Small Canadian Cities Rank High on Environmental Scorecard

HALIFAX – Canada’s largest cities score lower than most small and medium-sized municipalities, according to a new environmental scorecard, but a closer look at the data reveals some surprises.

The study, published Tuesday in the journal Environment International, assessed 30 cities and towns on nine health-related indicators, including air quality, heat and cold, UV radiation, access to green space and other factors. I’m here.

The results are summarized in a new Canadian Environmental Quality Index created by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Canada’s largest cities, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, scored relatively low, according to the study’s lead author, Dalhousie Professor Daniel Reinham, but in Toronto in particular, some of the areas or scored high.

Medium- and small-sized cities, including the Ontario cities of Victoria, London, Guelph, Barry, Kitchener, and Kingston in Sherbrooke, Queensland, scored the highest, while Halifax, Regina, and Moncton, New Jersey also made the top 10. I got the place.

One small city at the other end of the scale (Kelowna, British Columbia) scored lower than most large cities, but several of its areas scored at the top of the scale.

“It’s not an easy story to tell,” Rainham said in an interview. “The average may tell him one thing, but there’s a lot of variability in those cities.”

As an example, he said Toronto has some of the most unhealthy areas in Canada.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published on November 30, 2022.

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