Canada's Top Green Cities

Green Living magazine gives kudos to Canada's leading cities in terms of energy, water, density and bike-friendliness.

1 minute read

April 18, 2009, 9:00 AM PDT

By Michael Dudley


"The cleanest air and water, bountiful green spaces, solar-powered and geothermal-heated buildings all are tantalizingly within reach in several Canadian municipalities. So, where should you point your biodiesel-fueled moving van?

Vancouver: Urban Density Experts

The EcoDensity Charter, which will encourage green laneway housing, rezoning and relaxed building codes to accommodate solar panels and shading. A commitment to making all city operations carbon neutral by 2012 and plans to reduce community GHG emissions by a whopping 80 percent by 2050 (from 1990 levels) will also help to improve air quality, lower energy bills and create an even more livable city.

Yellowknife: Canada's geothermal energy hot spot

Yellowknife will become a whole lot greener thanks to its Community Energy Plan, ...[which will] use clean, geothermal energy from a nearby abandoned goldmine (the Con Mine) to heat 2,000 homes.

Calgary: The green electricity capital

Forget dirty oil; Calgary is and will continue to be all about clean voltage. It is the only municipality in Canada to draw at least 75 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, and it plans to jack that up to 90 percent by 2012."

Thursday, April 16, 2009 in Green Living

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