while cooling centres offer a good short-term solution to intense urban heat, they also highlight the need for greater accessibility to green infrastructure (GI), especially in dense urban areas.

After two months of lockdown, Ontarians are excited to get back outdoors — but are parks ready for us?

We’re very excited to announce a new report, our new “Economic Impact Assessment of the Green Infrastructure Sector in Ontario”—a first-ever assessment of the full scope of the green infrastructure sector, commissioned by the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition (GIO) and funded by the Greenbelt Foundation, with additional financial support from Landscape Ontario, which highlights to […]

Ontario Parks Association (OPA) and Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition (GIO) are pleased to launch the “Advancing Municipal Action on Green Infrastructure” project with funding support from the Greenbelt Foundation.  To support and build momentum around green infrastructure implementation at the municipal level. To do this, OPA and GIO are aiming to understand barriers and knowledge […]

Emerging Urban Forests: Opportunities for Promoting the Wild Side of the Urban Green Infrastructure Integrating urban forests into cities and urban development provides many environmental and social benefits. Researchers in Berlin looked at how urban forest development and succession can aid in promoting biodiversity by analyzing species richness of plants and invertebrates. One concern the […]

The Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), City of Toronto, Park People and LEAF are working to enhance TCHC properties with the planting and stewardship of native trees. Members of the communities will be engaged to help plant new trees and replace many of the trees that have been devastated by ice storms or the emerald […]

Canada Toronto, ON – urban farming is cropping up all over the GTA. With an increasing desire for people to be involved in something with a positive impact on the environment, they’re turning to backyard farms. Zawadi Farms is a 2,500 square foot backyard that grows a wide variety of vegetables, sold and donated to […]

Urban greening and sustainability initiatives need to include urban tree canopy (UTC) goals to ensure communities have access to healthy urban forests.  A new report from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) examines methods for UTC assessment and provides guidelines for practitioners to apply to planning, management and decision making. The report breaks down 5 […]

The United States National Recreation and Park Associations has created an online framework and toolkit to act as a guide to help evaluate green infrastructure projects with a comprehensive collection of tools, research-informed analysis, and many other resources. While many resources and case studies are from the United States, the benefits of green infrastructure are […]

Biodiversity loss is occurring at an alarming rate and areas in Canada with high levels of urban development and intensive agriculture are home to many species at risk. A recent report from the Adaption to Climate Change Team (ACT) is phase 2 of multi-phase project studying the potential of green infrastructure as solutions to climate […]

Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health: The Great Lakes are essential for life in Ontario and the surrounding region– 98% of Ontarians live within the Great Lakes Basin. GIO submitted comments to a public consultation on an updated version of the Canada-Ontario Agreement, which is designed to protect Great Lakes water […]

The Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition, with funding support from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, is engaging with Delphi Consulting to produce a credible and compelling report on the economic contributions of the green infrastructure sector in Ontario. The report will: Define the green infrastructure sector; Assess the economic impact of the green infrastructure sector; […]

Toronto’s first resilience strategy provides clear steps for Toronto to survive, adapt and thrive in the face of the challenges facing the city due to inequality and climate change. The strategy comes from an inclusive, collaborative process that reviewed resiliency successes to-date across the city, identified current gaps and recommended opportunities to make neighborhoods and […]

120 Minutes of Nature The health benefits of spending time in nature are well documented, but a new study from Nature looks at how much nature people associate with good health. In this study, the relationships between nature exposure and self-reported well-being in 19,806 participants was examined. Overwhelmingly, the likelihood of participants reporting good health […]

Ontario EcoHealth Ontario has launched a new website packed with tools and resources to help promote the important connection between community health and ecosystem health. Guides on improving green space access, and the benefits of nature can be found that provide a strong case for green infrastructure and encouraging outdoor recreation to enhance health! Check […]

Since 1970, nearly half of Canada’s monitored species have declined and nearly half of those have declined by over 80%. This catastrophic collapse has been linked to habitat degradation and land-use changes. When we lose natural spaces and biodiversity we are also losing the services they provide to our society such as carbon sequestration, flood […]

50 Million Trees Program Funding Funding for the Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Program has been announced by the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna and the office of the Minister of Natural Resources, Amarjeet Sohi. This funding will be available through to 2023. Upon cancellation announcements by the provincial government over […]

