Census of Environment: Urban greenness, 2024
Released: 2024-11-21
Canadian cities and towns were greener in the summer of 2024 compared with one year earlier, mostly due to less severe drought conditions across the country.
"Urban greenness" is a measure that assesses the condition and health of an urban landscape. Vegetation contributes to more livable, beautiful communities by helping to clean the air, moderate the local climate, control water flow and provide habitats for wildlife, including mammals, insects and birds.
In the summer of 2024, just over three-quarters (75.6%) of the land area of 1,016 population centres across Canada was classed as green, up slightly from 74.1% in the summer of 2023.
In the summer of 2024, Atlantic Canada had the greenest cities and towns in the country, while population centres in the Prairies had the lowest levels of greenness. These regional differences reflect geographical climate patterns and their effects on natural vegetation.
Chart 1
Urban greenness, all population centres, by province, summer of 2024
Based on satellite imagery analysis, large urban population centres that were the greenest in the summer of 2024 were Kanata, Ontario (96.6%); St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (95.5%); Saint-Jérôme, Quebec (94.7%); Gatineau, Quebec (94.2%); and Sherbrooke, Quebec (92.0%).
Cities across the country are greener in the summer of 2024 due to less severe drought conditions compared to the summer of 2023
More than two-thirds (70.3%) of the land area of Canada's large urban population centres was classed as green in the summer of 2024, up from 68.1% in the summer of 2023. The largest increase occurred in Saskatchewan, where the average vegetation greenness score rose 9.6 percentage points from one year earlier to 50.4%.
Year over year, urban greenness rose in four of the five largest cities in the Prairie provinces in the summer of 2024, with Saskatoon (+22.1 percentage points to 46.0%) showing the largest increase. In contrast, Edmonton's urban greenness score dropped 9.6 percentage points to 44.2%.
Urban greenness increased in all the largest cities of Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and British Columbia from one year earlier, with the exceptions of Saint-Jérôme, Quebec (-0.7 percentage points to 94.7%) and Victoria, British Columbia (-0.9 percentage points to 84.5%).
Year over year, urban greenness rose in 9 of the 14 largest cities in Ontario, with Milton having the largest increase (+7.5 percentage points to 53.3%).
Urban greenness has declined since the year 2000
Overall, the long-term trend shows a decrease in urban greenness in Canada from 2000 to 2024.
Both urban expansion and densification can result in reductions in the quantity and quality of green areas in population centres. For example, built-up area on the periphery of cities and towns grew by over 370 km2 from 2010 to 2020.
Average urban greenness has fallen by 8.0 percentage points nationally when comparing the most recent five-year period (2020 to 2024) to the baseline period (2000 to 2004).
Urban greenness declined in every province and every major urban area over this period, with the largest drops seen in Canada's large urban population centres (-10.4 percentage points from the 2000-to-2004 average to the current five-year average).
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Note to readers
Data for two urban greenness measures by population centre are now available from 2000 to 2024 in table 38-10-0158-01. These measures provide information on the condition of urban ecosystems as part of Statistics Canada's Census of Environment program.
Geospatial files and metadata are also now available. These files cover two urban greenness measures (average Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and green/grey classification) annually for each year from 2000 to 2024.
Both greenness measures were computed from the NDVI. Weekly NDVI images from satellite imagery from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) during peak summer conditions (Julian weeks 26 to 34, approximately late-June to late-August) were averaged to provide a measure of vegetation condition for each year for the same physical area using the 2021 population centre boundary to ensure consistency. Population centres have a population of at least 1,000 and a population density of 400 people or more per square kilometre, based on population counts from the Census of Population. MODIS imagery was available for population centres south of 60°N only.
The average NDVI is the average of all pixel NDVI values. The urban "green" class defined in this analysis corresponds to areas with an average NDVI greater than or equal to 0.5, representing areas that are predominantly vegetated. Areas with average NDVI values less than 0.5 are considered "grey" and are largely non-vegetated, though patches of grass, shrubs, crops or other unhealthy/poor condition vegetation will be included. Water pixels were excluded from the analysis.
Long-term and temporary changes in greenness can be linked to urbanization processes, including urban expansion and densification, as well as to the addition or maturing of vegetation and to natural factors such as drought, fire, pests or disease.
Statistics Canada's Census of Environment program reports on ecosystems in Canada, providing information to help Canadians make evidence-based decisions to protect and enhance the environment. The program follows the internationally accepted environmental-economic standard for producing information on ecosystems' extent, their condition and the services they provide.
For more information, see "Canadian System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounts (5331)."
Products
The products "Urban greenness: Geospatial files" and "Urban greenness: Data product specifications" are now available in Census of Environment: Spatial information products (16-510-X).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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