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Today we issued a joint statement alongside fellow members of the Urban Climate Alliance, a network of four Ontario-based local environmental organizations. We offer it as a set of political priorities to meet the urgent moment we all find ourselves in, at a time when the transition to an equitable, affordable, and resilient green economy for all has never been more necessary.
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The Green Economy: A Powerful Counter to Trump’s Tariffs
Investments in sustainability and green energy will not only protect Canadians from American tariffs, they’ll put us on course for a more resilient future.
Over the past few months, the Trump White House has raised tariffs, defunded science, and created massive economic and political uncertainty across the world. Canada is vulnerable to these changes. 77% of Canadian exports go to the US and 50% of our imports come from there. By contrast, the US imports just 14% from Canada, and only 18% of their exports go north of the border. The bulk of Canadian exports are oil, vehicles and car parts, and metals for the American market.
In order to build resilience and diversify away from our reliance on the United States, communities across Canada must accelerate the Green Transition, move away from fossil fuels that heat our planet and agitate global conflicts around the world, and build a strong green economy in sync with countries that are greening their own economies around the world. Proposals to achieve economic resilience by building more pipelines to export oil and gas to rapidly decarbonizing markets will only further lock us into fossil fuel dependency and make Canadian exports less attractive in markets like Europe and the United Kingdom.
An accelerated transition will create good, green, sustainable jobs that will strongly position Canadian workers in the modern world economy. Imagine unionized workers manufacturing clean technology and electric vehicles, buses, and trains for green transit and transportation; tradespeople building new green buildings and retrofitting existing buildings to operate off local clean energy; and transportation workers operating transit and rail systems to deliver people and goods to communities across the country. Estimates show that the transformation into a green economy could add 400,000 new jobs.
Converting Canada into a truly green economy will make us less dependent on the United States, make our goods and services more attractive to markets like Europe and Asia that are quickly greening their economies, and position Canadian workers more strongly in the modern economy of a changing world.
In order to get there, we must:
1. Accelerate the Green Energy Transition
Green energy like solar, wind, and battery storage are now the cheapest forms of electricity in human history. These technologies consume no fuel and produce almost no waste. They can therefore be placed directly inside local communities without producing poisonous air or climate pollution. Public subsidies should be made to support community- and Indigenous-owned renewable energy production and storage. Building regulations must be adjusted to make the installation of solar and battery power easier. And local and national smart electricity grids should be constructed in order to build resilience in those grids.
2. Green Our Buildings
Green buildings consume far fewer (or zero) fossil fuels that cause climate change while being significantly cheaper to operate. We need to retrofit buildings to take them off of oil and gas. Meanwhile, buildings must also be protected from extreme weather events like heat, floods, and forest fire smoke. We need strong green building standards for both new and existing buildings. We also need more robust subsidies for decarbonization, energy efficiency, and to ensure buildings are protected from extreme weather. Buildings account for 18% of Canada’s total emissions, and as high as 56% of emissions in cities like Toronto. Decarbonizing buildings and using heat pumps rather than burning gas will increase affordability while decreasing reliance on erratic world fuel prices.
3. Fund Public Transportation and Build High Speed Rail
There is an urgent need to provide better transportation options than car ownership which, in an ever worsening cost of living crisis, saddles people with $16,000 a year in expenses on average. With Trump’s tariffs, the price of cars will only increase. In major municipalities, private vehicles can be responsible for a third or more of local emissions.* We need deep, federal and provincial capital and operational funding for community level public transportation and sustainable inter-city travel. The recently announced high speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City will create new green jobs while providing convenient, low-emission travel for half the Canadian population. Expanding the line to Windsor, and funding a sister project between Edmonton/Calgary and Winnipeg, would cover an additional quarter of the population. Building and operating public transit and intercity rail will help Canada’s industrial workforce that has decades of experience building trains, buses, and streetcars. And it will make travel more cost effective for millions across Canada.
4. Green Canada’s Industries
In order to maximize the attractiveness of our goods and services to international trade partners like those in Europe and Asia, Canada must rededicate itself to meet strong international industrial climate and environmental standards. For example, in order for Canada’s steel industry to diversify its markets into Europe, the industry would need to meet European Union environmental standards or become subject to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment, which starting in 2026 will place fees on imports that do not meet European environmental standards. The United Kingdom is expected to implement its own Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism starting in 2027.
5. Emphasize Local Circular Economies
Local circular economies, focused on reducing, reusing, recycling and composting, create up to 50 times more jobs than sending the materials to landfill or incinerator. They also build local resilience by keeping materials and resources circulating locally, reducing the impact and cost of imports and exports and disruptions in international supply chains and from climate-related disasters. Tariffs will negatively impact people with low and moderate incomes already priced out of basic goods. Rather than depend on American imports, Amazon deliveries, or price-gouging grocery giants like Loblaws, governments at all levels must invest in local resiliency. Governments, with their procurement policies, must lead by including criteria for decarbonization, circular materials, and community benefits.
Additionally, national Right to Repair laws, rules limiting plastics and single use, and reusability mandates must be developed to complement community efforts such as repair cafes, swap meets, and urban farming. Together, these actions would reduce exposure to supply chain shocks while also extending the life of consumer goods, divert landfill waste, and provide healthy, affordable food while supporting local communities and local jobs.
Signatories:
Toronto Environmental Alliance
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*For example, 35% of Toronto’s local emissions comes from transportation. In Peel Region, 41% comes from transportation.
