The cost

The plan would cost more than $457.6 million between 2020 and 2029, with the price of several actions to be determined. At least $214.9 million is currently listed as unfunded in the plan, but the city has applied for federal and provincial funds to offset the cost of the buses.

The cost of doing nothing

Mississauga, the plan said, is already seeing impacts of climate change including spikes in seasonal flooding, extreme rainfall, hot summers and ice storms.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), by 2040 stormwater flooding and freezing rain could cost Mississauga an average $41 million a year. The IBC said major stormwater flooding or freezing rain event could cost the city up to $195 million and $23 million respectively by 2040.

Is it ambitious?

Mississauga’s short-term reduction target is more stringent than those set by the Ontario and federal governments, which are each aiming for a 30 per cent GHG cut by 2030 based on 2005 levels. During the 2019 federal election, the Liberals pledged that Canada would have net-zero emissions by 2050.

Mississauga’s climate action plan has higher targets than Brampton, which is aiming for a GHG reduction of 30 per cent for 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050, using 2010 as a baseline. Peel Region’s overall GHG emissions rose between 1990 and 2010, meaning Mississauga’s 1990 target level will likely result in a higher reduction over Brampton’s 2010 baseline.