Oakville joins the ranks of cities across the globe after receiving the prestigious ISO 37120 platinum certification, the world’s first international standard for sustainable cities, from the World Council on City Data (WCCD). Oakville is the fourth Ontario municipality to receive this designation, and is the first International Organization of Standardization (ISO) achievement for the town.
“This certification is a significant achievement for Oakville that reflects Council’s commitment to innovation and transparency as we work to create Canada’s most livable town,” Mayor Rob Burton said. “Our involvement with the WCCD will help us measure how well we’re meeting the needs of our citizens, track our progress over time and benchmark our performance against other world-class cities.”
ISO 37120 Sustainable Development of Communities: Indicators for City Services and Quality of Life is comprised of 100 performance indicators that track a city’s progress in delivering services and ensuring quality of life for its community. Platinum certification acknowledges that the town has achieved the highest standard in data collection and research to drive the delivery of high quality programs and services to the community.
As a global leader on standardized metrics, the WCCD manages the ISO 37120 certification system and Global Cities Registry that hosts data from approximately 40 cities around the world, to enable a municipality and its residents to compare its social, economic and environmental performance in relation to other cities. Data now available shows that Oakville is leading the way in areas including the number of higher education degrees per 100,000 population (about one in two citizens has a higher education degree), total electrical energy use per capita (Oakville is one of the most efficient communities) and total number of bike paths/lanes per 100,000 population (among the highest of cities worldwide).
There is a wide range of certification levels offered by the WCCD for cities to aspire to and levels are based on the number of indicators reported by the city. To achieve platinum certification, the highest level, the town provided data on over 90 indicators that was validated through a third-party verification process.
During her presentation to Council, Dr. Patricia McCarney, president and CEO of World Council on City Data, commended the town’s commitment open data and efforts to pursue certification. “It is my pleasure to welcome the Town of Oakville to the World Council on City Data as an ISO 37120 platinum certified municipality. The dedication of Mayor Burton, Town Council and staff to open, standardized and comparable city data will help to increase the quality of life for all citizens while driving evidence-based decision making and data driven solutions. The town stands out in Canada and globally as a leader in working to create a more smart, sustainable, resilient, inclusive and prosperous future for its residents.”
Quick Facts
- The WCCD was founded in 2014 – ISO 37120 was piloted by 20 WCCD Foundation Cities throughout the world
- Based on eight years of development by the Global City Indicators Facility and later the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto
- ISO 37120 is the first ISO standard on cities
- Comprises 100 indicators (54 core, 46 supporting) around 17 themes on city sustainability and quality of life
To view Oakville’s data and to learn more about ISO 37120, visit the World Council on City Data website. To learn more about the town’s commitment to open data, visit oakville.ca.