The city of Montreal should ban the installation of new stationary indoor appliances, including gas stoves, that use fossil fuels as soon as possible, says the City Council’s Commission on Water, Environment, Sustainable Development and Large Parks (New Window) in its report.
The Commission also recommends phasing out fossil fuel heating systems in existing buildings. In addition, the city should ban any new building on the city’s territory from being connected to a natural gas distribution network as soon as possible.
The commission was tasked by the city in October 2022 to organize a public consultation and make recommendations to make all buildings in Montreal zero-emissions by 2040. That promise was made by Mayor Valérie Plante at the Montreal climate summit last summer.
On the part of the Plante administration, we are pleased with the success of the consultation. However, the administration will take the time to analyze each recommendation before making a decision.
“At the last climate summit, we launched a major shift to accelerate the pace of ecological change. […] To achieve this, we decided to target a major emitter responsible for almost 30% of Montreal’s greenhouse gas emissions: our buildings. »
— A quote from Catherine Cadotte, senior press secretary in the office of Mayor Valérie Plante
The commission’s recommendations quickly found the support (new window) of the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (AQME), Greenpeace Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, Nature Québec, the Regroupement des Environmental Energy (ROEE) and SCFP-Québec.
[Nous tenons] welcome the recommendation to ban the connection of all new buildings to the gas network as soon as possible and to ban the installation of new stationary indoor appliances, including gas stoves. [Nous soulignons] also the Commission’s wish to plan the replacement of existing fossil-fuelled appliances with zero-emission appliances. According to a joint statement, this is an important step towards achieving the goals for zero-emission construction by 2040.
Énergir regrets the recommendations
The company Énergir, which holds a monopoly on the distribution of natural gas in Quebec, is of a completely different opinion. The company believes that if the city opts for the recommended bans, it would lose access to renewable natural gas as a clean energy source.
[La carboneutralité] is going through the phasing out of fossil natural gas, but also through a bouquet of energy solutions such as electrification, renewable natural gas and dual energy, the company said in an emailed statement. While one of the recommendations aims to ban certain types of devices rather than encourage renewable energy consumption, Montreal would deprive itself of the zero-emission solutions already available at a good price that allow for effective energy management at the summit.
Énergir is pleased to continue working with the City of Montreal and Hydro-Québec to achieve carbon neutrality in buildings.