City of Longueuil Community Sustainability Plan

Longueuil is the fifth largest city in Quebec and it intends on becoming a leader in the field of sustainability. It will thus begin preparing a Sustainable Development Plan (SDP) in order to reinforce the synergy between various sustainable development initiatives in progress and to provide its leaders with financial and fiscal tools and services that will help them achieve the objectives established by the community. Building on the principles of best sustainable development practices (e.g., The Natural Step), the SDP will help the municipality move towards sustainability and will act as a mobilization, coordination and apprenticeship tool. The process that is being proposed includes the creation of a community advisory committee and a permanent sustainable development advisory committee as well as a series of public consultations in order to ensure that the SDP is in keeping with the concerns of the community and that it integrates the various existing plans and policies. Sectors targeted by the SDP notably involve water and waste management, transportation, local ecological agriculture, brownfields and energy. Included in the deliverables are a sustainable development action plan, a sustainability-based financial framework and the creation of awareness-building, information and engagement tools. The SDP will act as a useful model for allowing a shift towards integrated eco-municipal practices in other municipalities, especially those within the same agglomeration as Longueuil and other cities in the first suburban rings of metropolitan areas that are faced with comparable problems.

(Project description from original funding application)