Sustainable tourism destinations II: Canada

After the first release of sustainable tourism destinations, where we analyzed the Mexican cities that stand out for their sustainability initiatives, we publish now the second photo gallery, focused this time in Canada.

The North American country as a whole is a leader in sustainable development, inclusive urban planning and reduction of pollutant emissions. Do you want to know what Canadian cities are the best sustainable destinations?

The financial capital and most populous city in Canada has an ambitious goal "to become the most sustainable city in North America", as the municipal government states.

To this end, they have launched Toronto's Climate Change Action Plan, focused on a 80% reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. It has numerous green areas populated by more than 10 million trees and was, in 2009, the first city in North America to approve an ordinance that establishes the construction of green roofs on new construction homes.

Located on the homonymous island, east of the country, Montreal is another benchmark in sustainability and expects to increase its short-term commitment. The sustainable development plan Sustainable Montréal 2016-2020 is an extensive project developed by the local administration and more than 230 associates that seeks to turn the most populous city of Quebec in a sustainable and thriving metropolis.

This plan includes, among many measures, a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases, for which they have designed a plan of urban mobility promoting the bicycle and public transport, a protection and development policy for local nature environment, including the incentive of urban gardens, or creating a recycling program of organic waste to produce compost.

Calgary, the third largest city in Canada, is in its own right a benchmark in sustainability. International consultancy Mercer appointed it in 2014 "the cleanest city in the world".

This recognition is based on five factors in which Calgary stood out above the rest of cities of the world: recycling and waste treatment, quality and availability of drinking water, quality systems on wastewater treatment, air pollution levels and traffic flow. As an example of its long-term commitment, the programme Too good to waste is highlighted: it plans to reduce by 80% the amount of waste going to landfill by 2020.

The Canadian capital stands out for its studied organization in implementing sustainable measures. The local government has specific departments for each sustainable initiative and seeks to engage the most of its inhabitants with information campaigns open to citizen collaboration. One is Tree Ottawa: an initiative to plant a million trees by 2017 to which the administration has allocated 5.6 million dollars.

The Ottawa Biosphere Eco-City Initiative is the main municipal body for sustainable development and classifies their actions in the following areas: transport, energy, design, environment, food, nature, waste, health, leisure and sense of place.

Located in the southwest of the country, only 50 kilometers away from the US state of Washington, Vancouver is one of the clearest examples of sustainable development in Canada... and the world, as it was named "the most green and sustainable city on the planet" in 2013 by the magazine Green UpTown.

Like Toronto, Vancouver is immersed in an Action Plan with closing date in 2020, and so far have launched proposals such as the construction of new neutral carbon buildings or the removal of polluting vehicles from circulation while they promote the Seaside Greenway project: 28 kilometers of an innovative cycle path that will cross the northern edge of the city.

Sources: Corporate Knights, Te Interesa, Toronto, Montréal, McGill, Ecoavant, Ottawa and Ottawa Biosphere Eco-City Initiative.