Part 1: Climate Planning, Heat Relief, and Green Building Discussion - 03/03/2026

The County’s Environmental Advisory Committee met on March 3 with a full agenda that quickly turned into a bigger conversation about how the County prepares for climate change in practical, measurable ways. Early in the meeting, the committee confirmed Councillor Kate MacNaughton as chair and Angus Ross as vice-chair, then moved into several updates that tied local planning, public health, housing, and long-term infrastructure together.

One of the first major updates was a staffing one. The committee was introduced to two climate interns, Ashtyn Nauffts and Ben Hicks, who will be supporting work on the County’s Climate Action Plan. Staff said progress is being made on that plan, including data entry for the PCP model and a review of activities that could be included in the draft. Staff also said a draft plan is starting to take shape and that the next steps will involve matching activities to that plan and potentially moving toward consultation on a draft version.

That update mattered because it showed the County is not starting from scratch. Staff made it clear that background work is already underway, and that this year is expected to involve a lot of heavy lifting on climate planning.

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View the entire PEC Council meeting, or continue to speaker comments and councillor votes.

Heat pump support program

The committee then heard an information update on a possible heat pump support program aimed at helping vulnerable residents deal with increasingly hot summers. Committee members said early conversations have already taken place with local partners including the County Foundation, Picton Home Hardware, Wellington Home Hardware, and social service groups.

The idea being explored is a pilot program that would purchase and install heat pumps in homes or apartments occupied by residents facing both health and economic vulnerability. The discussion focused on adaptation rather than emissions reduction alone. Committee members said the purpose is to help people stay safe during extreme heat, especially those who may not have access to cooling now.

Staff and committee members also discussed how the program might connect with existing supports. There was talk about using current intake systems through community organizations to help identify eligible households, and also about the possibility of pairing the program with small supports for electricity bills, since switching from no air conditioning to a heat pump could raise household energy costs.

The committee did not make a final decision on a program model, but it did receive the discussion and signal that the work is continuing.

A detailed look at County emissions

The longest and most detailed part of the meeting was a presentation from Don Wilford, a member of the Climate Action Plan Working Group, on greenhouse gas emissions in the County.

Wilford walked the committee through a major body of research looking at community emissions from residential buildings, transportation, and agriculture. He said the group’s analysis found those three areas make up the core of the County’s emissions picture, with buildings and transportation making up the largest shares and agriculture still representing a significant portion.

He also connected the issue to municipal decision-making in plain terms. Rising climate impacts, he said, do not stay abstract. They show up in infrastructure damage, repair costs, and pressure on local systems.

A major theme in the discussion was the difference between mitigation and adaptation. Wilford argued that the County should not focus only on tracking reductions. He said adaptation needs to be built directly into local planning, especially as hotter summers and other climate pressures become more common.

Committee members asked how this work could feed into a trackable County climate plan. Wilford said repeating a full emissions study every year would not be a good use of staff time unless better data becomes available. Instead, he suggested tracking a smaller set of meaningful indicators, including energy use in new builds, shifts from fossil fuels to electricity, and better information from utilities and suppliers where possible.

The committee later formally endorsed the working group’s earlier presentation to Committee of the Whole and instructed the chair to write a letter thanking the members of the working group.

Green design guidelines are still unfinished

The meeting also returned to the issue of green design guidelines, which council had previously approved in principle but which have still not been fully implemented.

Committee members said those guidelines had been expected to come forward in winter 2024, but that did not happen. The committee heard that there are still possible ways to incorporate green design into County planning policy, even if there are limits on making requirements mandatory. Members discussed possible tools such as linking green measures to official plan language, secondary plans, faster approvals, or incentives.

Work plan and what comes next

In the final stretch of the meeting, the committee reviewed working group updates and its broader work plan. There were no major planning or natural cover items to report, but the committee did agree to add a new work plan item related to exploring how energy use in new builds could be tracked as part of future climate planning.

The next meeting date was set for April 14, and the meeting adjourned at 5:37 p.m.

Key Takeaways

1. The County’s Climate Action Plan is actively being built, with new staff support now in place and more detailed work underway.

   
   

2. The committee is exploring a heat pump support program focused on helping vulnerable residents stay safe during hotter summers.

   
   

3. A major local emissions review is now shaping committee discussions, with renewed pressure to connect climate planning, green design, and real-world adaptation in County policy.

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Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 1:33:41. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.