Nature
Data
Stories
Climate Change
Nature
28%
of cities have a citywide biodiversity strategy and 50% of cities have biodiversity objectives embedded within other environmental plans.
72%
of cities have a climate change strategy in place. This is an increase over the 44% last year, reflecting both new cities in the 2021 report and new climate change strategies approved in 2020.
92%
of Canadians said they wanted climate-resilient infrastructure (e.g., stormwater infrastructure) embedded in parks.
84%
of cities said addressing impacts from climate change and extreme weather damage was a challenge, while 86% of cities said protecting biodiversity was a challenge.
83%
of Canadians said parks have had a positive impact on their connection to nature during the pandemic.
31%
of Canadians said that lack of trees, plants, or natural spaces in parks is one of the factors that makes visiting parks less appealing.
61%
of Canadians said they prefer to visit naturalized or “wild” parks or green spaces.
% of parkland that is natural parkland
Park systems are made up of both manicured parks (sports fields, playgrounds) and natural areas (woodlots, meadows). As we seek to adapt to climate change and increase biodiversity, it’s important to ensure we are protecting natural spaces as cities grow. On average, 46% of park systems are natural areas—a number that has remained stable over the three years of the report.
% of parkland that is environmentally significant/protected
This chart shows the percentage of total city parkland that is under special protection as ecologically sensitive. While the policies are different in each city, it gives a sense of the quantity of protected urban habitat—12,745ha in total or equivalent to nearly 32 Stanley Parks—a number that could help contribute to Canada’s target of 17% protected land in the country.
Data not available for Montreal, Ottawa, Mississauga, Vancouver, Quebec City, Halifax, Laval, Saskatoon, Regina, Township of Langley, Kingston, Fredericton, Charlottetown, and Prince Albert.
Special Thanks
Park People thanks the RBC Foundation for their support of the Nature section of the Canadian City Parks Report.
