Climate Budget
What is a Climate Budget?
The City of Saskatoon has a target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Addressing climate change is embedded in the City’s Draft Strategic Plan 2026-2029, with “environment” identified as one of ten City Council priority areas.
Climate budgeting is an approach to carbon or greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting the City first applied to the 2024-2025 Multi-Year Business Plan and Budget (MYBB). The Climate Budget identifies short-term funding requirements to meet the City’s GHG emissions reduction targets and actions outlined in the Low Emissions Community Plan (LEC Plan) and Corporate Climate Adaptation Strategy (Adaptation Strategy). Through the Climate Budget, the City can integrate climate considerations into short-term planning and investment decisions as part of the MYBB.
2026-2027 Climate Budget
The 2026-2027 Climate Budget (Climate Budget) considers both the capital investments expected to reduce GHG emissions relative to the City’s business-as-planned (BAP) emissions scenario (climate mitigation) and those expected to increase resiliency to the impacts of a changing climate (climate adaptation) by identifying:
- Investment requirements and GHG reduction implications for all LEC Plan-related actions;
- Investment requirements and GHG implications for any other project expected to result in GHG reductions; and
- Projects expected to result in an activity, product, or service that builds City or community resilience to the anticipated impacts of a changing climate.
The Climate Budget estimates the cumulative GHG reductions of City investments since 2020 and identifies the resulting gap between the impact of those projects and the community-wide GHG emissions target for the 2026-2027 budget cycle.
The total budget identified in the 2026-2027 MYBB for funded GHG reduction projects is $77.31M, with unfunded projects valued at $0.61M. These totals include 6 GHG reduction projects that could be quantified (5 funded, 1 unfunded), 15 that could not be quantified (14 funded, 1 unfunded), and 9 that lay the foundation for future GHG reductions (7 funded, 2 unfunded). Fifteen of the GHG reduction projects also relate to climate resilience. An additional 11 projects relate exclusively to climate resilience. Of those 11 projects, the total budget identified for funded climate resiliency projects is valued at $137.85M, with unfunded projects valued at $2.33M.
| Type of Project | # of Projects | 2026-2027 Climate Cost Budget | GHG Reduction at Build-out (tCO2e) | Examples |
| FUNDED | 35 | $215.16M | 6,300 | |
| Quantified GHG Reductions | 5 | $16.53M | 6,300 | Co-generation system at WWTP, multi-unit residential organics program, solar PV panels at civic facilities |
| Non-quantified GHG Reductions | 14 | $58.61M | N/A | Bus rapid transit, landfill gas wellfield restoration, tree planting programs |
| Lays the Foundation for GHG Reductions | 7 | $2.17M | N/A | Greener Together Program, implement the Zero Emission Vehicle Adoption Roadmap, waste reduction initiatives |
| Climate Resilience | 9 | $137.85M | N/A | Implement the Urban Forest Management Plan, storm water retention pond maintenance, Food Action Plan |
| UNFUNDED | 6 | $2.94M | <100 | |
| Quantified GHG Reductions | 1 | $0.19M | <100 | Solar PV panels at civic facilities |
| Non-quantified GHG Reductions | 1 | $0.21M | N/A | Green burial sites at Woodlawn Cemetery |
| Lays the Foundation for GHG Reductions | 2 | $0.22M | N/A | Home energy education programs |
| Climate Resilience | 2 | $2.33M | N/A | Implement the natural and naturalized areas portfolio, improve capacity for winter roadways materials |
| TOTAL | 41 | $218.10M | 6,300 |
Cumulative GHG Impact of Projects, 2020-2027
The projected cumulative impact of GHG reduction investments initiated and/or funded since 2020 is 54,200 tCO2e. This can be thought of as the return on investment – in terms of GHG reductions – of projects funded since 2020 (i.e., since development of the LEC Plan). The values in the table below reflect the estimated GHG reductions at full implementation; these are the GHG reductions the City is expecting to realize – from investments committed during these periods – when the projects are fully operational. The sum of all GHG reduction project investments identified in the table represents 25% of the LEC Plan modelled GHG reduction target of 217,100 tCO2e by 2027. In other words, investments in GHG reduction initiatives resulting in 162,900 tCO2e reductions (i.e., the remaining 75%) would be required to meet the GHG reduction target for 2027 as established in the LEC Plan.
| Years | # of Projects | GHG Reductions (tCO2e) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-2023 | 9 | 45,600 |
| 2024-2025 | 5 | 2,300 |
| 2026-2027 | 6 | 6,300 |
| Totals | 20 | 54,200 |
Climate Resilience
Project investments can also help build City and community resilience to climate change, such as modifying City work to take future climate projections into account, helping residents adapt to hotter summer temperatures, and protecting homes against flooding.
The updated Climate Action Plan (anticipated in June 2026) will include a climate risk assessment that considers the potential impacts of climate change in Saskatoon, including risks to the City of Saskatoon as a corporation and to the community of Saskatoon as a whole. The risks are based on local climate projections. A preliminary climate risk assessment is available for reference.
The Costs of Climate Change
- Costs of Climate Change on the Prairies – ClimateWest (March 2023)
- The Costs of Climate Change – Canadian Climate Institute
Climate Budget Principles & Policy
The Climate Budget principles are established in Council Policy C03-036:
- Alignment with existing GHG reduction targets and the LEC Plan.
- Integration with financial budgeting system.
- Transparency around how specific emission reduction projects are expected to impact emissions – every funded measure will have GHG projections estimated for it.
- Accountability for the City and each department – the expectation is that every business unit is responsible for our collective goal. Each action will have a department assigned to it for the corresponding financial budget cycle.
- Time-bound to ensure actions start now – implementation plans based on the LEC Plan actions and additional strategies will determine which actions should be implemented and funded for each budget cycle.