Trends and results by ranking category:

1. Ecological Integrity:

Indicators which have the lowest average city score: GHG emission reduction (corporate and municipal), Green space

Indicators which have the highest average city score: water quality (source water protection plan in place, sewer and storm water separation)

• Less than 50 % of cities are on track to meet corporate ghg emission reduction targets.
• 5 of 17 cities do not have a municipal ghg emission reduction target currently in place.
• More than 50 % of cities that have a municipal target do not have current emission data available.
• Whitehorse and Montreal consume greater than two-times the average daily flow of water per person the average of all other cities in Canada (4-500 L), indicating incentive is low to conserve when a large source is accessible.
• Three-quarters of cities have less than 15 % green space in their urban area.
• Only 5 of 17 cities have achieved > 50 % residential waste diversion from landfill (i.e. via recycling).
• Approximately half of all cities do not have a plan specifically to deal with urban biodiversity issues.

2. Economic Security:

Indicator which has the lowest average city score: Household spending on shelter

Indicator which has the highest average city score: Low income households

• 40 % of cities analyzed allocate 20 % or more of their total household spending to shelter.
• The range of % of total household spending on shelter ranges from 16.1 % (Saint John) – 22.7 % (Yellowknife and Vancouver).
• Montreal’s average long-term debt per household is 10 x greater than Saskatoon’s average.
• The range of % low-income households before tax across all cities in the ranking is 14.2 % (Calgary) – 31.2 % (Montreal)

3. Governance and Empowerment:

Indicator which has the lowest average city score: Household garbage limit

Indicator which has the highest average city score: Education