Report Outlines Need to Maintain Support for Large Parks to Keep up With the Region’s Growing Population To read the full report, visit https://greeninfrastructureontario.org/gio-and-partner-resources/ June 11, 2019 – Just as storm sewers and transit lines are vital components of regional infrastructure, so too are the large parks of Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe. That finding is one […]

Prescribing Nature There is a growing body of evidence connecting exposure to natural spaces with a rise in emotional well-being and an overall positive impact on physical health. In fact, many doctors are prescribing nature – suggesting patients take the time to explore their local greenspaces to enhance their health. Two hospitals in Norway have […]

Improving Urban Forest Management In a new report by the Natural Areas Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, urban forest professionals from 125 American organizations were asked about the management of the 84% of natural areas that are found in urban parkland. Of the most important factors in […]

GIO was a sponsor and participant at the recent Grey to Green conference. We had the opportunity to learn from wide range of green infrastructure experts – we have summarized some of our key takeaways below: Naturalization can be a more effective and affordable approach to storm water management in both dessert and temperate climates. […]

Great Lakes Emerging Champions Great Lakes Emerging Champions Mini-Grants are intended to increase green infrastructure implementation capacity in communities of 250,000 people or less in the Great Lakes Basin. With support of up to $15,000, communities can develop strategies to overcome the barriers they currently face in implementing green infrastructure. There are four general focus […]

Accounting for Green Infrastructure Often times, despite its multitude of economic, environmental, and social benefits, green infrastructure is overlooked or an afterthought in major capital allocation and investment decisions. The public sector is in need of a sound approach to accounting for green infrastructure assets. The proposed changes to the Public Sector Accounting Board’s (PSAB) […]

GIO is dedicated to assisting the Ontario provincial government by supporting and promoting policy solutions that encourage green infrastructure as part of healthy, prosperous, and sustainable communities. We recently submitted comments and recommendations on three major draft legislations and provincial plans: 1. GIO provided recommendations for the Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan. GIO strongly recommended that the […]

Ontario Greenbelt Project for Natural Asset Management There is an exciting green infrastructure and natural asset opportunity for local governments in Ontario’s Greenbelt. Already, municipalities across Canada are starting to manage their natural assets as a practical strategy to combat the challenges of aging infrastructure, rising capital and operating costs and strained service delivery. The […]

Green Infrastructure to Offset Dock Construction in Ontario Work is being organized for a habitat offset project in Napanee, Ontario. Ducks Unlimited Canada will partner with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority to create 44,000 cubic metres of […]

Active commuting through natural environments is associated with better mental health A recent study looked at 3599 respondents from Spain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and the UK. These individuals provided answers to questions on commuting behaviors and mental health. The study found that those who commuted daily through natural environments had better mental health indicators and […]

GIO is Hiring an Executive Director The Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition (GIO) is searching for a proven leader and passionate candidate to help make green infrastructure the new normal in Ontario.  Adoption of green infrastructure practices is on the rise in all communities and sectors but there is still much work to be done! The […]

GIO in the News: Green Infrastructure Ontario’s Michelle Sawka collaborated with Municipal Natural Assets Initiative’s Roy Brooke in a recent article calling for defined values for green infrastructure when making development decisions. This means recognizing green infrastructure as a definitive asset, and giving it a place in Canada’s accounting framework. Click here for to check […]

Private Property Incentive Programs: The Water Research Foundation has published new research to help identify ways to incentivize the installation of green infrastructure on private property. Six incentive programs were recommended to help promote private uptake of green infrastructure: Stormwater fee discounts Rebates and cost-share programs Grant programs for 100% cost coverage Development and redevelopment […]

The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), Dr. Dianne Saxe, recently released her four-volume 2018 Environmental Protection Report to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This report synthesizes the biggest environmental issues facing the province in the most recent year, the steps being taken to address them, and recommendations for new approaches or enhancements to escalate the […]

A recent article delves into why green infrastructure has yet to spread its roots in our communities on a large scale. There is immense potential for communities to benefit from green infrastructure by retrofitting developed areas absent of existing stormwater controls. Retrofitting laneways, rooftops, and property margins can be cost-effective and provide a suite of […]

The benefits of urban forests on human health are well researched – nature has the capacity to improve mental and physical health. As such, recovery and enhancement of urban forests is beneficial to both public health and forestry professionals. A recent article from the Conservation Finance Network reports that there is immense potential to leverage […]

With climate change and community resilience at the height of concerns regarding our communities’ futures, it is becoming increasingly apparent that natural infrastructure needs to be an integral part of municipal asset management. Ecological assets are being degraded and lost at a rapid rate, and Municipal Natural Asset Management (MNAM) is a long-term solution that […]

