Edmonton, Calgary rank dead last on environmental scorecard
Posted November 30, 2022 4:06 pm.
Edmonton is Canada’s least healthy city, according to a new environmental scorecard.
The study, published Tuesday in the journal Environment International, rates 30 of the country’s largest cities and towns on nine indicators.
Those indicators are related to health, including air quality, heat and cold waves, ultraviolet radiation, and access to green spaces.
The results were compiled in the new Canadian Environmental Quality Index, produced by Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Edmonton scored the lowest with a mark of 42 out of 100.
Calgary was second last at 47.5.
Other major cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver also fared poorly.
The top cities were London, Ont., and Guelph, Ont., with scores of 68.
The study focused on towns and cities with populations near or over 100,000.
Other factors: proximity to vegetation, water
The study took into account the amount of green vegetation in each neighbourhood. That’s important because studies show a link between good health and being close to nature. The same correlation is true for those who live close to the water, another factor measured in the study.
Researchers also measured the proximity of residents to fuel-fired power plants, and the length of roads in each neighbourhood. But there is nothing about noise or water quality because Canada does a poor job of collecting such data.
Aside from Canada’s five largest cities, the bottom of the list in descending order includes the Quebec communities of Gatineau, Quebec City,
Trois-Rivieres and Chicoutimi, as well as Milton, Ont., Abbotsford, B.C., Saskatoon and Kelowna in 28th place. Calgary and Edmonton are in the basement.
In the middle of the pack in descending order are Winnipeg, St. John’s, Hamilton, Ottawa and the Ontario cities of Windsor, St. Catharines and Oshawa.
—With files from The Canadian Press
