Agenda

The General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation recommends that:

1.  City Council approve a 2017 grant allocation of $1.060 million to the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation funded from the 2017 Parks, Forestry and Recreation Operating Budget.

2.  City Council direct the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation enter into a delivery agreement with the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation to administer the program funding in 2017, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

This report seeks Council approval to provide a grant of $1.060 million to the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation as part of a strategy and plan to expand the City's tree canopy on private land. The 2017 Council Approved Operating Budget for Parks, Forestry and Recreation includes $1.060 million for the development of private partnerships for new tree planting and tree care on private lands. The $1.060 million allocation in 2017 will accelerate the launch of key recommended actions in the consultant's report, "Actions to Grow Toronto's Tree Canopy", providing a pilot opportunity to test select programs and services this year.

Urban Forestry will work in partnership with Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation to deliver tree planting and tree care partnership programs on private properties. In 2017, program areas will include direct tree planting and tree care support and expansion of the Every Tree Counts marketing and communications campaign.

There is no financial impact arising from the recommendations in this report.

The 2017 Council Approved Operating Budget for Parks, Forestry and Recreation includes $1.060 million for the development of private partnerships for new tree planting and tree care on private lands. Prior to spending this funding, City Council directed the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to report to the Parks and Environment Committee on a strategy and plan.

The proposed strategy outlined in this report dedicates up to $1.060 million grant to the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation ("the Foundation") for the delivery of private tree planting programs and public outreach. The Foundation is the official fundraising partner of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation and has been working with the City since 2002 to meet urban forestry objectives including increasing tree canopy cover. The Foundation is uniquely positioned to leverage private and public sector donations in support of these new programs, has a demonstrated track-record of meeting urban forestry goals within a public-private partnership model, and has an established accountability model for working with the City, including City representation on its Board of Directors.

Table 1: Summary of Grant Allocation 

The 2017 allocation is expected to be leveraged by the Foundation to generate a total program value of up to $2.0 million. The actual allocation and the number of trees planted will depend on actual program participation levels. As part of the 2018 budget process, this funding allocation will be reviewed together with recommended actions developed by the Urban Forest Working Group in the Tree Planting Strategy and implementation plan, which will be reviewed as part of the annual budget process.

The General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation recommends that:

1.  City Council direct the General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation, in consultation with Toronto Hydro, to establish a plan to coordinate proactive tree maintenance where opportunities exist, improving operational efficiencies, consistency in work practices and public perception.

2.  City Council direct the General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation to establish a working group with Toronto Hydro to continue to refine pruning practices, guidelines, and alternatives that advance the ability of both sections to achieve their respective requirements.

The purpose of this report is to respond to a motion directing Urban Forestry and Toronto Hydro to work together on establishing methods of collaboration to reduce service interruptions in response to the ice storm that took place in December 2013.

As a result of ongoing collaboration, Urban Forestry is proposing a multi-faceted, long-term, approach that will enable trees and overhead electrical service lines to co-exist, thereby providing both Toronto Hydro and Urban Forestry with equal opportunity to comply with their individual, Council-directed, program delivery targets.

There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report.

The Chief Corporate Officer recommends that:

1.  The Parks and Environment Committee receive this report for information.

This report provides an update on the development of a Pollinator Protection Strategy for the City of Toronto, and the creation of best practices for native bee and butterfly conservation. It also responds to the request to investigate the City of Edmonton's Beekeeping Program and comment on its applicability to Toronto.

The goal of the Pollinator Protection Strategy is to identify additional actions that the City and community can take to create and enhance habitat for pollinators. The draft strategy identifies six key priorities, and proposes a series of actions for each priority. The primary focus of Toronto's strategy is the protection of native bees and butterflies. However, the majority of the actions designed to support native bees and butterflies, will also benefit all pollinators, including non-native honey bees.

Toronto is home to a wide range of pollinators, including over 360 species of bees and 112 species of butterflies. Recognizing that pollinators are a key component of a sustainable city, Toronto's vision is to have healthy pollinator populations that support resilient ecosystems and contribute to a rich urban biodiversity.

Pollinators are under increasing stress due to a number of factors and, as a result, some species are in decline. In recent years, significant media attention on the declining health of honey bees and the economic losses experienced by beekeepers, has taken the focus off the more ecologically-concerning decline of native bees. Evidence suggests that native bees are the most at risk, and if these species are lost, they cannot be replaced. Honey bees, conversely, are a non-native species introduced from Europe, re-introduced annually, managed by beekeepers, and are not endangered in Canada.

The City of Edmonton prohibits honey bees and beekeeping is only allowed through a permit process. An analysis of their program has led to the determination that Edmonton's model is not necessary or appropriate for Toronto. Honey bees are not prohibited in Toronto and beekeeping is already regulated by Provincial legislation that includes specific requirements which are sufficient for Toronto. In addition, recent studies indicate that non-native honey bees may negatively impact native pollinators due to competition for limited resources and the spread of diseases/pests. The City should therefore continue to focus on habitat creation efforts that will benefit all pollinators, rather than encourage the introduction of more non-native honey bees.

This strategy, developed collaboratively by Environment and Energy, City Planning, and Parks, Forestry and Recreation, will form part of the City's broader Biodiversity Strategy. City Planning, and Parks, Forestry and Recreation were consulted in the preparation of this report and agree with its content and conclusions.

There is no financial impact resulting from this report. The financial impacts connected to the Pollinator Protection Strategy, being developed in response to item MM7.11 "Protection for Monarch Butterflies and Bees" adopted by City Council at its meeting on June 10, 2015, will be explored in a subsequent report to Parks and Environment Committee when the final strategy is presented at the end of 2017.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The Chief Corporate Officer recommends that:

1.  City Council approve the following long-term goals and pursue necessary measures to realize a low-carbon Toronto in 2050 that achieves an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions against 1990 levels:

a.  65 percent reduction in community-wide GHG emissions by 2030 from 1990 levels as an interim target;

b.  100 percent of new buildings are designed and built to be near zero GHG emissions by 2030;

c.  100 percent of existing buildings are retrofitted to the highest emission reduction technically feasible, on average achieving a 40 percent energy performance improvement over 2017 levels, while limiting affordability impacts to residents, by 2050;

d.  75 percent of community-wide energy use is derived from renewable or low-carbon sources by 2050;

e.  30 percent of total floor space community-wide - residential and commercial - will be connected to low-carbon thermal energy by 2050;

 f.  100 percent of transportation options - including public transit and personal vehicles - use low or zero-carbon energy sources, and active transportation accounts for 75 percent of trips under 5 km city-wide by 2050; and

g.  95 percent of waste is diverted in all sectors - residential, institutional, commercial and industrial - by 2050.

2.  City Council direct the Chief Corporate Officer to lead cross-corporate implementation of City Council's approved "Leading by Example" TransformTO Report 1 Strategies, for which business cases will be brought through the annual budget process, towards achievement of the following low-carbon leadership goals:

a.  design and build all new City-owned facilities to be near zero GHG emissions by 2026;

b.  retrofit all City-owned buildings, including social housing, to the highest emission reduction technically feasible, on average achieving a 40% energy savings over 2017 building energy performance by 2040;

c.  install 24MW capacity of renewable energy on City-owned facilities and lands by 2020;

d.  establish a green fleet plan to transition 45% of City-owned fleet to low-carbon vehicles by 2030;

e.  achieve a net zero waste status at all City-owned facilities by 2030;

g.  generate and utilize 1.5 Million Giga-joules of energy from biogas by 2030; and

f.  earn designation as one of Canada's Top 100 Green Employers by 2020.

3.  City Council approve the long-term goal of transitioning to a low-carbon Toronto by 2050 in a way that maximizes public benefit and minimizes harms by using the following guiding principles when designing and delivering climate actions:

a.  advance social equity;

b.  improve affordability particularly for vulnerable populations;

c.  protect low-income residents

d.  contribute to poverty reduction 

e.  enhance and strengthen the local economy;

f.  maintain and create good quality local jobs;

g.  improve public health; and

h.  create resilient communities and infrastructure.

4.  City Council direct that the TransformTO low-carbon, long-term goals and implementation plans be integrated:

a.  by the Chief Resilience Officer into the development and implementation of Toronto's Resilience Strategy; and

b.  into all relevant City of Toronto strategies, policies and programs.

5.  City Council request the Chief Corporate Officer to continue working and partnering with the City's Agencies and Corporations to advance the TransformTO low-carbon, long-term goals and implementation plans.

6.  City Council direct the Chief Corporate Officer to initiate three TransformTO Acceleration Campaigns, as described in this report, to maximize the community benefit potential of low-carbon action, namely:

a.  Mobilizing Low-Carbon Neighbourhoods;

b.  Workforce Development for High-performance Buildings; and

c.  Exploring the Implications and Opportunities of Electric Mobility.

7.  City Council direct the Chief Corporate Officer to prepare and provide to City Council in the second quarter of each new term of Council, a report that identifies:

a.  Updates on TransformTO key performance indicators including:

i.  City-wide GHG emissions as measured by the City of Toronto GHG Inventory;

ii.  Co-benefits of low-carbon actions (indicators to be presented in first four year implementation plan update);

iii.  Public engagement (number of organizations/individuals engaged and their level of engagement); and

iv.  Amount of financial and other resources mobilized in support of low carbon action in Toronto;

b.  progress towards City of Toronto low-carbon leadership goals; and

c.  revisions and additions to the short-term strategies, and the implementation plan for that term of Council.

8.  City Council direct the Chief Corporate Officer to prepare and provide to Council a status update on the TransformTO key performance indicators in the third year of each Council term.

9. City Council direct the City Manager to advocate to the Provincial and Federal Governments for program funding or financing, co-delivery opportunities, and related policies and regulatory supports necessary to achieve the TransformTO long-term, low-carbon goals.

10.  City Council direct the City Clerk to forward Council's decision in this report to the following Provincial and Federal ministries for information: Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (Ontario), Minister of Municipal Affairs (Ontario), Minister of Energy (Ontario), Minister of Infrastructure (Ontario), Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (Canada), and the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities (Canada).

11.  City Council direct the Chief Corporate Officer to report back on the relevance of consumption-based GHG emissions accounting in the Toronto context as part of the 2019 status update and renewed TransformTO implementation plan.

In July 2007, Toronto City Council recognized the far reaching impacts of climate change and unanimously made a commitment to see community-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 80 percent against 1990 levels by the year 2050. The City's innovation and leadership is why Toronto has seen its greenhouse gas emissions drop by 24 percent, exceeding our 2012 goal of a 6 percent reduction.  However, our current pace of change is insufficient to achieve the emission reduction goal for 2050.

Analysis shows that the 2050 goal is achievable with existing technologies, but it means bold action is required to transform Toronto's urban systems - buildings, energy, transportation and waste. Where Toronto is already on the correct trajectory, we need to stay the course. In other areas, we need to increase the scale and pace of change.

The path to the 2050 goal is one where many of the low-carbon actions will pay for themselves over the long term. It is also a path that can facilitate achievement of a city that is more healthy, equitable and prosperous. The TransformTO Modelling Advisory Group, consisting of 35 community leaders and City staff have identified how low-carbon actions can drive significant co-benefits. Their report, Attachment A: TransformTO Modelling Advisory Group Summary Report, outlines ways to realize these co-benefits.

Initiated in 2015, TransformTO involved the engagement of over 2,000 residents, the input of an inter-divisional steering team and the Modelling Advisory Group, in combination with detailed technical modelling. Getting to Toronto's 2050 goal requires:

A. Maintaining and Implementing Toronto's Planned Climate Actions

B. Committing to the Vision - A Low-Carbon, Healthy, Equitable and Prosperous Toronto

C. Maximizing Community Benefit from Climate Action

D. Leadership through City Action

E. Urban System Transformation

i. Mobilizing Low-Carbon Neighbourhoods

ii. Expanding Mobility Options and Embracing Electrification

iii. Building Energy Performance

iv. Renewable and Community Energy Approaches

v. Towards Virtual Waste Elimination

F.  Monitoring and Reporting

In December 2016, City Council approved a package of TransformTO strategies to initiate transformation in Toronto's urban systems that must be funded and implemented to put Toronto on the needed long-term trajectory.  In addition to full implementation of these strategies, this report identifies three Acceleration Campaigns to ensure that efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions also maximize potential community benefits:

1.  Mobilize Low-Carbon Neighbourhoods;

2.  Exploring the Implications and Opportunities of Electric Mobility; and

3.  Workforce Development for High-Performance Buildings

As directed by City Council in December 2016, business cases for the approved TransformTO Report #1 Strategies will be brought forward through the 2018, 2019, and 2020 budget processes.

Incremental operating investments would be required for 2018 and future years to implement the TransformTO Report #1 strategies. This funding would enable program optimization and improve the likelihood of leveraging capital from external sources, including provincial cap and trade proceeds and federal infrastructure monies. These operating dollars will also help determine the requirement for municipal capital dollars to support GHG emissions reduction action.

Table 1: Annual operating cost forecast 2018-2020 and the total community-wide capital forecast

On February 15, Toronto City Council approved the allocation of $330,000 in operating budget for 2017 to:

-  help secure additional financing to support climate action (Strategy 1.2);
-  support the delivery of the City's Better Buildings Partnership programming to promote energy efficiency in buildings (Strategy 1.1); and
-  support the delivery of Smart Commute initiatives to City of Toronto staff (Strategy 4.5).
 