The Ontario Climate Consortium is hosting the 6th Ontario Climate Symposium at Canada’s biggest art and design university, OCADU. This year the Symposium will take place on October 11th and 12th, and will explore how innovative, interdisciplinary visions can facilitate a cultural shift toward low-carbon communities, sustainable adaptation and the adoption of green infrastructure. Aimed […]

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment produced a report to address the current value of natural infrastructure, and its role in climate resiliency. The paper not only cites GIO resources throughout, it also outlines lessons learned, best practices, and recommendations for overcoming barriers in solving climate issues such as coastal flooding, riverine flooding, […]

Benefits-Driven Designing – Creating Better Green Infrastructure What happens when a town comes together to design green infrastructure that provides flood relief, access to local food for the community, and ample educational and training experiences for residents? Just ask Peoria, Illinois. The town had to find a better way to protect their community from the […]

An overarching and complex barrier in the adoption of natural infrastructure is the limited capacity of institutions to develop and finance natural infrastructure options. With climate resiliency at the forefront of community planning, it is evident that without proper infrastructure – natural or otherwise –  climate-change induced damages such as flooding and excess water flows […]

Green infrastructure and walkability for healthy communities Evidence for what makes healthy communities is mounting. At the heart of healthy neighbourhoods are two commonalities: walkability and green infrastructure. This article on Place Makers website provides a great overview and cites plenty of primary literature on healthy place making. Eco-assets video series The partnership for water […]

This past April the Ministries of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) and Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) released ‘Watershed Planning in Ontario: Guidance for Land Use Planning Authorities’ on the Environmental Registry. The provincial land use policies state that green infrastructure should be considered when planning more resilient complete communities. Watershed planning is one effective […]

At the recent Canadian Network of Asset Managers Conference in Windsor, Ontario, GIO had the pleasure of presenting, in partnership with York Region, on Green Infrastructure in Municipal Asset Management Planning. Over the course of the conference we met and interacted with asset managers from across the continent, discussing emerging trends in asset management and […]

  1.     Community-driven green infrastructure projects can help inspire and ignite neighbourhood revitalization. Bronzville, a neighbourhood in south Chicago that has a rich cultural history but has seen decades of disrepair, is seeing a renaissance that includes green infrastructure and other sustainability initiatives. A roof-top community garden is just one of several projects that the […]

The 6th Annual Grey to Green Conference is taking place May 15-16, 2018 at the Chestnut Conference Centre in Toronto. Grey to Green focuses on green infrastructure design, research and policy and connects professionals working to integrate natural elements into the built environment. Grey to Green features a wide variety of innovative, technical content on […]

The Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure has released a Long Term Infrastructure Plan (LTIP) for Ontario. The LTIP focuses largely on provincially-owned grey infrastructure including a section on the state of provincially owned assets by each responsible ministry and the anticipated budget needs over the next 10 years. The plan also includes a couple references to […]

Imagine our parklands, gardens, natural heritage features, green roofs and other green infrastructure were appreciated and managed for the services they provide and treated as the community assets that they are. GIO has been advocating for this for quite some time now, by requesting that municipalities and communities include green infrastructure in their asset management […]

Paris’ Promenade Plantée: This 3 mile walkway that became a park in 1993 is so beautiful it’s hard to believe it used to be an abandoned viaduct.  Seoul’s Skygarden: The capital of South Korea recently converted a 1970s elevated highway into a park with over 24,000 plants. New York’s Highline: On of the most famous […]

 Last week was world water week. In its honour we are highlighting recent research that relates to green infrastructure and water, including a report on the real estate sector’s role in managing water, a case study on barriers to green infrastructure, a study on the flood-related ecosystem services of green spaces, and a local series […]

New green infrastructure in Delhi Inspired by similar projects in Mexico, Delhi Metro has installed vertical gardens along the pillars in some of the busiest intersections in the city. This new green infrastructure will do more than just beautify the grey infrastructure. It will also help to reduce local air pollution, and provide a calming […]

A new study examining the use of green infrastructure in 5 communities considered leaders in the field – Singapore, Berlin, Philadelphia, Melbourne and Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city found that all of these geographies face similar challenges regarding the implementation of green infrastructure. In particular, space and cost restraints and barriers for inter-sectional cooperation and stakeholder collaboration […]

