The Sustainable Collingwood Plan has been Endorsed by Council
The Sustainable Collingwood Plan is the Town’s roadmap for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preparing for climate change impacts, and building a healthier, more resilient community. The Plan supports Council’s 2019 climate crisis declaration and aligns climate action with community priorities such as affordability, infrastructure planning, environmental stewardship, economic resilience, and quality of life.
Climate change is already affecting Collingwood through warmer temperatures, more frequent heatwaves, increased rainfall and storms, and shorter winters. These changes create challenges for infrastructure, public health, natural ecosystems, and municipal finances. Taking action now will help reduce future costs, protect community assets, and improve long-term well-being.
The Plan sets a community-wide target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% below 2019 levels by 2040. It is informed by local data, community input, and collaboration with residents, businesses, organizations, and regional partners. Community engagement highlighted strong support for practical climate actions that provide local benefits, including lower energy costs, healthier neighbourhoods, improved transportation options, environmental protection, and a stronger local economy.
To achieve these goals, the Plan focuses on four strategic areas:
- Retrofit and Reimagine Our Buildings
- Sustainable Transportation
- Resilient Natural and Infrastructure Systems
- Climate-Ready Local Economy and Community Culture
These priorities are supported by ongoing climate education and community capacity-building initiatives to encourage shared responsibility and participation across the community.
By working together, Collingwood can reduce emissions, strengthen resilience to climate impacts, protect the natural and built assets that define the community, and create a more sustainable, connected, and prosperous future for current and future generations. Read the full plan by clicking the button below.
Read the full Sustainable Collingwood Plan
The Town of Collingwood recognizes that it plays a role in maintaining a healthy environment and a sustainable future. Collingwood Council unanimously declared a Climate Crisis in October 2019 to demonstrate the Town’s commitment to protecting the community, economy, and ecosystems from the effects of climate change.
In Collingwood, climate change risks could include, but are not limited to: flooding, biodiversity loss, human health concerns, more variable weather, social equity risks, increased presence of invasive species, reduced water quality, economic challenges, and infrastructure damage.
Community Engagement
Community engagement and consultation are important aspects in the creation of any Community Plan to ensure programs and initiatives are successfully implemented and reflect resident priorities and interests.
To kick-off engagement for the Community Climate Action Plan, the Town of Collingwood hosted two unique opportunities for members of the community to help shape the creation of the Community Climate Action Plan.
- On April 8th and 9th, the Town of Collingwood hosted 4 Climate Action Focus Area Working Groups to take deep dives into various climate action strategies that could be used in Collingwood to reduce community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Strategies were divided into the following 4 sectors and participants included staff and external subject matter experts/specialists from the community and region.
- Transportation
- Buildings and Community Systems
- Community Health and Resilience
- Investment
- On Tuesday May 6th , the Town hosted our second in-person climate action engagement opportunity, the People's Panel, with participants from a wide variety of backgrounds. The purpose of the People's Panel was for participants to discuss how various climate action strategies integrate and reflect the values and priorities of the community. The information gathered from this session captured discussions, insights, and level of support for the proposed strategies.
Throughout June, Collingwood staff set up 5 pop-up engagement sessions to better understand the community's level of ambition for the Community Climate Action Plan. The purpose of the pop-up engagements was to meet people where they're at, in familiar places, and have informal conversations to:
- Gauge climate strategy direction
- Promote online engagement opportunities
- Capture quotes, photos, and stories about why this matters to community members
In addition to the pop-up engagements, an online survey was open for the month of June for residents and stakeholders consider and share thoughts on 30+ possible climate action strategies.
Community Engagement Results
The preliminary results of the community engagement sessions were presented to Council on July 28th. The full presentation can be found in the Results Presentation, and the recording can played from YouTube.
Key Findings:
Participation: In total, 250+ Collingwood community members and stakeholders were engaged through this process.
Resident's Vision for Collingwood's Future: When asked about their vision for Collingwood's future, the majority of respondents connected most with a sustainable community, a responsible community, and a green community.
Level of Support: The levels of support on individual climate actions had a high consensus, with all 30 strategies rated as either 'Strong' or 'Moderate' support; none received low or negative ratings.
Level of Ambition: When considering the level of ambition individuals wanted to see reflected in the final Community Climate Action Plan,
- 41% of participants supported 'Ambitious Action',
- 40% supported 'Accelerated Action', and
- 19% responded with 'Prudent Action' or 'No Action'.
Full Engagement Report:
The full engagement report prepared by the Tamarack Institute and Town of Collingwood staff can be found in the Engagement Findings Report and includes the full results, in addition to recommendations on which actions should be prioritized in the development of the Community Climate Action Plan.
Next Steps
Throughout Fall 2025, staff will reconnect and work with external partners to prioritize and design the actions that will be included in the final Community Climate Action Plan.
Background
On October 16, 2019, the Town of Collingwood Council unanimously declared a Climate Crisis to name and deepen our commitment to protecting our economy, our community, and our ecosystems, from climate change.
In response to the Climate Crisis declaration, the Town has taken actionable steps to better understand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
More information on some of these actions can be found below: