During a week when climate change felt closer than ever, Peel councillors learned they’re getting further away from stopping it

“The climate clock isn’t just ticking, the alarm is ringing, and it’s loud.” 

Christine Tu, Peel Region’s climate change and energy management director, wasted no time getting to the point.

On June 26, as the Region’s elected officials navigated a full agenda dominated by Bill 17 and proposed reductions to the fees charged to developers for critical infrastructure to accompany growth, they also confronted a sobering reality: despite their efforts, Peel is drifting further from its emissions reduction targets, even as the effects of climate change grow more extreme.

“There’s a lot of noise around climate policy today, but facts are speaking louder,” Tu reiterated during one of the hottest weeks of the year, with temperatures not seen in more than a decade, as she unveiled the region’s Climate Change Master Plan Progress Report 2024. 

The facts are dire. 

Last year was officially the hottest on record. In 2024 Peel also experienced two “once-in-a-century floods”, extreme heat waves and smoke from wildfires that blanketed entire neighbourhoods. Every municipal department in the region was mobilized in response.

In 2019, the Region of Peel launched its Climate Change Master Plan (CCMP), setting an ambitious target: cut corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030, and ensure all services and assets are prepared for climate impacts.

The plan is now halfway through its 10-year timeline. In 2024, the Region reduced emissions by more than 3,500 tonnes, ”equivalent to taking about 700 cars off the road.” Tu attributed the progress to the region’s efforts to divert biosolids produced from wastewater treatment away from pollution causing incineration, and to green more of the municipal fleet of vehicles.

Peel launched a Biosolids Diversion Program pilot at the Clarkson Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) and GE Booth WRRF, reducing emissions from wastewater treatment, promoting carbon sequestration, and cutting reliance on synthetic fertilizers in agriculture.

(Region of Peel)

But there’s a “growing challenge”.

“Despite our efforts, corporate emissions rose by 1.4 percent last year, driven largely by external factors like population growth and the provincial grid’s (26 percent) increased reliance on natural gas,” Tu said.

“Peel is not alone. Municipalities across Ontario are facing similar headwinds. Notably, if those external factors were excluded, Peel’s emissions would have actually dropped by 3.5 percent.”

In 2023, buildings and vehicles accounted for over 83 percent of Peel Region’s greenhouse gas emissions, which rose 2.5 percent from the previous year. “Although electricity consumption decreased marginally (<1 percent), the electricity emissions increased by 30 percent.”

(The Atmospheric Fund)

In an interview with The Pointer, Ekaterina Tzekova, Director of Research and Innovation at The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), said electricity emissions are effectively doubling every few years, a trend that is expected to continue according to various projections as more and more electricity is used in our modernizing economy. 

“Not only are we doubling every couple of years, we're doubling a bigger number,” she warned. 

She emphasizes the need for the province to step up and focus on developing clean, utility-scale electricity sources and remove “barriers to renewable energy development” such as ending the offshore wind moratorium, extending Community Net Metering province-wide and increasing the threshold of small-scale generation of electricity by individuals, farmers small businesses and large corporations from 10 kW to at least 20 kW.

Instead, the province has been prioritizing nuclear expansion, which paradoxically has led to a greater reliance on natural gas.

To meet its 2030 target, Peel now needs to cut 24,800 tonnes of GHGs, requiring nearly four percent reductions every year.

This is an enormous challenge, made more difficult by actions—or lack thereof—of the provincial and federal governments.

In May, the Ontario government released its 2025 budget, dubbed, “A Plan to Protect Ontario,” which was widely criticized as being “light on investments to support climate resilience”, a pressing, long-term priority that will shape the province’s competitiveness, economic growth, and ability to withstand climate impacts. 

The budget slashed emergency wildfire funding by $42 million and cut $3.8 million from emergency preparedness and response efforts, further undermining Ontario’s capacity to protect ecosystems and communities during natural disasters.

Last summer Peel was hammered by two back-to-back “100-year storms,” each delivering rainfall levels the region had never experienced, pushing infrastructure to its limits and communities past their breaking point.

(Top: Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services; bottom, Region of Peel)

Storms last year on July 16 and August 17 damaged more than 100 properties, including an affordable housing building and a youth shelter, and generated 97 tonnes of flood-related waste collected curbside. Peel’s response to the 2024 flood events cost an estimated $320,000 in additional operating expenses, according to a Region of Peel report.

A 2022 Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance report had already warned that local governments simply don’t have the financial capacity to build the kind of climate resilience now needed. 

The City of Mississauga is still awaiting a decision on its request for federal funding to support various flood mitigation and transit projects, including the restoration of Cooksville Creek.

(Government of Canada) 

Municipalities in Peel coping with the effects of climate change are now left waiting for funding from both the provincial and federal governments, unsure when, or if it will arrive—a question raised repeatedly in regional council meetings.

During the recent federal elections, a letter from municipal leaders was sent to federal party leaders recommending paying for five suggested projects “by redirecting billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies, and strengthening the polluter pays principle.”

(Elbows Up for Climate)

Critics argue that recent government decisions at all three levels have only deepened the challenges faced by municipalities.

Peel’s biosolids diversion pilots have helped cut more than 3,000 tonnes of corporate GHG emissions annually and saved $340,000 in electricity costs since 2022. In 2024, contracts were secured to continue the removal, hauling, and beneficial use of biosolids from these facilities for the next three years.

This large waste incinerator in Brampton has been approved by Ontario’s PC government for a massive expansion that will make it the biggest in the country, with a capacity to burn 900,000 tonnes of garbage a year, sending unprecedented levels of pollution over the city.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer) 

Those gains are now at risk. The Ontario government recently approved the expansion of a controversial waste-to-energy facility in Brampton, projected to be Canada’s largest incinerator, expected to cause a six-fold increase in GHG emissions in the city, offsetting numerous sustainability initiatives.

The decision overrode strong opposition from environmental groups, public health experts and hundreds of residents demanding a full environmental assessment given the long-term health and environmental consequences. 

In early April, Peel’s Medical Officer of Health warned regional council that increased pollution could worsen Brampton’s already poor air quality, raising the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses among residents, many of whom live with chronic conditions like COPD, heart disease, and diabetes, prompting council to call for stronger pollution controls, independent community oversight, transparent emissions data, and a thorough evaluation of the project’s climate and health impacts.

(Region of Peel) 

On April 28, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) rejected calls for a full environmental assessment, stating key concerns from air and water pollution to socio-economic and ecological impacts were sufficiently addressed through technical studies under Ontario’s Environmental Screening Process.

The ministry said it was satisfied that concerns related to air emissions, residual ash management, waste stream monitoring, and environmental impacts will be managed through further technical review during the facility’s Environmental Compliance Approval applications.

Environmental Defence’s senior program manager for plastics, Karen Wirsig, told The Pointer, the government’s conditions fall short and fail to address issues of environmental racism.

A 2024 study revealed a troubling connection between social vulnerability and air pollution in Peel: marginalized communities who often have little choice over where they live face disproportionately high exposure to nitric oxide.

(Environmental Injustice in Peel Region/University of Toronto journal)

“A full environmental assessment would’ve allowed for more independent scrutiny and scientific input, which we think is sorely missing,” Wirsig noted.

Tu stressed that decarbonizing buildings, responsible for over 51 percent of Peel’s corporate emissions, offers the clearest path forward. 

“Buildings built before 2000 are responsible for 85 percent of building emissions,” a report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario noted. “Improving energy performance is perhaps the first and easiest step.”

But much of that opportunity was just undercut.

Mississauga’s relatively recent Green Development Standards, meant to reduce emissions in private buildings, were dismantled by the provincial government’s Bill 17, which prohibits municipalities from enforcing green building codes stronger than provincial minimums; a move the province claims it took to cut “red tape” and fast-track construction of 1.5 million homes by 2031. 

From 1981 to 2010, average annual temperatures were higher in southern Peel, a pattern largely influenced by urbanization, according to a 2017 regional study.

(Region of Peel)

To tackle this, Peel doubled down where it still has authority: its own buildings. 

On June 26, the council passed a motion to adopt a Net Zero Emissions Building Retrofit Policy and Standard, a sweeping framework that mandates the replacement of fossil fuel-based systems in all Region-owned buildings,  including Peel Housing Corporation and Peel Regional Police facilities, with low-carbon alternatives at end-of-life. 

The region is also investing $18 million to upgrade affordable housing and support more sustainable, waste-free ways of doing things.

“Once implemented, we're looking to have complete fuel switching by 2050. In other words, 100 percent of our buildings will be decarbonized,” Region of Peel staff Hemant Grover explained. 

The result: 48,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions eliminated over 25 years, the equivalent of planting 2 million trees.

But for Mississauga resident and long-time environmental advocate Harminder Dhillon, Peel’s climate ambitions feel overdue. After over three decades of living in Canada, he says he's grown disillusioned with governments that issue lofty declarations but fail to follow through.

“I don’t put much faith into these kind of resolutions; Brampton declared climate emergency in 2019 but has anything changed on the ground? Nothing,” Dhillon told The Pointer. 

“I continuously sort of pled with my city council, my counsellor to plant more trees in our park on our streets. And given that we we are facing this existential threatory to humanity and life. In this day and age, the citizens have to push their council for the bare minimum of tree plantation because nobody disputes is good for making a city beautiful, making the climate resistant.”

His frustration extends to the lack of support for residential solar energy. “The local council hasn’t even waived permit fees for solar panels. I installed mine two years ago, and it took months just to get permission, and I paid hundreds of dollars to just get a permit.”

Dhillon also challenges the narrative that affordability limits climate action. “If someone’s buying a million house which costs them millions, why not mandate that it be gas-free? In neighborhoods like Caledon, people are building $10 million homes. Affordability is a red herring when it comes to those buyers,” he argued. 

“I totally agree there's a big chunk of the population, they are struggling with affordability issues. I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about the bigger one, the businesses, the city hall, and do all the three cities, have a full scarled on the rooftops? Not yet. Why not?”

Switching to cleaner energy for Peel’s buildings might cost about 25 percent more upfront, around $400 to $450 million over the next 10 years. But staff say these extra costs should be balanced out over time by saving money on energy bills, avoiding big price jumps for fossil fuels, and reducing the chance of expensive repairs. 

“Inaction also creates financial and operational risks directly to the region. As clean energy standards and technology evolve, and the market responds, fossil fuel-reliant buildings may face rising costs in evaluation, potentially creating stranded assets. This would expose the region to financial instability and higher operational costs,” Tu noted.

“Without a standard retrofit approach coming forward today, the region will miss the timely opportunity to build better and optimize energy efficiencies that could reduce overall cost to the taxpayer.”

The policy is already in action at Weaver’s Hill, a seniors’ residence in Mississauga, where high-efficiency heat pumps have reduced emissions by 88 percent and cut annual costs by $85,000. The retrofit also added cooling systems, essential for protecting seniors during heat waves. 

Weaver’s Hill is a two-tower residential complex owned by Peel Housing Corporation in the north-central part of Mississauga.

(Clean Air Partnership) 

The $23.5 million project, approved by Peel region, funded through municipal contributions and $10 million from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund, aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent and energy use by 41 percent.

Brampton is also undertaking a major retrofit of the nearly 30-year-old Susan Fennell Sportsplex, a lively community hub with gyms, ice rinks and recreation facilities, which is being reimagined as a cutting-edge, zero-carbon site. 

(City of Brampton)

But legislative turmoil clouds the path forward. 

The Hazel McCallion Act dissolved the Region’s governance structure on June 8, 2023, and the Transition Board established to oversee restructuring was itself dissolved in 2024 without releasing recommendations. 

Bill 240, the Peel Transition Implementation Act, intended to transfer key regional services to lower-tier municipalities by mid-2026, died when Ontario’s legislature was dissolved ahead of a provincial election. 

A September 2023 report highlighted that the transition would be a “huge undertaking in such a short time,” given the size of the region and the complex web of shared services between its municipalities.

The newly introduced Bill 45 seeks to continue this transfer but leaves Peel staff uncertain about timelines, complicating efforts to meet critical funding deadlines.

Despite these challenges, Peel has become the first municipality in Ontario to adopt a retrofit policy of this scale, positioning itself as a leader in municipal climate action. But the success depends on “continued support from all levels of government,” Tu pointed out.

Dhillon acknowledges Peel’s leadership but remains skeptical that declarations will translate into urgent action. He believes the gap lies in generational inertia and a lack of climate literacy among decision-makers.

“It’s a sad story,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we stop pushing. If the people in power don’t see the emergency, then it’s up to the public to keep the pressure on.” 

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