Driving Change: A Comparative Study of Green Fleet Implementation in Canadian Municipalities

Municipal fleet operations represent a significant opportunity where cities can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Recently, various local governments have adopted municipal fleet decarbonization strategies; however, the success of these initiatives relies on both intergovernmental coordination and internal administrative capacity. This paper aims to examine how intergovernmental relationships, and local administrative conditions influence the implementation of municipal fleet decarbonization strategies. The paper does this by analyzing the experiences of three Canadian cities: Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary. It uses the theoretical frameworks of both multi-level governance theory and implementation theory to evaluate each municipality's fleet operations. Drawing on municipal strategic plans, documents, and academic literature, the paper found that access to funding and multi-level government alignment alone are not sufficient when implementing initiatives such as municipal fleet decarbonization. It found that strong implementation hinges on institutional readiness, training and cross-departmental coordination. These findings indicate that for municipal fleet decarbonization efforts to be successful, strong coherence and integration are essential. Without these factors, cities will struggle to establish meaningful climate action.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Public Administration

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Maheswaran, Sureakga

• Climate Change
• Intergovernmental Collaboration
• Multilevel Governance
• Public Administration
• Calgary
• Toronto
• Vancouver

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/39149

OAI record oai:identifier

https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Auwo.scholaris.ca%3A20.500.14721%2F39149