Home, Property and Environment

Climate Change and Air Quality

Learn about how the City of Burlington is taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the effects of climate change in our community.

Climate Action Plan

Our Climate Action Plan identifies a low-carbon energy pathway for the community. Incorporating community member and stakeholder engagement, it builds on our Climate Emergency Declaration to set a strong direction for the City and our community to mitigate GHG emissions and reduce energy consumption. It includes a vision for the future and outlines seven areas to guide efforts:

Low Carbon New Buildings
Burlington Deep Energy Retrofit Program
Renewable Energy
Integrated Mobility Plan
Electric Mobility and Equipment
Waste Reduction
Industrial Innovation

View our Climate Action Plan project page, which includes key project dates, document libraries, how to get involved and more.

Staff Reports and Presentation

Climate Resilient Burlington

Climate Resilient Burlington: A Plan for Adapting to Our Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather is a City initiative that helps:

Identify climate-based vulnerabilities
Identify risks that require further attention
Align actions to plan for our changing climate

While the City does not yet have a formal plan for adapting to our changing climate, Climate Resilient Burlington recognizes that adaptation measures are already underway. Visit the Climate Resilient Burlington project page to learn more about the initiative, including the launch event and project timelines.

Climate Change Impacts Story Map

View our interactive Climate Change Impacts Story Map with more information on Burlington-specific climate change impacts with:

Warmer, wetter and wilder weather
Extreme heat and extreme cold
High winds
Rainfall and freezing rain
Lake effects
Vector-borne diseases

Staff reports and presentations

Existing programs and information

Existing local programs or information that can help you prepare and adapt to warmer, wetter and wilder weather include:

Home Flood Protection Program - A residential flood risk reduction education program that helps residents take action to reduce their flood risk and reduce damage in the event of a flood.
Flood Prevention Subsidy Program - A City financial assistance program that covers the cost of a building permit for flood prevention work, such as the installation of a backwater valve and/or sump pump and the repair/replacement of a sanitary line with the installation of a backwater valve. Assistance is offered on a first come, first served basis.
Enhanced Basement Flooding Subsidy Program - Halton Region's Enhanced Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy Program makes it easier and more affordable for residents to make improvements that can help reduce the risk of flooding.
Basement Flooding Mitigation Program - Halton Region's Basement Flooding Mitigation Program allows the Region to make improvements to wastewater mains, laterals and maintenance holes in the City of Burlington and other municipalities within Halton Region.
Warming and cooling centre news and notices - We provide news and updates on access to warming and cooling centres when temperatures get extreme in the area
Cold warnings - Halton Region provides information about the risks associated with extreme cold temperatures and steps you can take to protect yourself from cold-related injuries
Heat warnings - Halton Region provides information about heat illnesses and how to take precautions and prevent health issues in extreme heat
Lyme disease - Halton Region provides information about Lyme disease and how to protect yourself and your family against the spread of the bacterial infection.
West Nile virus - Halton Region provides information about West Nile virus and how to reduce impacts on residents
Preparation for a power outage or severe storm - Learn how you can prepare for and deal with power outages and severe storms in Burlington. Halton Region also provides information on community hazards and risks, such as windstorms, winter storms, thunderstorms, lightning, tornadoes and flooding.

Take Action Burlington - An Update on Our Local Environment

The Take Action Burlington - An Update on Our Local Environment report provides an overview of the state of Burlington's environment, highlighting local sustainability efforts, climate change connections and actions that can be taken under the categories of land, air, water and waste.

You can also view our Take Action Burlington online story map for an interactive journey through the report.

City actions to reduce air and GHG emissions

Our Strategic Plan identifies the following commitments:

We recognize that climate change is a significant issue and are working with the community and all levels of government toward the goal of our community becoming net carbon-neutral
We aim to have City operations become net carbon-neutral by 2040

From Vision to Focus

These commitments are further supported in our 2018-2022 Burlington's Plan: From Vision to Focus, including:

Promoting and working toward a lower carbon community in support of the United Nations' (UN) global warming target
Developing our Climate Action Plan, addressing our Climate Emergency Declaration and focusing on reducing the community's GHG emissions
Reducing the GHG emissions from City operations overall by 21 per cent by 2024 and 100 per cent by 2040

We aim to ensure implementation plans are in progress and/or completed for our:

City actions

Our City actions include:

Improving the energy efficiency of facilities through the Corporate Energy Management Program and Emissions Management Plan
Working with community stakeholders to implement the Climate Action Plan
Using renewable energy at City facilities, such as solar energy
Engaging the community in updating our Urban Forestry Management Plan and in developing the Private Tree Bylaw
Developing and adopting the Parking and Idling Bylaw
Supporting a sustainable transportation network for transit users, cyclists and pedestrians as part of our Integrated Transportation Master Plan
Participating in networks, such as the Clean Air Council under the Clean Air Partnership, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Partners for Climate Protection program, the Bay Area Climate Change Office collaboration with the City of Hamilton and the Centre for Climate Change Management at Mohawk College, the Halton Climate Collective, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and ICLEI's Advancing Adaptation training for Ontario municipalities
Implementing a Zero Waste Strategy
Implementing a Green Fleet Strategy

What is climate change?

The decisions we make every day, such as how we live and move around have an impact on emissions that contribute to poor air quality and climate change. The effects of climate change, such as more intense storms and flooding will also impact our everyday lives. Initiatives to reduce air emissions can also help reduce GHGs that contribute to climate change, and vice versa.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that human influence on the climate system is clear. The atmospheric concentration of key GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) is unprecedented in the last 800,000 years, with our fossil fuel-driven economies and an increase in population to blame.

What is the difference between weather and climate change?

Weather is the day-to-day changes in conditions, such as temperature and rainfall. Climate change is a long-term shift, measured by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds and other indicators. Climate change can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including changes in extreme conditions.

A balanced amount of GHGs keeps our planet habitable. However, since industrialization, GHGs have steadily increased and are impacting our climate.

Smog and air quality

Smog is used to describe a mixture of pollutants, primarily made up of:

Ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter

Sulphur dioxide
Volatile organic compounds
Carbon monoxide
Ammonia

These contaminants are released into the environment when we burn fossil fuels to run vehicles, buildings and industries through the evaporation of fuels and oil-based plants, and as a result of natural processes. Smog can negatively impact human health and ecological health.

Learn more about air quality in Halton Region and air quality in Ontario.