# **Montreal**

|**Initiatives from the city hall**|**Initiatives**<br>**from**<br>**the**<br>**private sector**<br>**University based initiatives**|**Other initiatives**|
|---|---|---|
|As part of the first strategic plan on<br>sustainable<br>development<br>of<br>Montreal<br>community, the City Hall created a set of<br>indicators to see how various elements of<br>the environment are performing. Years<br>1999 - 2003 were established as the base<br>line. From then, since 2006 each year a<br>new survey will take place to be able to<br>analyze<br>improvements<br>and<br>failures<br>according to the established policy. The<br>framework includes twenty indicators<br>divided into four categories: a) improve air<br>quality and reduce gas emissions, b) ensure<br>good residential environments, c) practice<br>responsible resource management, d) adopt<br>good sustainable development practices in<br>companies, institutions and stores.<br>Urban observatory of Montreal is a group<br>within the City Hall dedicated to provide<br>data about the city. At the Internet is<br>published a report that compares Montreal<br>with other North American. However the<br>date of the report is 2003, therefore we<br>may conclude that the exercise did not<br>continue or that the last result were not<br>meant to be published.<br>http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/urb_dem<br>o/chiffres/chiffres2.htm|**The Montreal Urban Indicators System Project**<br>Urban Ecology is a private institution that has worked on a system of urban indicators that<br>may be used to assess the progress of the City of Montreal toward a sustainable future. The<br>indicators are grouped under 11 key heading: Air Quality, Surface Water Quality,<br>Biodiversity, Energy, Water Consumption, Domestic Waste Management, Transportation,<br>Housing Affordability, Community Health, Public Participation and Economic Viability. In<br>each case, the document focuses on why the issue important, specific concerns for Montreal<br>and presents data to support observations concerning: where we were, where we are and<br>where we want to be.<br>The project was a team effort that involved many participants associated with the School of<br>Urban Planning, McGill University and the Urban Ecology Center<br>It is hoped that this work will contribute to Montreal's effort to promote sustainable<br>development by:<br>1)<br>Facilitating educational activities pertaining to Montreal’s urban sustainability.<br>2)<br>Building a monitoring system which identifies and updates issues, uses indicators<br>along with targets and reports on annual progress.<br>3)<br>Recommending concrete practices at the city management and neighborhood levels.<br>**Neighbourhood indicators**<br>The report has five sections. The first section provides a brief introduction to the rationale for<br>devising and applying sustainability indicators at the neighborhood level and situates the role<br>that indicators might play within the Montreal context. The second section offers an overview<br>of the nature of sustainability indicators and the processes that are used to identify indicators<br>for a specific neighborhood. In the third section, the presentations of participants from<br>Calgary and Baltimore who have significant experience in neighborhood indicator programs,<br>and a representative of the Milton-Park community are summarized. In section 4, a<br>preliminary list of indicators identified by workshop participants is presented. Finally, section<br>5 indicates the "next steps" for the project. The workshop agenda, as well as the names of<br>presenters,organizers,andparticipants are listed in the appendices.|The Institute of Statistics of Quebec<br>has a set or**indicators**that deal with<br>cities within the province.<br>http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/princ_in<br>dic/publications/indicat.pdf<br>It is important to mention that<br>various researchers have point out<br>the lack of accurate measures that<br>indicates<br>the<br>progress<br>of<br>sustainability in Quebec’s major<br>cities.<br>http://www.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/devel<br>oppement/2004-<br>2007/memoires/0311/415-denis-<br>dore.pdf|
||Villes Régions Monde (VRM) World City Region is<br>an urban research interuniversity network promoting<br>research, training in the field as well as its diffusion.<br>However, the network does not refer directly to indicators.<br>**http://www.vrm.ca/presentation.asp**||

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