Climate Action Plans and Reports

The town is taking action to mitigate the effects to the changing climate and extreme weather patterns.

Climate emergency declared

At the June 24, 2019, Council meeting, Oakville Town Council passed a motion declaring a climate emergency in Oakville. Since then, the town has released two reports outlining the significant progress the town and community have made towards mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change. 

Residents are urged to join in the fight against a climate crisis and help reduce Oakville's greenhouse gas emissions.

Leading by example

In an effort to mitigate and adapt to the changing climate, the Town of Oakville is leading by example through several initiatives that prioritize climate and the environment, which putting the town on a path towards reaching its reduction goals. 

  • Sixteen Mile Sports Complex – this community park has been designed with green development standards and renewable technologies in mind. The building will be LEED certified, asking a net-zero carbon and low-energy design approach and exploring technology and design that include solar walls, self-tinting electrochromic glass and more.  
  • The town currently has nine LEED Silver buildings in its portfolio.
  • Six of the town’s facilities are equipped with solar panels on the roof.
  • The Oakville Museum has an air-source heat pump which helps to provide efficient heating and cooling for the facility while reducing carbon emissions.
  • Oakville Transit introduced 15 electric buses to their fleet, which are currently in use for On Demand Services (care-A-van and Ride On-Demand).

Learn more about how the town is incorporating green building design and renewable energy generation in our facilities on the Corporate Energy and Greenhouse Gas Management page.

Climate Change Strategy

Since 2004, the Town of Oakville has been an active member of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. The town participated in their Building Adaptive and Resilient Communities program focused on municipal climate change which involved a five step milestone approach to improve a community’s readiness.

The town's first Climate Change Strategy (pdf) with the following objectives was approved in 2015 awarding the town its fifth and final ICLEI milestone. 

  • Increase the town’s capacity to protect against and respond to projected climate change impacts.
  • Educate through effective and efficient means of communication.
  • Monitor the implementation of adaptation actions and goals in order to make continuous operational improvements.

The town continues to incorporate climate adaptation considerations into all aspects of its operations. Staff are updating the climate risk assessments across the organization to identify and address climate vulnerabilities. 

Fight against the climate crisis

Read about the top 10 actions you can take to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Oakville.

Top Ten Climate Change Actions

Climate change in Oakville

Learn how to protect your health, the environment, home and property against the impacts of a changing climate.

Climate Change Primer