Sustain PEI

11/17/2025

Charlottetown is planning the 2026-2027 budget, and the survey is open until November 19 at midnight. If you care about climate resilience, parks and green spaces, accessible housing, or building a healthier, more sustainable city, this is your last chance to speak up.
Your voice matters! Please take the survey and help shape a greener future.

Do you care about local parks, public art, or road repairs? Maybe it’s community events or climate action that matter most to you.

Tell us what’s important as we plan the City’s 2026–2027 budget.

An online pre-budget consultation survey is available and will remain open until Wednesday, Nov. 19 at midnight:

https://www.charlottetownhall.ca/budget-2026-2027

Written feedback can also be submitted by email to [email protected] or dropped off at City Hall, 199 Queen St., addressed to the Manager of Finance.

The City’s annual budget process outlines funding priorities for services and programs that residents and businesses rely on every day. Public input will help guide Council’s deliberations in early 2026, with the final budget approved in March.

10/26/2025

10/24/2025

Applications are open for the Climate Challenge Fund.

Priority areas for this year’s intake are:

➡️Developing and implementing proactive adaptation strategies for PEI municipalities.
➡️Improving water conservation and ensuring access to clean drinking water during extreme weather or climate emergencies.
➡️Strengthening community assets, including communication systems, fuel supplies, food distribution, and supports for vulnerable populations.
➡️Supporting climate adaptation in sensitive industries.
➡️Conducting emissions or energy analyses for communities and businesses.

Read the full release here https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/news/applications-open-for-the-climate-challenge-fund

Apply here https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/service/apply-to-the-pei-climate-challenge-fund

08/06/2025

Did you know that mussels, oysters, and other shellfish are incredible natural filters? 🦪

Through filter feeding, they pull in algae, bacteria, and pollutants. Leaving the water clearer and healthier for all kinds of life.

Shellfish aren’t just food. They’re living, breathing animals that play a vital role in aquatic ecosystems. Their unique abilities are being recognized around the world. In Warsaw, Poland, clams are even used to monitor the city’s drinking water! Equipped with tiny sensors, they naturally close their shells when they detect toxins. If enough clams close at once, it triggers an automatic shutdown of the water supply to prevent contamination.

Here on PEI, we’re lucky to be surrounded by some of the world’s most efficient filter feeders. Supporting sustainable shellfish practices means supporting the health of our coastal waters, for everyone who calls them home. 🌎

07/08/2025

If you love Maritime shorelines, I highly recommend the podcast Right of Way. It talks about public access to Nova Scotia’s coasts and why that access matters.

While the podcast focuses on Nova Scotia, the themes are relevant to us here on PEI too. 90% of Prince Edward Island's shoreline is privately owned, and it affects everything from our ability to enjoy the coast to how we care for and protect it. There may be some legal or geographic differences, but the underlying questions are the same.

Whether or not you personally walk the shorelines, the right to do so is inherently ours. Exercising that right deepens our connection to nature and strengthens our responsibility to care for it. The podcast highlights how shoreline access supports physical and mental wellbeing, environmental stewardship, cultural connection, and community resilience.

There’s a bit of everything for everyone, with many perspectives considered. It features interviews with private landowners, locals who access these shorelines, a marine biologist, coastal stewards, researchers, and even a politician (the only one who answered the call).

Hosted by Dr. Hannah Harrison of Dalhousie and Nicolas Winkler an ocean conservationist and scientific storyteller, and funded by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and SSHRC, the podcast is thoughtful and well produced.

One part that really stuck with me is how private coastal property can get in the way of environmental action, like shoreline litter pickup. In coastal provinces like ours where all waterways leads to the sea our responsibility to manage garbage and plastic is magnified.

This is a great listen for anyone who loves the ocean, values shared land, cares about wildlife, water, and conservation or anyone who wants to better understand how laws and land ownership shape our coasts.

Podcasts and PubCasts Right of Way podcastThis podcast, debuting in June 2024, is a co-creation between Hannah Harrison and Nicolas Winkler. The podcast focuses on the contentious topic of coastal access in Nova Scotia, and brings forward stories about how Nova Scotians try to get to their coastline...

06/13/2025

We stand with the PEI Watershed Alliance in calling for stronger protections for our wetlands and greater transparency in the permitting process.

Wetlands are not expendable. They are critical ecosystems that protect our shorelines, store carbon, filter our water, and support wildlife. Yet across PEI, they continue to be destroyed for non essential development.

We support the 25 community watershed groups working tirelessly to defend PEI’s ecological future.

The PEI Watershed Alliance is deeply concerned about ongoing wetland infilling across the Island.

Wetlands provide essential services and should only be altered as a last resort.

We’re calling for stronger protections and more transparent permitting.

06/12/2025

Community Input Needed! 🌲🌳
The City of Charlottetown is developing an 8 acre green space in the Montgomery Heights subdivision and they’re asking for public input. The proposed Montgomery Heights Park includes an increasingly rare patch of Acadian Forest and open grassy space, making it a key site for both conservation and recreation.

This is a chance to speak up for nature based planning, biodiversity, accessible green spaces, and protecting our urban forests from overdevelopment. Whether you care about trails, trees, or wildlife habitat have your say!

Deadline: July 4, 2025
Learn more & complete the survey: https://www.charlottetownhall.ca/montgomery-heights-park

Let’s help shape a park that works with nature, not against it. 💚

We want to hear from you!

As part of the Montgomery Heights subdivision development, an 8-acre parcel of parkland is being developed called Montgomery Heights Park. Mostly forested, the property features a remaining section of Acadian Forest along with a 1-acre open grass area - making it an ideal setting for both conservation and recreation. The vision for Montgomery Heights Park is to preserve the forest while offering both passive recreational opportunities, like nature trails, and active amenities, such as a playground for children and families.

To ensure the park reflects the needs and values of the community, the Charlottetown Parks and Recreation Department is inviting your input. Your feedback through the questionnaire below will help guide the development of a concept plan for the park.

Learn more and complete the questionnaire: https://www.charlottetownhall.ca/montgomery-heights-park

All questionnaires and feedback must be received by July 4, 2025.

06/11/2025

While future development on this prominent downtown lot could offer exciting possibilities for the community, we can’t ignore the larger context: this site was left idle and decaying since 2008 by a major corporation that profited from it for decades.

As plans move forward, transparency is essential. The public deserves to know:
Who is responsible for the environmental remediation of the land?
Will taxpayers be left to cover the cost of cleaning up contaminated soil?
What steps are being taken to ensure this transition truly benefits the community; ecologically, socially, and economically?

We believe sustainability includes holding polluters accountable, not celebrating the offloading of corporate liabilities onto the public. Let’s keep the conversation going and keep asking the right questions.

A land donation in the heart of a Maritime city ☀️

Following a land donation by our company, what was once a popular Irving Oil fuel and service station for more than 70 years will now be the site of future development in downtown Charlottetown, PEI.

Constructed in the 1930s, the site was part of our company's early expansion and included the iconic turret-style design by Acadian architect Samuel Roy, who developed other Irving retail sites of similar design around the Maritimes.

We're excited to support the continued vibrancy of Charlottetown through this significant property donation.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3FPZLWe

City of Charlottetown, PE

06/10/2025