Ontario Chapter

At Sierra Club Ontario, our work mainly focuses on protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem, growing and protecting the Greenbelt, and promoting Green Energy adoption in Ontario. Sierra Club Ontario also works on very local issues, in coordination with smaller communities in Ontario.

What's happening at the Ontario Chapter?

Urban Sustainability Blog #2: Human-Environment Interaction in Ontario

Posted on August 4, 2018

Human activities have a profound effect on the environment. It is no secret that climate change, airborne pollution, the melting of the ice caps, plastic waste in the oceans, and various other disasters are advancing at alarming rates due to human operations in natural environments. With that said, plenty is being done to mitigate and reverse this damage; people are finding ways to embrace renewable energy, employ a circular economy model to reduce waste, and preserve wildlife all over the world, to name a few.  (Photo: Berkay Gumustekin)

Urban Sustainability Blog #1: Introduction and History of Urbanization in Ontario

Posted on July 27, 2018

The words “city life” tend to paint a certain picture in people’s minds. We think of public transportation, crowded streets, touristy places, and overall concrete jungles. There’s an exciting way of life that comes with living in cities, but this excitement could come at a cost by taking a bigger toll on the environment than one would imagine. Today, approximately 80% of Canada’s population (approximately 29 million people) lives in urban areas. Some 10 million of these people live here in Ontario, and about 6.9 million live in the Greater Toronto Area alone.

Greenbelt: Niagara Regional Official Plan Threatened by Skewed Science

Jerry Dong — July 11, 2018

(Niagara’s official plan policy consultant, David Heyworth. Photo: The St. Catharines Standard)

The Niagara Region has embarked on a new three-year process to develop a new Official Plan. What hinders this path, possibly to ruin, is that it is heavily influenced by a peculiar type of environmental stakeholder: consultants in the pay of developers.

Greenbelt: Reports Suppressed To Support Destruction of Thundering Waters Forest

Jerry Dong — July 9, 2018

(Acadian Flycatcher. Photo: Edward Plumer)

On May 8, 2018, the Niagara Falls City Council voted to approve what is now termed the Riverfront development. This would, if approved by the Ontario Land Use Planning Tribunal (LPAT), call for the destruction of 120 acres of diverse natural habitat, some of which is now protected wetlands.

Plastics: Shallow Politics. Deep Concerns.

Becky Bassick — March 22, 2018
Shallow Politics. Deep Concerns.

by Becky Bassick & Lino Grima

Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Ontario Chapter

Ontario's 42nd general election is scheduled for June of this year. Sierra Club Ontario (SCO) is working hard with a coalition of other environmental nonprofits to ensure that water is part of the political conversation. In addition, SCO is taking this opportunity to discuss fundamental questions regarding our election process.

Greenbelt: Celebrating Greenbelt Expansion in the Niagara Region

Yvonne Ho — January 23, 2018

Despite enormous pressures from developers and municipalities in the Niagara Region, the provincial government denied all requests to shrink and dilute the Greenbelt. This was done in two locations. One was in Grimsby south of the Niagara Escarpment, in an area that is increasingly being used for tree fruit and grape crops. Another is in a corridor from Lake Ontario to Lake Gibson, along the Twelve Mile Creek. 

Province Proposes to Rescue Huronia Through Greenbelt Expansion

Yvonne Ho — January 3, 2018

"Protecting Water for Future Generations" warns that increased storm water discharges created by urbanization "adds sediment to streams that can negatively impact fish and other aquatic species" and also "increase water temperature, affecting the survival of fish species such as brook trout that need cold water". It stresses that Brook Trout will not survive in warmer water created through the ecological degradation associated with urbanization.

Canadian Youth Unite for Lake Erie at AquaHacking Challenge 2017

Yvonne Ho — December 20, 2017

As the African proverb goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”. This was quoted by one of the judges to conclude the 2017 AquaHacking semi-finals competition. It epitomized a powerful theme for an evening that involved bringing people and organizations together that had been working to develop integrated water governance by promoting technological innovation in this sector. Moreover, to engage future leaders by bringing water problems to the forefront of public and private sector agendas and fostering commitment to solving them. 

"Canada's Oceans: Towards 2020" - Protecting Canada's Oceans through the Power of Science, Art, and Policy

Yvonne Ho — December 18, 2017

"Let's change our national motto - "From sea to sea" forgets that we have three oceans; the Arctic is largest part of our coastline. We're an ocean nation, if our youth grow up knowing that, it will change how we do things... 'From sea to sea to sea'!" - Geoff Green, Executive Director and Founder of Students on Ice

Sierra Club's Urban River Valley and Greenbelt Celebration Goes On at Mississauga's Environmental Appreciation Evening

Yvonne Ho — December 14, 2017

"...The more we all know about and love the ecosystem that embeds and surrounds us, the more we feel that we are a part of it, the more we will see ways to enjoy, protect, and enhance what we have..."

BREAKING NEWS: Government of Ontario looking to expand Greenbelt by one third to protect water resources

Yvonne Ho — December 12, 2017

The official announcement came on December 7th.  The province is proposing to grow the Greenbelt by up to another 345,000 hectares (see Figure 1), adding on to the 810,000 hectares already in permanent existence plus the extra 10,000 hectares of urban river valley lands and wetlands that were announced this spring. This is a truly impressive proposal.