The City of Stratford has committed to ambitious goals of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and has established interim targets for 2030 and 2040. The municipality aims to be a leader in environmental sustainability and climate action within the region, and the province of Ontario. With these goals in perspective, the city is applying two-pronged approach toward addressing environmental sustainability and focusing on mitigation and adaptation together to accelerate decarbonization and build community resilience to address climate change impacts. Striving to create complete communities, decarbonizing the existing building stock with retrofits, aiming for net zero new construction, exploring alternative modes of transportation for residents and tourists alike, enhancing communications around waste management and working with partners to are a few strategies being considered. Most recently, the municipality has hired expert staff to lead these initiatives using a climate lens throughout corporate and community-wide programs. Tourism has a significant impact on our community and drives economic growth. As an important partner in this process to embed sustainability within the tourism sector, Destination Stratford is championing sustainable initiatives to render Stratford as a low-carbon vacation destination. Our response to climate change is shaped by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Action 13- Climate Action. Guided by the County-wide Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan, the City is currently developing its Climate Action Plan tailored to the needs and requirements of Stratford – to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and work toward a healthy future for our communities.

Our newest meeting space is the LEED Gold Certified Tom Patterson Theatre, a sustainable event/meeting space. The Stratford Festival is embracing energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, environmental awareness through their supply chains, and amplifying this awareness to its patrons and the community. Stratford does not currently have a sustainable event program; however, we are actively pursuing opportunities to enhance our program offerings with minimal impact to the environment.

Our initial diversity, equity and inclusion project goals to engage and empower leaders within the Destination Stratford business, public and community catchment area to identify and dismantle personal and systemic racism and other biases within organizational structures, practices, and policies; and provide internal Destination Stratford board members and stakeholders access to learning experiences (skills, language, and tools) designed to understand how to identify and dismantle racism and bias, were completed as of May 2021. In 2022 and 2023, we collaboratively defined what it means to be a “welcoming community” and brought this definition to Stratford City Council for formal recognition to continue EDIAR awareness and action within our community, especially for our front-line tourism teams and residents. With the help of the community, the City of Stratford and Destination Stratford recently completed Stratford’s first Municipal Cultural Plan. The Municipal Cultural Plan offers guidance on the long-term and short-term growth of Stratford’s Cultural fabric and community and will knit together policies covering a wide range of areas and cultural sectors into a growth strategy that sets the city on a path towards its desired long-term vision. The 4 pathways that will be pursued are Strive for Creativity and Innovation, Celebrate Diversity and Support Inclusion, Instill Community Pride Through the Promotion of a Shared Authentic Identity, and Further Truth and Reconciliation. A local organization that is setting the pace for programming and support is the Stratford Public Library with their continuous awareness of women, IBPOC, 2LGBTQQIA+, and other equity-deserving members of our community. The City of Stratford has built new affordable housing, geared toward low-income individuals. Being commissioned as a high-performance building that embeds the principles of Passive House, this development as built will be healthy, climate-resilient, affordable, and energy-efficient. Passive House is a high-performance building standard that sharply reduces greenhouse gas emissions and provides resilient structures that can withstand extreme weather related to climate change- and that is how we are embracing equity in our future planning. To assist in many aspects that the City is considering implementing, Stratford City Council establishes Advisory Committees and Boards to fulfil various mandates and make recommendations to Council. Advisory Committees give advice and feedback to City Council on a variety of issues, including active transportation, accessibility, heritage, and the environment.