2017 was a big year for green infrastructure in policy. We were pleased to see the inclusion of green infrastructure in a number of policies from several provincial ministries. Below, we summarize some of the major policies relating to green infrastructure that were released in 2017, and provide an update on policy we would like […]

The Government of Ontario has recently posted several public notices on the Environmental Registry of the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Two postings speak specifically to the role that green infrastructure might play in mitigation and adaptation: 1) Developing a Voluntary Carbon Offsets Program for Ontario; and 2) […]

This fall, GIO hosted 3 urban forestry workshops and created a toolkit on the topic of urban forest policy and municipal asset management. The goal of this work is to help urban forest managers leverage new policy from the provincial government that will require municipalities to develop asset management plans. Integrating urban forests into asset […]

A decade of green infrastructure in Langley, BC In 2007 the Township of Langley held an event showcasing green infrastructure innovation. Since then, Langley has shown a commitment to green infrastructure by ensuring harmony and integration throughout the Township. Rain gardens are now standard practice and the commitment to designing with nature is evident – […]

New report links trees and public health The new report by the Nature Conservancy entitled Funding Trees for Health- An Analysis of Finance and Policy Actions to Enable Tree Planting for Public Health summarizes the most recent research findings that link trees to public health. The report targets the following barriers preventing cities from fully […]

Background Wetlands are vital green infrastructure, providing countless ecosystem services. A wetland’s ability to provide these services is dependent on their ecological functions, which are affected by the quality of water entering from the surrounding environment. For this reason, wetlands benefit from the implementation of other types green infrastructure (e.g. low impact development) on a […]

Two years ago, GIO completed a review of the Official Plans of Ontario municipalities. We found that 18 of 93 (19%) plans examined had included the term ‘green infrastructure’.  This summer, we reviewed the same plans to see if there have been any significant changes. Why does it matter if green infrastructure is mentioned in […]

Urban forest managers in Ontario are facing complicated and increasingly detrimental threats to critical municipal assets, our urban trees. The value and management of urban forests varies greatly across jurisdictions in Ontario, which is due in part to a lack of coordinated effort and support at the provincial level.  As a result, many urban forest […]

While green infrastructure has great potential to improve communities in all geographic contexts, the majority of existing literature and support for green infrastructure is biased toward large cities and highly urbanized communities. GIO and the Greenbelt Foundation have teamed up to develop a new guide for towns, small cities and rural communities that are interested […]

How can we increase green infrastructure projects on private lands in an equitable way? What is the effect of forests on boundary layer ozone? Recent green infrastructure research has examined these questions. Resilient Parks, Resilient City: The role of green infrastructure and parks in creating more climate-adaptive cities GIO’s friends at Park People have created […]

From a grocery store growing produce on their roof in Canada, to the new “Forest City” in China, there are plenty of inspiring new green infrastructure initiatives to share. Largest Organic Supermarket Green Roof Montreal is now home to the largest organic supermarket green roof in the country. The Saint-Laurent IGA has been transformed into […]

Eco-Urban Assessment: The City of Bridgeport, Connecticut has put together a sleek spatial assessment tool to implement green infrastructure projects where they will provide the most benefit. The map identifies target areas based on priority to improve air quality, low-income communities and stormwater management risk.  The City is able to use this tool to determine […]

Greening the city: A measurement for a mindful environment Scientists at the University of Bradford have developed a tool to predict how relaxing urban environments are. The Tranquillity Rating Prediction Tool (TRAPT) shows great promise as a tool for urban planning and encouraging the use of green infrastructure for mental well-being. Screening of buildings and […]

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) is currently developing a Low Impact Development (LID) Stormwater Management Guidance Manual. The manual will aim to clarify the ministry’s expectations with regard to LID stormwater management and related runoff volume and water quality control expectations. As a first step in the manual’s development, two research reports […]

Green infrastructure systems are infrastructure assets, like roads and sewers, and should be managed for the value they provide and the risks associated with their potential loss. To do so, green infrastructure assets should be integrated into a municipality’s overall capital asset management framework. Currently, municipalities are required to develop asset management plans to manage […]

Green Infrastructure Solutions to Mitigate the Effects of Extreme Weather Naturally Resilient Communities is a guidebook and interactive tool featuring communities around the US that rely on green infrastructure solutions to protect themselves against climate change related extreme weather events. The guidebook includes over 30 case studies from communities of various sizes that are facing issues […]

