
The Clean Air Council – Canada’s largest municipal climate action network
The Clean Air Council (CAC) is a project of the Clean Air Partnership (CAP). The CAC is a network of 30 municipalities and health units…
Energy Reporting: an Enabling Action that Leads to Energy and Greenhouse Gas Reductions
It is frequently said that what gets measured gets managed, but we also often hear the saying that what is truly important cannot be measured.…
Compounding the zero-emission impact
On January 9th, the City of Toronto’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee will decide whether or not to adopt an Electric Vehicle (EV) Strategy. This strategy…
Why are we not talking about air pollution in Ontario?
When Clean Air Partnership was established 20 years ago, air pollution was a public health crisis that rightly attracted considerable media and political attention. Smog…