Mixed Environmental Progress Reviewed - Committee of the Whole Meeting - Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - 9:30 a.m. - City of Richmond Hill

Richmond Hill City Council received the city’s second Environmental Strategy Scorecard (2020–2024), which staff described as “an important tracking and communication tool for achieving our greening goals.” The scorecard reported gains including lower per-capita water use and increased tree canopy, alongside ongoing challenges such as rising chloride levels in Lake Wilcox and higher overall municipal emissions tied to Ontario’s electricity mix. Council also debated a proposal to stop publishing residents’ full addresses in public meeting records and instead list only ward numbers; the item was deferred for one week after the City Manager asked for time to return with a recommended approach on resources and process.

Topics Discussed

Environmental Progress and Challenges: Sustainability Coordinator Miles O’Brien presented the environmental scorecard covering 2020–2024. The report showed a 10% reduction in per-capita water use and tree canopy growth from 25% to 30% over the decade. It also reported a 64% increase in chloride levels in Lake Wilcox, attributed to road salt runoff. On emissions, Councillor Thompson pointed to a key finding: “Despite our efforts where we’ve got that 6% reduction in energy consumption, the total emissions actually increased by 2.6%, which if I understand correctly would be largely due to the more carbon-intensive provincial energy mix.” Staff also reported sustainable transportation mode share declining from 23% (2016) to 18.2% (2021). The scorecard noted the city’s waste diversion rate remains above 95%.

Climate Action and Provincial Dependencies: Council discussed how provincial factors affect local climate targets. One councillor said, “I don’t care. I’ll throw the province under the bus… we’re putting two feet forward, but we’re having to step back because of our partners here.” Another councillor questioned whether the city needs to escalate initiatives to stay on track: “if we’re going to meet our 2050 targets… do we have to start looking at how we prioritize what we do moving forward.” Staff outlined work underway, including a Climate Ready Homes pilot with TRCA and a Local Improvement Charges feasibility study expected in June to explore financing for deep home retrofits.

Tree Survival and Natural Heritage Protection: Deputy Mayor Gordon Chan raised concerns about whether newly planted trees are surviving, telling council residents have reported, “we went back and the trees are not healthy some might not actually survive.” Staff said monitoring includes “not only the planting planning but also the longevity and and the growth of them surviving.” Staff also described a Natural Heritage Strategy and Prioritization Tool intended to identify where additional plantings and restoration could occur: “It’s going to be looking at opportunities where we could do more plantings… what’s flora and fauna we’re protecting… where we could potentially get grants.” Councillor Shu said she was “happy to see” the city’s work on preserving and planting trees and said she wanted to see continued protection of “sufficient green space for neighbors including those neighbors living in condominiums communities and higher density areas.”

Privacy Protection for Public Participation: Councillor Shu brought forward a motion to publish only ward numbers—rather than full addresses—for public delegates and correspondence writers, arguing that in a “digital environment it raises concern about the privacy breaches and even identity theft.” The City Clerk said staff already redact personal information from online records under existing authority: “my office… have put in place… a procedure to redact personal information from the online version of records.” The Clerk added that while there have been “suggestions that there is a general risk,” staff have had “no cases where that’s actually been implemented.”

Council also heard competing views about accountability in public submissions. One speaker argued, “I feel like the address gives legitimacy to the delegate and to the letter writer,” while another said, “I’m all for protecting residents, but I’m also for people being on the record to stand up for what they believe in.” Regional Councillor Depala supported the privacy change, warning, “Once AI has an ability to get an address everyone has the ability to get your address,” and adding, “The last thing we want to do is prevent people in Richmond Hill from coming forward.”

The City Manager asked council to defer the item so staff could return with a clearer plan: “I’d like to perhaps have it come back to staff… and come back to council next week with kind of a recommended approach for your consideration.” Council agreed to the one-week deferral.

Community Engagement Events: Councillor Thompson announced that “on Thursday, April the 30th, I will be hosting a community safety and well-being panel discussion,” with York Region Police, York Region Community Health Services, the city bylaw department, the Mayor, and fire and emergency services. Councillor Davidson promoted an upcoming event by describing the value of environmental work in personal terms: “It’s the difference between living in a concrete jungle and living in paradise. As far as I’m concerned.”

Motions

Passed: - Motion to receive Environmental Strategy Scorecard (File 11.2) for information, with comments referred to staff — Passed unanimously

Deferred: - Motion to publish only ward numbers instead of full addresses for public delegates and correspondence writers — Deferred one week for staff to return on resources and process

Attendees

Present: Deputy Mayor Gordon Chan; Councillor Thompson; Councillor Davidson; Councillor Shu; Councillor Leu; Councillor Leano; Councillor Tree; Regional Councillor Depala
Absent: Mayor West (trade mission in Germany)