We’ve been making progress on our planetary health goals. Here’s what we’ve accomplished this year.
Designed climate-resilient spaces: The
Slocan Site Redevelopment Project and BC
Children’s &
Women’s campus incorporated climate considerations into their building plans, focusing on enhancing cooling, indoor air quality, and preparedness for extreme weather.
Developed award-winning toolkit for climate-related evacuations: Health Emergency Management BC developed a
toolkit to support patient-centered and culturally safe facility evacuations during climate emergencies. This innovative tool was awarded the 2024 PHSA+ Award for Excellence and the 2025 BC Quality Award.
Reduced greenhouse gas emissions: In 2024, PHSA cut greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, fleet, paper, and refrigerants by 23%, exceeding our 2025 reduction target.
Installed energy efficient upgrades:
BC Children’s & Women’s Hospital installed new exterior lighting, cutting electricity use by 98,200 kWh annually. Additionally, improved insulation throughout the hospitals' steam distribution system is projected to reduce natural gas consumption by 3,281 gigajoules annually.
BC Cancer – Vancouver installed a
heat recovery chiller system that captures and reuses waste heat, reducing reliance on steam heating. Paired with optimized controls to prevent unnecessary after-hours heating, the project is expected to cut annual natural gas use—avoiding 655 tonnes of CO2 emissions and saving over $140,000 annually in utility costs.
Discontinuation of desflurane anesthetic gas: In February 2025, PHSA’s Executive Leadership Team approved removing desflurane from the formulary—an anesthetic with a global warming potential 2,500 times that of CO₂ and up to 26 times higher than other gases—replacing it with an equally effective, lower-emission alternative.
Implemented supplement reuse program: At BC Children's & Women's, a program was established to collect unused and unopened supplements, which are returned to the kitchen for sanitization and redistribution. On average, 36 supplements are returned daily, for a total of 13,140 bottles, saving approximately $38,325 annually and preventing food waste.
Contracted B Corporations: PHSA Food Services partnered with B Corporations—businesses that meet high standards for social and environmental responsibility—to buy Canadian food products.
Switched to paperless invoicing: PHSA’s Provincial Specialized Programs team transitioned to paperless invoicing eliminating around 5,820 printed invoices and reducing approximately 247 kilograms of carbon emissions annually.
Phased out exam table paper:
BC Cancer removed exam table paper at outpatient clinics, reducing an estimated 32 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
New recycling streams introduced:
A recycling program for
blue wrap—a sterile barrier used for surgical instruments—was launched at
BC Children's Hospital, with an estimated 2,000 kilograms of blue wrap to be recycled annually.
A soft plastic recycling program was implemented at BC Children's & Women’s Hospital resulting in 1.09 metric tons of plastic being diverted starting from July 2024.
A paper towel recycling program was implemented at
BC Cancer – Vancouver resulting in a total of 6.65 tonnes of paper towels diverted in just the second half of 2024.
Increased participation in Transit Incentive Pass: In 2024, participation increased by 110%, to a total of 3,377 staff who signed up for the incentive.
Enhanced bike storage facilities: PHSA partnered with Jared Deck from Ch’íyáqtel First Nation, to design murals in bike cages at BC Children’s & Women’s Hospital and BC Cancer – Vancouver. Improvements also included increased bike storage, repair stations and I.D. access upgrades.
Rolled out electric support vehicle fleet: BC Emergency Health Services introduced their
electric support vehicle fleet rolling out 70 hybrid and 18 electric vehicles, reducing annual emissions by 270 tonnes of CO₂e which is equivalent to the energy used by 63 homes for one year.
Reviewed water consumption patterns: BC Children’s & Women’s Hospital conducted an audit to identify water consumption patterns and opportunities for conservation.
Assessed environmental impacts of cleaning products: In partnership with the UBC Sustainability Scholars program, PHSA evaluated the environmental impact of cleaning products washed down the drain at facilities.
Invested in Indigenous climate leadership: The BC Centre for Disease Control secured provincial funding to expand the
Warriors Program—a land-based mentorship program for Nuu-chah-nulth youth to strengthen Indigenous-led climate resilience. The program will be scaled to support additional Indigenous communities across B.C.
Integrated planetary health principles into kidney care: BC Renal developed a
planetary health strategy to embed environmentally sustainable practices into its committees and key activities.
Enabled staff leadership in planetary health initiatives:
17 projects on waste reduction and engagement were completed through the
BC Cancer Planetary Health Nursing Internship, which provides mentorship and training for nurses to become climate champions.
In 2024, 28 new PHSA staff became
Green+Leaders, bringing total participants to 376. The program supports staff advancing sustainability within health care.
Six initiatives received funding through the Health Promotion Initiatives Fund supporting projects such as workplace gardens, a pollinator insect hotel, and workshops on Indigenous foods.
Introduced Sugar Sheet as a sustainable paper option: PHSA’s Procurement team made Sugar Sheet available for purchase across B.C. health organizations. Made from sugarcane waste instead of wood pulp, this high-quality paper offers up to 55% lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and saves 26 trees per tonne produced.
