October 22, 2026
By David Lea published by the Oakville Beaver
Oakville’s annual climate change update reveals why emissions are up despite tree planting, geothermal and education drives.
A new geothermal system at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex is among the achievements town staff listed in the 2026 climate change update. Source: David Lea/Metroland
The Town of Oakville has initiated some significant projects in an effort to fight climate change, but it is also encountering some challenges.
The work the town is doing to try to get its greenhouse gas emissions down was discussed during a meeting of council on Sept. 28.
Oakville’s urban forest growing toward 40% canopy cover goal
As part of the annual climate change update Alicia Lall, the town’s corporate strategy program advisor, noted that through Oakville’s Urban Forest Management Plan the town adds 60,000 new trees and shrubs each year.
This plan, Lall said, contributed to a townwide canopy cover of 30.3 per cent in 2025.
The plan’s long-term goal is to reach a canopy cover of 40 per cent by 2057.
“By enhancing tree cover in high-risk areas, the town can also reduce heat-related health risks, particularly for older residents,” said Lall in a report to council.
Town developing AI energy coach to guide residents on home upgrades
Ralph Kaminski, the town’s chief building official, also spoke during the meeting about Oakleaf, an AI energy coach similar to Copilot and ChatGPT, which the town is developing to support residents with accessible, reliable home energy guidance.
He said Oakleaf’s pilot has passed critical, technological and content review steps and is now being demonstrated at public open house events.
“The goal is to provide residents with a user-friendly tool that can help answer questions about home improvement and direct them to relevant programs and resources,” said Kaminski.
“We thought this was needed as there are lots of options available through social media encouraging residents to do upgrades. We thought this would be a useful thing residents could use as a trusted tool to test the information they are finding online.”
Should the Oakleaf pilot prove successful, Kaminski said, the town would look to make it a permanent service offered by the town’s building department.
He did not provide a date as to when this might happen.
Sixteen Mile Sports Complex geothermal system expanding
The recent expansion of Sixteen Mile Sports Complex and its geothermal system, which was activated earlier this year, was also discussed as a significant milestone in the town’s efforts to design and build facilities that reduce carbon emissions.
Assad Hoosein, manager of facility strategy, planning and compliance with the town’s facility services department, noted that during the previous expansion, 223 geothermal wells were installed under the complex’s southeast parking area with each well extending 630 feet below ground.
They were put in place, Hussein said, to provide low emission heating and cooling for the complex’s new addition.
“We are now moving on to the next phase of the project. This phase will connect those existing geothermal wells to the original arena portion of the facility so the complex can benefit from more energy-efficient heating and cooling systems,” said Hoosein.
“This is an important step as it will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support cleaner energy use across the complex.”
Hoosein said the design work to expand the geothermal system to the entire complex is expected to continue through the fall with tender and installation planned for 2027 and the expanded geothermal system operational in 2028.
2026 climate milestones at a glance
Other 2026 climate change achievements mentioned in the update included:
The town partnering on several education and outreach initiatives that reached thousands of residents and students, strengthening climate awareness, emergency preparedness, and community resilience.
The town launching a Sustainable Development Practices webpage to provide developers with a centralized resource on town policies, standards, and best practices supporting sustainable development.
The continuation of the town’s Go Electric campaign, which encourages residents to consider small electric outdoor equipment and tools.
The town’s creation of a dedicated stormwater fee, which town staff said provides a sustainable and transparent funding source to maintain and improve Oakville’s stormwater infrastructure, enhance flood resilience, and protect local waterways.
Town staff working collaboratively on the Climate Action Roadmap, which is on track for delivery in 2027 and will establish a unified framework aligning corporate and community action, with priorities, metrics, and an implementation plan to guide progress.
Greenhouse gas emissions from town buildings up 8%
Not all the information presented at the meeting was positive.
Lall noted in her report that greenhouse gas emissions from town-owned buildings increased 8 per cent from 8,224 tCO2e in 2024 to 8,873 tCO2e in 2025.
Town staff noted this is 2 per cent above the 2015 baseline of 8,661 tCO2e.
Lall said the increase was attributed to three factors including:
Updates to greenhouse gas emission factors published by Environment and Climate Change Canada, which resulted in higher calculated emissions for electricity and natural gas consumption compared to previous years;
Extreme weather conditions including a hotter summer and a colder winter;
Emissions from construction and commissioning activities at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
Electric tools lag behind as gas-powered equipment remains a challenge
It was also pointed out during the meeting that while the town is encouraging residents to switch to electric equipment and tools, town staff have themselves not fully done this.
Chris Mark, the town’s director of Parks and Open Space, noted that while this transition from gas-powered to electric-powered maintenance equipment is well underway there are some tools where the electric technology has simply not advanced enough yet.
“Line trimmers are one of the most frequently used tools that we have for grass cutting. The amount of battery charge it takes to go for about six hours is phenomenal. We would have to almost carry around a trailer of just batteries to keep them charged and keep the students working with them,” said Mark.
“The technology is improving all the time. We are testing out a lot of them, but for right now the line trimmers we use are pretty much still gasoline driven.”