Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is disappointed after the Ontario government ended a 15-year-old policy that required new buildings in the city to have a green roof, while one expert warns the decision could bring harsh consequences for residents.
The City of Toronto has confirmed to Now Toronto on Wednesday that it no longer has the authority to enforce its Green Roof Bylaw as of Nov. 3. The legislation allowed the municipality to require new building constructions in the city to include a green roof, with sizes varying based on buildings’ sizes.
According to the city, the decision was first announced as part of the Ontario Government’s Bill 60: Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, a controversial legislation that aims to support faster infrastructure construction in the province. However, the decision to end the bylaw has been officially enacted through an Order in Council (OIC) signed by Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont last Thursday.
OICs are used by governments in Canada to create and approve legislation without a formal Parliament discussion, according to the Government of Canada’s website.
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Toronto became the first city in North America to adopt legislation requiring green roofs in 2009. Since then, the bylaw has supported $50 million worth of design and construction related to green roofs, with more than 1,200 installations across the city.
“The Green Roof Bylaw delivered environmental benefits, provided a construction standard that ensured green roofs are built to a high level of safety and supported an Eco-Roof Incentive Program that helped existing buildings manage heat and stormwater while adding to the biodiversity and beauty of the city,” City of Toronto Senior Communications Advisor Christy Abraham told Now Toronto on Tuesday.
According to Abraham, some of the environmental benefits of the bylaw include:
- Diversion of nearly 550 million litres of rain water annually, which is equivalent to 200 Olympic pools;
- Annual reduction of energy consumption by 12,100 MWh, which is equivalent to powering 430 homes;
- Annual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 12,100 MWh, which is equivalent to removing 500 cars from the streets.
Mayor Chow’s Press Secretary Braman Thillainathan tells Now Toronto that the mayor is disappointed with the Ford government’s decision to end the bylaw, highlighting that in addition to offering environmental benefits, the legislation also helped the city control costs.
“Green roofs also reduce pressure on property taxes by easing the load on the City’s stormwater system, cutting infrastructure costs, and helping prevent flooding,” she said in an email to Now Toronto on Wednesday.
EXPERT WARNS OF CONSEQUENCES
The mayor was not the only one disappointed by the decision. Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) Campaign Director Sarah Buchanan tells Now Toronto that the decision could also bring concerning consequences for the city’s residents.
As explained by Buchanan, green roofs are building roofs covered in any kind of natural green elements, from grass to shrubs to full gardens. These structures are helpful in absorbing rain water and heat, protecting the city from flooding and extreme temperatures.
“The benefits of that are fantastic. They help absorb storm water. They help create cool air right at the top, where a lot of the air for air conditioning systems is getting sucked into the building and, and they also help avoid that urban heat island effect from a whole lot of black roofs being up,” she said.
Toronto has been feeling the effects of climate change, with multiple weather alerts for extreme heat over the summer, and recent heavy rainfalls that left the city flooded and thousands without power.
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According to Buchanan, the decision to stop enforcing mandatory green roofs could worsen climate change effects that are already critical in the city.
“The Green Roof Bylaw has been around absorbing flood water, cooling buildings for over 15 years. During that whole time, climate change has been getting worse. So, to suddenly take it away when things are getting worse is going to remove an important protection that has been here in our city already working,” she said.
“It’s one thing to say you can’t put in place this future protection against the impacts of climate change. It’s another thing to say you can’t continue to use this protection that has been in place for over 15 years that no one is yelling and screaming about.”
The TEA has recently published a fielded poll made with Abacus Data, revealing that 92 per cent of 2,000 surveyed Torontonians support local government’s requirements that can make buildings safer from extreme weather effects.
“It’s baffling to me. It’s anti-science, and it will make life worse in this city, and it’ll remove an important protection from the impacts of climate change, which are getting worse every summer,” Buchanan said.
Meanwhile, the city says creating sustainable construction remains a priority, saying that it will continue to include green roofs in its own new buildings, including the York Civic Centre, Gladstone Library and Toronto Botanical Gardens.
“The City also continues to encourage the development industry to invest in buildings with green roofs, which not only make good design sense but make Toronto more resilient to the impacts of future weather,” Abraham said.
