We’re preparing for climate change in Aurora. We’ve already felt the effects with an increase in extreme weather events like seasonal flooding, extreme rainfall, ice storms, and some of the hottest summers on record.
We’re committed to decreasing our carbon footprint and preparing the community for the impacts of a changing climate.
Learn what we're doing to reduce our impact on climate change and how you can help by exploring the topics below.
Aurora’s Target: Net Zero by 2050
What We're Doing
- In 2018, The Town joined the PCP program with a Council Resolution.
- In 2019 the Town declared a Climate Emergency.
- In 2019, the Town implements a Green Fleet Action Plan.
- In 2021, the Town implements a Community Energy Plan.
- In 2021, the Town implements a Green Procurement Policy.
- In 2022, The Town implemented Green Development Standards program for all new developments.
- In 2024, the Town approved our first ever Active Transportation Masterplan.
Current GHG Emissions Breakdown in Aurora
Events and Programs
Discover how you can get involved, learn, and contribute to our shared commitment to environmental stewardship. Join us in making a positive impact through education, advocacy, and collective action. Together, we can create a more sustainable and resilient community for generations to come. Start your journey with us today!
| Anti-Idling Campaign |
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The Town of Aurora has an Anti-Idling policy that limits idling to five minutes. But why not take it one step further and turn your vehicle off if you are going to be stopped for more than 30 seconds? Greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles account for 37% of Aurora’s community emissions. For every 10 minutes of idling you cut from your life, you’ll save one pound of carbon dioxide — a harmful greenhouse gas and major contributor to climate change — from being released into the atmosphere. Learn how you can help our Anti-Idling initiative! |
| Waste and Recycling Events |
| We have waste and recycling events throughout the year. |
| 2025 Electric Vehicle Showcase |
| The 2025 date for the Electric Vehicle Showcase is to be announced. |
Past Events/Programs
| 2024 Electric Vehicle Showcase |
| The third annual Electric Vehicle Showcase was a huge success. |
| 2023 Holiday Eco Challenge |
| The Holiday Eco Challenge encouraged residents to make the festive season eco-friendly! Throughout the month of December they made small changes to help celebrate the holiday season in a more sustainable way. |
| Go Green Challenge |
| The Community Go Green Challenge encouraged individuals, families, schools, organizations, and businesses to challenge themselves to reduce their environmental footprint. Participants had the chance to earn prizes and be inspired to make sustainable life changes. |
Environmental Plans and Reports
| Community Energy Plan |
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The community-wide energy plan is a GHG emission inventory. It forecasts and sets GHG emission reduction targets, and developed strategies on reducing those emissions. The analysis looked at residential, commercial and industrial energy use in the Town, and estimates different energy consumption scenarios in the future. For more information the Community Energy Plan. |
| Corporate Environmental Action Plan (CEAP) |
| The Town of Aurora has a Corporate Environmental Action Plan (CEAP), a five-year plan that will allow the Town meet its environmental goals. The plan serves to protect and enhance the natural environment, promote environmental sustainability, integrity and conservation of resources and create a practice of environmental stewardship within the community.
Fiver-Year Action Plans and Annual Progress Reports |
| Aurora’s Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan (ECDMP) |
The Town completed a 5-year plan in the summer 2019 that focuses on energy conservation at Town’s owned facilities and fleet vehicles and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 16% by 2023. The Town has a reduction target of 80% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This includes the Town Hall, community centres, library and other facilities that the Town owns and operates. Fleet vehicles include over 250 vehicles, heavy and light equipment for all operational divisions. In addition, the Town has been annually monitoring its energy consumption and GHG emissions since 2011. Plan progress can be found under the CEAP annual progress reports under “Energy and Climate Change.”
Annual Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions Report (two year lag as per O.Reg 25/23) |
| Green Fleet Action Plan |
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The Town Fleet Division is electrifying the corporate fleet to produce zero emissions by 2051. The goal produces challenges that will need to be addressed through proper planning and innovation. Aurora’s GFAP focuses on shifting towards “green” operations, including strategies to purchase vehicles that have lower emissions, green maintenance products and options to reduce fuel consumption. This plan is intended to be a living document that will be reviewed every five (5) years with updates to access progress, technological advancements, and future opportunities. For more ways the Town is greening its fleet, see GFAP.
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Climate Change Adaptation Plan (CCAP) |
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Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to current or expected effects of climate change. It is one of the ways to respond to climate change, along with mitigation. The adaptation plan is intended to guide future actions to reduce risks associated with climate change and public infrastructure. In addition to managing climate impacts to Town infrastructure, the plan is intended to help the Town better integrate climate resilience into design, operations, planning, and decision-making with respect to asset management. The adaptation plan builds upon work done locally by York Region and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) and will help Aurora align with provincial and regional directions on climate change including the Ontario Regulation 588/17, and the Town’s Asset Management Policy and climate change initiatives. |
How to reduce your carbon footprint
Start by using Project Neutral’s carbon footprint calculator to understand your climate impact. Then consider making changes at your home, to your routine and participating in Town-run events and programs.
