Item - 2025.IE21.4

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council express its continued support for the transition of City of Toronto owned gas-powered small engine equipment to zero-emission outdoor power equipment.

2. City Council express its continued support for the public promotion of the appropriate use of small engine equipment and sustainable yard care practices to encourage the transition to zero-emission outdoor power equipment by residents and businesses.

3. City Council request the Mayor to include the necessary funding for Recommendations 1 and 2 above, through future budget allocations as described in the Financial Impact Section of the report (April 23, 2025) from the Executive Director, Environment, Climate and Forestry.

4. City Council direct the City Manager to ensure that any of the new contracts for landscaping services on City-owned property specify that two-stroke gas-powered engines may not be used if zero-emission equipment is available.

5. City Council direct the Executive Director, Environment, Climate and Forestry to report back in 2027 on progress to transition City-owned equipment from two-stroke engine to electric, as well as an update on the communication campaign to encourage Toronto businesses and residents to choose quieter, zero emission equipment, with such report to include updated jurisdictional scan of other North American jurisdictions that are transitioning their internal operations to zero-emission outdoor power equipment or have enacted community restrictions or bans.

City Council has considered the issue of two-stroke engine use periodically over the past 25 years. Most recently, in July 2023 (2023.IE5.1), City staff brought forward a report that identified the potential negative impacts of two-stroke engine equipment on climate, health and noise and found that individually these impacts did not provide sufficient rationale for action to be taken to ban the use of two-stroke engines.

Staff identified two potential options to proceed and City Council chose to express its support for a ban on the use of gas-powered two-stroke engine equipment, such as leaf blowers and hedge trimmers, as a precaution against the cumulative adverse impacts to human health and climate from noise and air pollution. Staff were directed to identify the resources required to develop and implement a ban on use of two-stroke engine equipment and report back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee. This report responds to Council's direction and also incorporates information on actions that need to be undertaken by the City to show leadership in the transition towards zero-emission outdoor power equipment.

The approach to implementing a ban and next steps outlined in this report, should the City choose to proceed, are informed by the results of stakeholder consultations, a jurisdictional scan, an equipment assessment and market analysis, along with a corporate asset assessment and analysis, which are summarized in the Comments Section and detailed in the Attachments 1 through 4. 

Given the information detailed in this report, including the resources required to implement a ban, two options are presented for Council consideration, similar to the approach taken in the July 2023 report.  

The resource requirements identified above do not include costs associated with transitioning gas-powered City equipment to zero emission alternatives, as the City has already committed to undertaking this transition under the TransformTO Net Zero Strategy.

As part of this commitment, City Council requested Parks and Recreation, and Environment, Climate and Forestry in 2022 (2022.EC31.4) to develop a plan to phase-out gas-powered equipment. Previously, in 2021 (2021 IE25.21), Council requested Parks and Recreation, Transportation Services and Fleet Services to develop a transition plan and determine feasibility of phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers. In response to these directions the pathway for a corporate transition plan is presented in this report. 

The pathway includes an analysis of the City's small engine equipment inventory to determine replacement timelines, electricity and charging capacity needs. Any electricity and charging capacity assessments and retrofits will be coordinated with related activities across the relevant Divisions, Agencies, and Corporations, and locations to ensure retrofits are completed efficiently, reducing cost and disruptions. Final costs for the corporate transition will need to be factored into future capital budgets of affected Divisions, Agencies, and Corporations, with the scope and scale to be determined. The corporate transition plan presented is aligned with the timeline of the proposed ban and will proceed regardless of the Option chosen by Council. If Option A is chosen the corporate transition plan timeline can be extended based on operational or budget needs.