How Real Estate Developers make the Business Case for Green Infrastructure Investment The Urban Land Institute recently released a report on “Harvesting the Value of Water”. The report analyzes the public stormwater policy landscape and its connection to real estate development projects. It discusses how many real estate developers are responding to new regulations by […]

The Federal Government’s 2017 Budget, released on March 22, includes support for living green infrastructure practices. However, a strong commitment from the province of Ontario and clear communications on behalf of the Federal government are needed to translate support into implementation. The budget included significant funding for the following infrastructure areas: Transit Green Infrastructure Social […]

The Ontario government has confirmed that its vision for complete communities includes green infrastructure. The province recently released four updated land use plans that aim to balance environmental protection and the need to build complete, vibrant communities as the Greater Golden Horseshoe grows. The new Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2017) includes support […]

Many municipalities struggle to allocate adequate resources to maintain their urban forests. A number of factors contribute to this issue, but one significant challenge is how they value the urban forest. It may be cliché, but it often seems that, “what gets measured, gets managed.” Currently, Canada’s Public Sector Accounting Handbook is a barrier to […]

Guest post by Simran Chattha, Coordinator Communications and Engagement, Ontario Climate Consortium When we hosted our first ever climate change symposium in May 2013, we wanted to bring together researchers and practitioners from the public sector, academia, and private sector on a global issue that has implications for all of us here in Ontario. This […]

The Living City Report Card Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) just released The Living City Report Card for 2016. In collaboration with organizations across the Greater Toronto Area, the report card is a progress report on environmental sustainability in the Toronto Region. The report evaluates six key areas for sustainability: Carbon, Air Quality, Waste, […]

Guest Post by Kara Orr, Marketing Coordinator, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities The green infrastructure industry in Ontario has reached an opportune moment, and one that needs to be seized. Both the Federal and Provincial governments are investing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects over the next several years. Green infrastructure can and should be […]

Green infrastructure (including low impact development) is a cost effective way to create more resilient, liveable, and walkable cities. Inclusion of green infrastructure in rights of way is a strategy that can help cities in Ontario control rain water onsite, and restore pre-development water balance. Implementing green infrastructure on streets and other public and private […]

Large Scale Adoption of Green Infrastructure Environmental Consulting & Technology Inc. has released a report Assessing the Market Size for Large-Scale Adoption Of Green Infrastructure in the Great Lakes Basin. The report, funded by the Great Lakes Protection Fund, looks at private sector adoption of green infrastructure in the United States within the great lakes […]

In our 2015 report Ontario’s Urban Forests: Call to Action, the development of a toolkit for those working to improve urban forest management across the province was identified as a priority action. GIO is now seeking input from urban forest stakeholders to help define the scope of the toolkit by asking them to fill out a short, online […]

In November 2016, the Ontario government tabled Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act. This bill, if passed, will introduce a series of reforms to the Municipal Act and the City of Toronto Act, which outline the legislative, administrative, and financial responsibilities of Ontarian municipalities. Among many changes introduced in the legislation, three in particular […]

In November, GIO and Clean Air Partnership hosted a Green Infrastructure Asset Management Workshop in Toronto, bringing together a variety of professionals from across southern Ontario to address the topic. The goals of the workshop were to share information featuring four guest speakers and to provide input that will help GIO build a roadmap to […]

In November 2016 the provincial government invited comments on the Ontario Cap and Trade Program: Offsets Credits Regulatory Proposal. GIO submitted comments expressing support for the Province’s proposed approach of legislating an offset market as potentially offering new opportunities for ecosystem-based carbon sequestration related activities. Three main comments were included and are summarized briefly below. […]

The Sustain Our Great Lakes program is soliciting proposals to improve habitat and water quality in the Great Lakes basin. The program will award grants for: 1) stream habitat improvements; 2) coastal wetland habitat improvements; and 3) green storm water infrastructure in Great Lakes shoreline cities. Up to $7.8 million is expected to be available […]

This fall, the Nature Conservancy released the report Planting Healthy Air: A global analysis of the role of urban trees in addressing particulate matter pollution and extreme heat. The report looks at the impacts on human health of air pollution and heat and the role of trees in reducing both of these. Included is a […]

­­­­STATE OF THE URBAN FOREST IN THE GREATER TORONTO AREA REPORT RELEASED Just as highways, storm sewers or transit lines are vital components of infrastructure, so is the Urban Forest of the Greater Toronto Area – and it should be regarded as such by policy makers at every level. That finding is one of many […]