How is climate change impacting Guelph?
The biggest impact to the city of Guelph is around infrastructure. Our city is celebrating its 200th birthday in 2027. For the type and frequency of storms that we are starting to see, our old infrastructure is just not being able to handle it the way it used to.
What action are you taking to address climate change?
Several years ago, we implemented a fee dedicated to stormwater management. It was politically quite difficult to implement because it meant asking people to pay a little bit more—around C$6-8 a month. However, it has enabled us to do stormwater management at an accelerated rate, creating better stormwater ponds and cleaning them faster to be able to hold more capacity. Additionally, a part of our budget is earmarked to support our Race to Zero, allowing us to replace status quo equipment on our city assets with alternatives that help mitigate climate change, and reduce our operating costs. If we are able to have a heat pump instead of a regular gas furnace, for instance, we cut emissions while also saving money. Finally, we have the Guelph Greener Homes programme, a grant that residents can apply for to redo their home in an energy efficient way—through solar insulation, better windows, better building envelopes. Residents get the money at a 0 per cent interest rate and pay it back through their property taxes. Individuals can choose the private sector companies they want to work with, which helps businesses as well as the environment.
What are the benefits? Why is it important?
Our actions mitigate part of the climate change issues that we are experiencing, and also reduce costs for the taxpayers. Our city is one of few in North America that relies on groundwater for all of our water supply. This is why we have a sort of climate lens forced upon us. Our citizens, our businesses and City Hall seem to be all aligned to make sure that what we are doing in the city is for the benefit of everybody. One key aspect is to share information. If someone, whether it is City Hall, a business or the university, does something really well on the climate change front, we share it publicly, hoping that someone else might do the exact same thing. We are not fragmented, we do not work in silos, and this helps our community reach our collective net-zero goals.