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Use of third party environmental management certification by Canadian municipal governments

More information 

For more information on any of these research projects, please contact kernaghan.webb@torontomu.ca

Lead Investigators: Greg Davis (MASc Candidate, Toronto Metropolitan University) and Dr. Kernaghan Webb (Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University)

Question Being Investigated: What are the advantages and challenges associated with implementing a 3rd party certified environmental management systems in a municipal organization such as the cities of Toronto and Montreal?

Project Overview: Environmental management systems (EMSs) such as the one set out by the International Organisation for Standardarisation (ISO) in its ISO 14000 series of standards are voluntary approaches for systematically identifying and addressing an organisation’s environmental impacts.  It is possible for organizations to have their EMSs reviewed and registered (or certified) as compliant with the ISO 14001 standard by an accredited 3rd-party registrar. Certification or registration to ISO 14001 is an approach used extensively in the private sector and increasingly in the public sector as a tool for managing environmental performance.  Reasons for using a formal, third party certified EMS include:  to reduce legal liability; to gain competitive advantage; to obtain external recognition; to identify of environmental management, and to opportunities and reduce costs.

The City of Calgary is the first municipality in North America to achieve a corporate-wide ISO 14001 registration.  By the end of 2006, every business unit within the City of Calgary received registration to the updated ISO 14001:2004 standard.  The accomplishment leads the way for other cities to learn from the improvements to be had in risk management, organizational integration, process improvement, and urban competitiveness experienced by Calgary. The cities of Toronto and Montreal are unique situations with different geography, resources, and infrastructure.  Any environmental management solution must apply the best available ideas and in the context of how they can maximize benefits to their respective organizations.

Drawing on the Calgary ISO 14001 experience, this study will examine the value and feasibility of third party ISO 14001 certification applying to the operations of cities of Montreal and Toronto, as well as the strengths, limitations, challenges associated with applying third party EMSs to municipalities such as Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.

Anticipated Results:

  • Article on motivations and lessons learned through the Calgary ISO 14001 experience;
  • Article on possible value of, challenges to, application of 3rd party ISO 14001 to municipalities;
  • Masters thesis extrapolating results of study on Calgary, Toronto, Montreal; drawing conclusions on applicability of EMS to Canadian municipalities and beyond;
  • Presentation of findings at Spring 2009 Toronto-Montreal City Summit.