In 2022, City Council approved Burlington’s first plan related to climate adaptation called Climate Resilient Burlington (CRB): A Plan for Adapting to Our Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather. The CRB plan includes a 10-year action plan with 32 actions identified under five themes to manage the highest risks to the City associated with our changing climate.
Climate adaptation is only one half of our climate work. The City also has two plans related to climate mitigation, or reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, including:
- The Corporate Energy and Emissions Management Plan with a target to achieve net carbon neutrality for City operations by 2040; and
- The Burlington Climate Plan: Taking Action to Reduce Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions with a community target for net carbon neutrality by 2050.
City staff report annually on the CRB plan’s progress and post the updates at burlington.ca/climatechange. The following are some initiatives highlighted in the fourth annual update report for the 2025 calendar year:
Infrastructure Design and Lifecycle Management
Burlington’s 2025 Asset Management Plan (PWS-30-25) aligns with the Climate Resilient Burlington plan identifying natural assets, flood mitigation and green infrastructure as future focus areas and commits to continuous integration of climate goals. Some ‘green’ assets are included in the 2025 Asset Management Plan (stormwater management ponds, oil and grit separators, a rain garden, creek infrastructure including erosion control features and the urban forest). Green assets help protect the natural environment by mimicking the natural water cycle and providing additional stormwater control, filtration, and infiltration
City staff began working with a design professional to help update the City’s Urban Tree Standard to achieve healthier street trees and enhanced tree canopies.
A consultant was awarded a contract to develop Burlington’s first comprehensive Stormwater Master Plan due in 2027.
With a $1 million investment through Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program, Skyway Community Centre and Arena, which opened in 2025, was built with a low carbon design (no natural gas) incorporating ice plant heat recovery, a geothermal system, a fully electric, zero emission ice resurfacer, and the future potential (for weight and electrical infrastructure) for solar roofing panels.
Flood Management
Work continues on the Burlington Beach Regional Waterfront Park, a 20-year master plan approved in 2015. Phase One, Shoreline Protection and Ecological Restoration, received $995,000 over four years from Canada Water Agency’s Great Lakes Freshwater Ecosystem Initiative in July 2025 to help restore two kilometers of shoreline and dune ecosystems at three areas (Wind Beach, the Strand, and Cobble Beach). Detailed beach restoration planning and designs are underway with construction planned for 2027-2029.
In 2025, three flood studies and five creek rehabilitation projects were ongoing, and the City began a Flood Hazard Mitigation and Infrastructure Improvements study in Aldershot and Appleby MTSAs using the Housing Accelerator Fund to support future growth.
The New Street Bridge Replacement at Tuck Creek project, to replace the existing bridge with a wider span concrete bridge structure designed to improve the creek channel hydraulics and increase flow capacity, began in 2025 and should be completed by Fall 2026.
A second Specialist, Community Emergency Management staff position was added in 2025. A flood-specific public education campaign was completed in 2025.
Service Disruption
In 2025, a drainage on-call program was initiated to provide a quicker response to heavy rainfall events. The program runs from April to November with two on-call staff per week that can respond, maintain, and inspect flooding issues during large rainfalls.
The City’s grid pruning program annual budget was $945K in 2025, helping to close the gap on the funding shortfall required to achieve a seven-year pruning cycle from the previous eight-year cycle. A Standard Operating Procedure, which will also inform response times based on risk level, was drafted in 2025 and will be finalized in 2026.
The City has three Emergency Operations Centre locations and an evacuation centre for emergencies; two of which can serve as population shelters if needed.
The City has 15 generators to provide back-up power for City of Burlington facilities’ critical infrastructure and ensure business continuity.
Tree Management
The Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) includes Action 16.2 to ‘establish a five-year young tree structural pruning cycle for new plantings.’ This program began in 2025 and will continue annually for five years after planting.
The Forestry standby program continued with City staff and a supervisor on standby between April 1 and Nov. 30, 2025, to address a tree failure, storm event, etc. In the off-season, staff are put on standby if significant winds are forecast (about three to four times a year).
In March 2025, the Significant Tree Maintenance Rebate Pilot program launched to help residents maintain established trees on their property. The pilot program subsidized residents up to 50 percent of tree-related maintenance costs to a maximum of $1,000 per tree.
In December 2025, the Public Tree Bylaw was updated with a more efficient framework that aligns with the Private Tree Bylaw and modern practices.
Natural Area Management
In 2025, 1,421 trees were planted on municipal right of ways and manicured parks, and 5,948 small stock trees were planted at community events and given away (i.e. Spring tree giveaway).
Planting and invasive species removal projects; stream, riparian and land restoration projects; and site visits completed by Conservation Halton staff in Burlington.
Annual road closure for the mating passage of the endangered Jefferson salamanders resumed.
BurlingtonGreen carried out the following activities:
- Coordination/execution of three educational community tree planting/care projects with 802 trees and shrubs planted comprised of 35 different species; co-design of new information signs at community tree planting sites
- Three educational, skill-building invasive plant removal workshops with about 500 plants removed
- Provided biodiversity-focused educational programming (pollinator teaching garden, bird-friendly window demonstration at the Pump House, monarch butterfly display, hands-on seed ball activities, guided bird walk, local birding webinar, invasive plant removal workshops, pollinator seed packets giveaways, native plant sale)
- Eight month long educational shoreline litter and microplastics clean-ups
Extreme Heat and Health
Port Nelson Park and Skyway Park incorporated shade and opportunities for cooling.
The MyHEAT Thermal Map was promoted to allow Burlington residents to view a heat loss map of their home, alongside income eligible home energy retrofit programs such as the Energy Affordability Program and Home Winterproofing Program.
Community Capacity Building
Flooding prevention communications continued in 2025 through the flood preparedness webpage, City social media posts, and Take Action Burlington blog posts:
BurlingtonGreen continued with their city-wide 200,000 eco-actions by 2030 campaign promoting and tracking local action on climate mitigation and adaptation, and ran community awareness campaigns on climate related facts and local solutions through outreach services and online campaigns.
Citizen and Business Support Programs
In 2025, $76K in building permit fees were waived through Burlington’s Plumbing Permit Fee Grant Program, and 252 subsidies were provided through the Halton Region’s Enhanced Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy Program.
In September 2025, Halton Region approved the enhanced Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy Program increasing the maximum eligible rebate amount and backdating to the July 15, 2024, flood. A new program – Exterior Storm Drain Disconnection – was also added.
Agriculture
In July 2025, the Burlington Agricultural Action Plan (DGM-47-25) was approved by City Council. Planning staff are working with the Burlington Agricultural and Rural Affairs Advisory Committee to develop recommendations on which actions should be prioritized for short- and medium-term implementation.
Eight more community garden plots were added to the overall inventory in 2025.
International Climate Reporting
In 2025, the City of Burlington reported through the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). The City received all mitigation and adaptation badges through GCoM in 2022 and 2023 respectively. In January 2026, the Burlington was recognized on CDP’s 2025 A List of Climate Leadership.
Take Action Burlington! Our climate is changing. Let’s work together to manage the risks associated with our changing climate. Collectively, we can make a difference.
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