Environmental Initiatives
| Blue Dot Initiative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Town joined the Blue Dot movement in 2016. The Blue Dot movement is a campaign based on the idea that everyone in Canada deserves the right to a healthy environment, including clean air and water, and a say in decisions that affect our health and well-being. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electric vehicle charging stations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Town of Aurora is building a robust network of electric vehicle charging stations. Providing charging infrastructure in public spaces incentivizes the shift toward zero-emissions vehicles in Aurora and the greater GTA. Locations:
An additional four chargers are also set to be installed at Aurora Town Square. The date of installation has yet to be confirmed. Cost: $2.50 per hour For more information and on how to access these chargers, visit: aurora.ca/evcharging
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| LEED® Design at Town Facilities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All new facilities owned by the Town are being built to the LEED® standard (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). It is an internationally recognized green building certification system. It ensures that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving environmental performance: energy savings, water efficiency, GHG emission reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, etc.
The Joint Operations Centre (JOC) received a LEED® Gold Standard. |
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| Partners for Climate Protection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Town joined the PCP program in 2018 with a Council Resolution. The program fills a five step milestone framework for the Community-level and Corporate-level GHG emissions. The Milestones include: completing a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventory and forecast, setting a GHG reduction target, developing a local action plan, implementing the plan, and monitoring progress and reporting results.
Community-level status: Milestones 1-3 completed, in the process of completing Milestones 4 (implementation of action items)and Plan renewal.
Corporate-level status: Milestones 1-3 is currently under development.
The Town achieved PCP Milestones 1 to 3 for the Community-level through the development of Aurora’s Community Energy Plan (CEP), endorsed by Council in January 2021. Developed in collaboration with a Stakeholder Working Group and feedback from the public, Aurora’s plan is progressive and wide reaching. The CEP outlines a series of strategies that achieve a 22 per cent reduction of community-level greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 2018 levels and a 65 per cent reduction by 2050. These levels put Aurora on the path towards an 80 per cent emissions reduction by 2050. For more information visit, the Town's Community Energy Plan. |
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| Members of the Clean Air Council (CAC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Town of Aurora is a member of the Clean Air Council (CAC), a network of municipalities and health units that work collaboratively to combat air pollution and climate change. Since 2001, CAC members have worked to make our communities more livable, competitive, and resilient through actions that reduce energy use, minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollution emissions, and make the movement of people and goods more efficient.. Ontario municipalities are working to address climate change and air pollution while also strengthening their economies. The policies needed to fight air pollution and climate change can also produce health benefits and economic growth, reduce costs, and improve social equity in our communities. The CAC presents an opportunity to take a cohesive approach, pooling research findings, expertise, and lessons learned, while enabling actions that benefit our communities and beyond. |
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| Ontario's Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) for Aurora Businesses | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Ontario’s Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) program requires owners of large commercial, industrial, multi-unit residential and other prescribed types to report their building's energy and water consumption data to the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines.
It allows building owners to benchmark their building's energy and water consumption usage against industry trends, identify energy and water efficiency opportunities, and save money by tracking usage. Benefits of benchmarking your building’s energy and water include the ability to:
Find more information on who needs to report and how to report it. |
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| Municipal Building Challenge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Aurora joined the ClimateWise Building Challenge to take action on climate change. This friendly competitive amongst other York Region municipalities and local businesses supports the implementation of the Town’s corporate energy plan and its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 from 2018 levels. 60 municipal buildings and 15 commercial buildings have joined this friendly award and recognition competition. Under the challenge, Aurora staff meet regularly with other local municipal staff, share building operations best practices, learn from each other and receive training on new tools available to help reduce energy consumption from municipal operations. The ClimateWise Building Challenge is a York Region wide, friendly awards and recognition competition created to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve building energy efficiency through collaboration, education, and innovation. This free initiative is open to building owners, property managers, and tenants who want to take climate action. Recognition and achievements will be presented throughout the competition at a regional level. As a Regional Ally of BOMA Toronto, participants of the ClimateWise Challenge can also be recognized provincially at the BOMA Toronto Commercial Real Estate Trailblazers (CREST) awards. The ClimateWise Challenge is modelled after the successful Energy Star Battle of the Building competition, a U.S Environmental Protection Agency program. Learn more about the ClimateWise Challenge by visiting the F.A.Q. page https://windfallcentre.ca/climatewise-challenge/faqs/ |
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| Solar PV systems at Town Facilities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems have been installed at a total of four Town facilities as a means of renewable generation and reducing the Town’s carbon footprint. Agreements are in place using the Microfit, Net Metering and lease agreement models.
Solar PV generation summary:
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