The first ever Sustainable Cities Index has come out, and quite a few Canadian names have made it on there! Released by the Canadian company Corporate Knights, the list looks at a variety of factors to see which cities are leading the charge in the whole environmentally-friendly scenario.

To create the list, the company looked at a wide variety of factors. These range from the classics like emissions per capita to water access to even a city’s ‘climate change resilience’. These were then weighted together, to create a letter score for each city included.

Related Posts:
Canada officially suspends vaccine mandates for domestic travel
The world’s only interprovincial zip line is back for the summer in Canada

Here are all the indicators they looked at:

  • Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions per capita (occurs within city boundaries)
  • Consumption-based emissions per capita
  • Air quality
  • Open public space
  • Water access
  • Water consumption
  • Vehicle dependency
  • Road infrastructure efficiency
  • Sustainable transport
  • Solid waste generated
  • Climate change resilience
  • Sustainable policies

So, going off of that, these are the Canadian cities to make the most sustainable list:

  1. Vancouver (Global Rank – 8)
  2. Toronto (Global Rank – 9)
  3. Ottawa (Global Rank – 11)
  4. Halifax (Global Rank – 18)
  5. Montreal (Global Rank – 20)
  6. Edmonton (Global Rank – 21)
  7. Calgary (Global Rank – 22)

So yeah, pretty much all of the country’s major cities (minus Winnipeg) got on there! There’s obviously some disparity in the breakdown, but none of the cities listed has lower than a “B” grade overall, so that’s not so bad!

Curiocity Staff

With a curated slate of what matters in your city, Curiocity presents you with the most relevant local food, experiences, news, deals, and adventures. We help you get the most out of your city and focus on the easy-to-miss details so that you’re always in the know.
Read articles