Evaluating the comprehensiveness of municipal climate change adaptation plans in Ontario, Canada

This article examines the preparedness of the Province of Ontario's fifteen most populated cities - collectively representing just over half of the jurisdiction's population - to adapt to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. We develop a coding protocol to systematically analyze the presence or absence of eight essential climate adaptation plan characteristics, including (1) information base, (2) goals and objectives, (3) policies, (4) implementation, (5) monitoring and evaluation, (6) interorganizational coordination, (7) public participation, and (8) organization and presentation. The results indicate that municipal climate adaptation plans in Ontario are generally strong in features relating to information base, goals and objectives, policies, public participation, and organization and presentation. However, they are relatively weak in terms of implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and interorganizational coordination. We therefore identify three fundamental areas where municipal adaptation planning could be strengthened in the province: first, through engagement and information sharing, there is an opportunity for municipalities in Ontario to learn from one another to improve their plans. Second, there is a need to conduct geographically specific climate risk assessments to better understand localized risks and vulnerabilities; and third, there is a need to develop tools and frameworks to better implement, monitor, and evaluate climate change adaptation as the process unfolds. Our findings contribute to ongoing policy discussions regarding the need for better climate adaptation planning at the municipal level.