Report #1 Strategy 1.2 - Innovative financing mechanisms, creates a full-time staff position dedicated to developing a holistic sustainable finance strategy for the City designed to maximize access to cap and trade proceeds and infrastructure funding aligned with the TransformTO strategies, including the Acceleration Campaigns identified in Report #2.

An estimated $320-$866 million of capital investment is required community-wide to implement the TransformTO Report #1 strategies. In this context and given the significant funding identified, "community-wide investment" means potential financial contributions from all orders of government (i.e. Federal, Provincial and City), plus the private sector and individual property owners. Two scenarios for investment in climate action are described below:

-  Low scenario: A community-wide investment of $320 million represents a moderate scale-up and enhancement of existing City programs and new programs, which could achieve an additional 455,000 tonnes of emissions reductions by 2020.
-  High scenario: A community-wide investment of $866 million represents an aggressive scale-up and enhancement of existing City programs and new programs, which could achieve an additional 857,000 tonnes of emissions reductions by 2020.
 

All building energy-efficiency retrofit related capital costs for City-owned facilities will be funded through recoverable debt, and building retrofit programs will be aligned with existing state of good repair capital projects.

With respect to the funding strategy, staff are monitoring and engaging with provincial and federal counterparts in pursuit of available funding that is aligned with the City's climate change priorities. It is unknown at this time what level of financial support and timing of investment is to be expected by other levels of government, external parties, and the portion to be City funded.

Since December 2016, progress has already been made in mobilizing capital for low‑carbon action.  Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) has been allocated $28.3 million in grant funding through the Social Housing Apartment Retrofit Program (SHARP) to reduce GHG emissions from their buildings. The City is providing TCHC with a low-interest repayable loan of $35.2 million to fund the remaining 55 percent of a deep energy retrofit project at nine of their buildings. By leveraging provincial grant funding, the City can optimize the environmental and economic benefits realized by this project and future projects. This combined funding package represents 20 percent of the community-wide capital required in the low-cost scenario to 2020.

The additional Acceleration Campaigns presented in this report will be initiated within the resources requested through the TransformTO Short-Term Strategies business cases. Future funding needs beyond 2018 for the Acceleration Campaigns will be presented through the annual budget process if required.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

Councillor Janet Davis recommends that:

1.  The General Manager, Parks Forestry and Recreation, in consultation with the Executive Director, Facilities Management, the General Manager, Toronto Water, the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services and the Medical Officer of Health, be requested to report to the September 8, 2017 meeting of the Parks and Environment Committee on the implementation of the Bottled Water Policy in Toronto parks and park facilities, and its progress installing water bottle filling stations, and bring forward any recommendations for improving access to Toronto tap water at special events in City parks and park facilities for consideration through the 2018 budget process.

At its December 1-3 2008 meeting, Toronto City Council approved a policy to phase out the sale and distribution of bottled water in city facilities. The following clause was approved: "authorize appropriate staff to prohibit plastic water bottle sales at each City facility upon completion of improved access to tap water at all City facilities as water bottle sales are phased out, having due regard to existing and unique public health and safety related situations and authorized special events in City facilities, by December 31, 2011."

The policy envisioned a phased implementation based on increasing the availability of water in our facilities.  In 2012, Council requested an update.  At that time, 138 parks and facilities had been exempt from the policy because there was inadequate access to drinking water, or had contracts that allowed bottled water.  Parks Forestry and Recreation reported to Council in February 2013, recommending installation of 10 new water bottle filling stations per year.  We have not had a report since then on the status of these installations.

Toronto Water has Water Trucks that are available for Special Events.  The Division has purchased another truck; however, there are still not enough to meet the demand across the City. 

As well, the City has adopted an ambitious Long Term Waste Management Strategy that gives highest priority to reducing waste.  Recently Council voted to exempt large events in our Civic Centres from the Water Bottle Policy. We need to make sure that water is available through filling stations and other means for these events. Our City needs to take action to ensure that we are reducing waste and embedding these objectives in our policies and practices, and in our own facilities.

Councillor Paula Fletcher recommends that:

1.  City Council waive park permit fees in support of Canada 150 celebrations for those groups who traditionally host Canada Day celebrations in their local parks as well as for 150 events organized by Friends of Parks groups, local arts or sports groups, or small local non-profits who wish to bring the community together in their local park to commemorate this special occasion.

Traditionally many neighbourhood groups host Canada Day celebrations in their local parks on July 1st. 

There are also local organizations and neighbourhood groups who don't normally host a Canada Day celebration who may want to bring the neighbourhood together for the 150.

As well there will be many new families in our neighbourhoods who have never had the opportunity to attend a Canada Day before to celebrate our great country.

The city can encourage and support local 150 celebrations across Toronto by waiving the park permit fees.