As of 2023, transportation was Canada's second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, making up 23% of all emissions. Employee commuting and business travel account for roughly 36% of all Scope 3 emissions for Canadian institutions, making it the second-largest source after the use of marketed goods at 41.68%.
The uncomfortable reality is that the majority of Canadian campuses are still built with the presumption that everyone will drive. Only 38% of Canadian colleges are measuring Scope 3 emissions, which includes commuting, despite the fact that 78% of them are actively working to assess their emissions. We are attempting to achieve net-zero targets while acting as though parking lots aren't a significant climate issue, despite the fact that you can't manage what you don't measure.
At TGCC, we assist organizations in taking sustainability and the UN SDGs from intention to action. In terms of campus mobility, this entails putting actual infrastructure, real incentives, and genuine behaviour change in place of carpooling posters. This is what genuinely works.
Transit Incentives: Make the Bus Cheaper Than Gas
It would be equivalent to calling a single recycling bin a circular economy to refer to an annual "Transit Awareness Week" as a climate plan. Make transit the clear, cost-effective option if you want employees and students to give up their cars.
Here, York University is setting the standard. It was the first institution in Canada to be awarded the Best Workplaces for Commuters (BWC) title in 2024, a significant accomplishment that reflects years of investment in behaviour change initiatives, active transportation infrastructure, and transit advantages. Discounted transit passes, safe bike parking, route planning tools, and carpool matching are all part of their strategy, which essentially makes sustainable commuting the easiest option.
The math is easy. The most costly mode of transportation is driving alone, and more than half of Canadian post-secondary students experience food insecurity. Institutions that provide subsidized transit passes not only reduce emissions but also directly lower the cost of education. A scheme that permits university students to travel indefinitely for $70 per month during academic years was approved by Toronto's TTC, which is a substantial savings over standard rates.
It's your turn. Does your organization provide free/subsidised transit passes? If so, do students have to choose to participate or are they automatically covered by tuition and fees? If not, what is preventing you from moving forward?
Cycling Infrastructure: Build It, and They Will Cycle
Canada added around 3,600 km of excellent bicycle infrastructure between 2022 and 2024, which is about the distance between Toronto and Edmonton. 2,725 km of the growth—a 75.8% increase over two years—were made up of multi-use pathways. Painted bike lanes (the "low comfort" option) saw a pitiful 5.8% gain of just 492 kilometres.
It's evident that Canadians want to ride their bikes, but they won't do so unless they don't have to share the road with 2-ton crates travelling at 60 km/h.
On campus, this means:
- Bicycles and autos are physically separated by protected bike lanes
- Bike parking is safe and protected next to building entrances
- Workshops for bike maintenance and repair
- End-of-trip amenities for commuter bicycles, such as lockers and showers
The cities with the most new bike infrastructure overall include Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto; however, places with a higher concentration of children and senior individuals tend to have less. This disparity frequently manifests on campuses as well, with bike infrastructure concentrated around the hip buildings where administrators work while faculty housing and student apartments receive "paint it and hope for the best" treatment.
By 2030, 75% of school and work journeys under 5 km must be made by foot, bicycle, or public transportation, according to Toronto's Low Carbon Transportation Strategy. The same should be the goal of Canadian universities.
It's your turn: Make a map of the bike infrastructure on your campus. The gaps are where? Which structures have the least amount of bike parking but the highest foot traffic?
EV Transition: Yes, It Matters (But Not How You Think)
The shift to electric vehicles has mostly focused on technology development, frequently ignoring the infrastructure and human components. High-value jobs in the production of automobiles, batteries, charging infrastructure, and services are already being created by Canada's EV transition. The unsettling part, though, is that electrifying campus fleets without lowering overall reliance on vehicles is really greenwashing with improved batteries.
By 2030, 30% of Toronto's registered cars must be electric, according to the city's Transform TO Net Zero Strategy. The city is assisting with this by electrifying its own fleet and transit vehicles, establishing a strong public EV charging network, and providing EV charging in homes and workplaces.
For universities, the EV transition should be the third step, not the first:
- Reduce travel by using virtual meetings, remote work, and campus layouts that minimize distances
- Use the above-mentioned infrastructure and incentives to transition to public and active transportation
- For the remaining required vehicle journeys, switch to EVs
Therefore, rather than supporting luxury SUVs for academics who live three blocks away, campus EV charging stations should assist those who truly have no other choice, such as individuals with disabilities, those with mobility issues, staff who go to remote locations, and emergency vehicles.
The federal government of Canada is making investments in EV charging infrastructure, however there are rumours that while new chargers are being subsidized, existing ones are being neglected. The lesson is to develop infrastructure where people need it, not just where it looks nice in a press release.
The Bigger Picture: Scope 3 Is Where the Game Is Won or Lost
According to Universities Canada's 2024 carbon footprint assessment, more than 94% of all GHG emissions during 2022–2023 were from Scope 3 emissions. Less than 6% of the association's overall greenhouse gas emissions come from scopes 1 and 2.
Give that some thought. Even if your campus has solar panels, LED lighting, and a geothermal heating system, you won't be near net zero if people still have to drive 20 kilometres each way to get there.
56% of Canadian universities polled have pledged to achieve net zero before 2050, and 61% of them have committed to reaching net zero or carbon neutral targets. However, Scope 3 emissions are only being measured by 38%. A target that you are not measuring cannot be hit.
What TGCC Recommends: Practical Steps Starting Today
TGCC assists organizations in transforming their intentions into actionable plans. For campus mobility, that looks like this:
This semester:
- Examine your Scope 3 emissions, paying particular attention to staff and student transportation
- Ask employees and students about the obstacles to transportation (accessibility, cost, safety, and convenience)
- Choose one low-cost, high-impact intervention (e.g., discussing student discounts with local transit)
This year:
- Create a campus mobility plan with precise goals, such as a 30% increase in the share of transit modes by 2027
- Invest in infrastructure for protected bicycles that links important origins (parking lots, homes) to destinations (laboratories, schools)
- Implement an EV charging plan that gives priority to vehicles that are really necessary
This decade:
- Obtain the title of Best Workplaces for Commuters (York U did it; you can too)
- Cut the number of single-occupancy vehicle journeys under five km by fifty percent
- Combine municipal transportation plans with campus mobility planning
The Bottom Line
Encouraging everyone to ride bikes in January is not the goal of rethinking campus mobility. The goal is to design a transportation system in which the least carbon-intensive alternative is simultaneously the most convenient, affordable, and secure. Along with housing and food, transportation is one of the biggest household expenses. Affordable transportation is not a "nice-to-have" for kids who are experiencing food insecurity; rather, it is a necessity.
It's ridiculous to refer to an annual recycling campaign as a "climate strategy." It's worst to refer to it as "campus mobility planning". However, quantifying Scope 3 emissions, providing genuine transportation incentives, and really constructing the infrastructure? You go from purpose to action in this way.
What comes next: "Are we measuring Scope 3 commuting emissions, and if not, what's stopping us?" is the question you should pose after sharing this with your sustainability team.