THE PLANET AND OUR ENVIRONMENT

Act on climate change now to create positive local and global impacts.

How we did in 2022 the highlights

✔ 91 of 122 Community Climate Action Plan actions are in progress (58 complete or ongoing; 33 initiated).

✔ Brennan Park Energy Study was completed; $11.7M federal Green and Inclusive Community Buildings grant was received for upgrade work.

✔ Open Street (no car) Day was held June 24, 2022 in conjunction with two Downtown events to create a pedestrian-friendly experience.

✔ Retrofit assist program launched to offer guidance to homeowners to install heat pumps (retrofitassist.ca/squamish).

✔ Active Transportation improvement projects were completed:

• Mamquam Road (Government Road to Highway 99)

• The Boulevard/Highlands Way South

• Planning for Discovery Way trail improvements completed, with construction planned for 2023

✔ Circular Economy Roadmap was launched to support economic prosperity and align with the Zero Waste Strategy by reducing environmental impacts in Squamish.

✔ Zero Waste Action Plan (2022-2027) was endorsed with new targets and priority areas. Residents and businesses were engaged in the development via surveys, pop-up booths and in-person engagement.

Strategic Goals

COMPLETE COMPLETE

ONGOING ONGOING

ONGOING 6

Adopt Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGe) reduction targets and implementation plan.

Increase the diversion rate of waste from landfill to 80% and reduce per capita landfill waste to 300kg.

Maintain organizational carbon neutrality while creating and implementing a plan to reduce District purchased offsets.

Increase the number of businesses participating in the local carbon marketplace to advance climate change mitigation and adaptation activities.

✔ Landfill Expansion concept design was updated to include increased diversion opportunities and better flow to the site, to increase usability.

✔ 2022 Squamish Transit Future Action Plan was endorsed and identifies short- and medium-term service and infrastructure priorities for the Squamish local transit system. Key objectives, to be funded through cost-sharing with BC Transit and the potential for federal grants, include:

• Approximate doubling of service hours with increased frequency and new service areas.

• Improved accessibility at transit stops.

• Transit exchange in Garibaldi Village, and an operations/ maintenance facility that supports electrification of the fleet.

✔ Transit was expanded to provide more weekend frequency and on-time performance:

• Weekend frequency added on Route 1 Brackendale and Route 2 Highlands and improved on-time performance.

• HandyDart service expanded to include weekend service.

• Trips added to the seasonal Route 5 South Parks to address mid-day gaps.

✔ Community EV charging stations increased to 41 in 2022. The District has begun the process of construction of new charging infrastructure which should become available in 2024.