City councillors welcomed Ottawa’s latest Green Fleet Strategy, which staff predict could drop greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from city vehicles 93 per cent by 2040, compared with 2012 levels.
The strategy aims to move the City of Ottawa vehicle fleet, including ambulances, fire trucks, cars, and snowplows, to low carbon and zero-emission options by 2040. This is aligned with the City’s Climate Change Master Plan which includes a 100 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040 from 2012 levels.
And, Neil Grandy, the manager of fleet maintenance and technical services says, the strategy will also result in savings for the city.
“There’s less overall maintenance costs for [electric vehicles], as well you’re going to save on fuel costs” said Grandy during a recent Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting.
Grandy said the green fleet plan will not require additional spending beyond the “baseline” of what the city spends on vehicle maintenance and procurement. The report included potential cost-savings of $6.52 million compared to the “business as usual” costs.
At the end of the staff presentation, some councillors applauded and Beacan Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierny gave a standing ovation.
“That was terrific!” he exclaimed.
The Green Fleet plan is separate from OC Transpo transition to electric buses. Grandy said the city owns 2,815 vehicles, 251 of which are electric or hybrid.
The plan includes a transition to electric vehicles that are powered by the electricity grid, and fuel-cell electric vehicles that are powered by hydrogen.
City staff highlighted the importance of an agile strategy that allows for changes in technology and the economy over the next 15 years.
Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Jessica Bradley raised concerns about reliability for heavier vehicles, such as snowplows.
“We would never, just out of principal, transition a vehicle to a technology that would not meet the overall operational need,” Grandy replied
“We would continue to work with partners to make sure that we’re testing and trialing equipment.”
Riverside South-Findlay Creek Coun. Steve Desroches raised concern about supply chains if American tariffs come into effect.
The city has a plan to buy more local supplies and services to combat tariffs.
“We have a really close pulse on the outcome of tariffs, the outcome and impacts on the very integrated and complex supply chain so that will be part of my regular updates as we move forward,” said Grandy.
Desroches concluded by thanking staff for their focus on agility in this report.
“We’re going to need a lot of agility because if we get into some really dark days because the economy is essentially wrecked because of tariffs or very unfriendly policies of the United States, there’s going to be some real pressures on this strategy to come up with the products that we’re talking about,” he said
A component of the strategy is hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (HFCV), which is a technology that is still developing. In Canada, Edmonton has a pilot project for hydrogen-fueled buses that started in 2023.
Laila Gibbons, the director of fleet services, emphasized the importance of HFCVs for heavy duty vehicles in the fleet, such as snowplows, and for rural areas that might not have the electricity capacity necessary for a fleet of electric vehicles.
The green fleet strategy includes two hydrogen plants and refueling facilities to be built by 2036 to make HFCVs possible in Ottawa.
The committee approved the strategy and the report recommendation to direct staff to complete a review of the strategy within five years. This will be considered at a later meeting of the City Council.
