Over the last year, more municipalities in Ontario have published reports indicating their position on banning gas-powered outdoor equipment. Not all of them are saying a ban is the right way to go. Landscape Ontario has been there from the beginning to make sure our members are represented in the discussions that directly affect them.

Most recently, the City of Ottawa released their report, which provided an overview of the Public Works Department’s (PWD) plan to transition small gas-powered equipment to electric. The report outlines several key areas where staff have studied how the City of Ottawa’s Public Works Department is currently managing.

The final recommendations from staff are “to continue to document the durability and serviceability of equipment, test equipment from a range of manufacturers, and monitor the progress of technology by conducting annual market scans. Staff will continue to gather data on the life cycle of battery-operated equipment currently in use.”

The key areas City of Ottawa staff studied as part of this report are very much the same key areas Landscape Ontario has been monitoring and documenting over the past year. We are working closely with municipalities pursuing a ban of gas-powered outdoor equipment like the City of Toronto. We are also working with municipalities who are exploring what a transition from gas-powered outdoor equipment to battery-powered would look like, including London and Oakville.

With each municipality we meet with, we discuss key areas to consider when looking at phasing out or even banning gas-powered outdoor equipment, through the lens of reducing emissions and in some cases working toward zero emissions.

The City of Toronto was the first to vote in favour of pursuing a ban of two-stroke engine gas-powered equipment. The report city staff presented to council focused on working toward zero emissions with the types of equipment that produced the most harmful emissions. After learning about the report and when it was being presented, I registered to delegate at a City of Toronto Council meeting. There, I outlined where we are in terms of readiness to make the transition, cost for new equipment and batteries, cost for charging infrastructure and overall willingness to transition to battery-powered outdoor equipment. It was following my delegation that City Council moved to implement a public relations strategy to help residents of Toronto to better understand the benefits of battery-powered outdoor equipment. For now, the City of Toronto has paused their push to ban two-stroke engine powered equipment.

At the end of the day, the landscape horticulture trades and municipal governments across Ontario really do want the same end result. Together, we want to do right by our environment. Together, we want to lessen the dependence on fossil fuels.

Our work continues as we follow the progress of those municipalities who are studying what bans and phase outs will look like in the future. It is our role as the premier landscape horticulture trades association in Ontario to lead the way. We remain at the forefront of important discussions.

Landscape Ontario continues to support the work of the municipalities in Ontario by providing them with our insight into the landscape horticulture trades. By doing so, we remain at the table in a supportive and collaborative way.

If you’re not being faced with a ban on gas-powered equipment in the municipalities you currently work in, you are seeing first hand the value in membership with the Landscape Ontario Horticultural Trades Association.

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