Canada is a highly urbanized country with ambitious climate mitigation targets, and yet an ever-growing population will require increased housing – typically through urban infill land intensification or expansion into greenfields for residential developments that results in the loss of green infrastructure.
Urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions make up 42% of Canada’s total emissions. What is poorly understood, however, are the contributions from urban green infrastructure – trees, vegetation, wetlands, water bodies and aquatic systems – to mitigating the impacts of climate change.
The RISE project aims to better understand the longer-term impacts of urban residential developments on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and seeks to measure the effectiveness of GHG mitigation efforts of green infrastructure.
Working with our partners, including municipalities and land developers, our hope is to create positive change within the residential planning and development sector that will lead to increased green infrastructure for more sustainable urban development.
News
We’re recruiting for a post-doctoral scholar! Urban Ecosystem Modeller position available to start in fall 2026
We’re looking for a qualified integrated modeller to join our team as a research scientist / post-doctoral scholar. This key team member will be responsible for ensuring best practices for integration, verification and validation of integrated project models that will be critical in the development of the RISE Scorecard.
Visit our Opportunities page for further details and how to apply.
RISE team visits Vineland Research & Innovation Centre and Mohawk College’s IDEAWORKS for knowledge exchange
The groups spent time learning about each other’s initiatives and touring facilities to understand research priorities and opportunities.
Michael Drescher, RISE Principal Investigator, talks with CBC about Ontario’s plan to consolidate conservation authorities
The province is planning to introduce legislation to consolidate the number of agencies from 36 to seven.