Bill 23 is a blow to bird-safe buildings
Authored by Willow English on November 21, 2022

Most of us have probably heard the ugly “thud” of a bird hitting a window. More than 25 million birds die each year in Canada from collisions with glass, at buildings all across the country. From skyscrapers to cabins, from hummingbirds to owls, collisions are a risk because birds don’t understand that the reflected tree in the glass isn’t real, or that they can’t fly through transparent glass. Most die from head trauma sustained from flying directly into a solid object; some survive the impact only to die from injuries like concussion or broken bones.
Through the Green Standard, Toronto has been a global leader in reducing bird collisions, enacting the first city guidelines for making buildings bird-safe through the use of elements like patterned glass. Many other cities in Ontario have followed suit, and adopted their own bird-safe building guidelines, ensuring that new buildings won’t be a hazard to birds. Bill 23 will render these guidelines powerless by preventing cities from having any say in the external design of buildings.
North America has lost almost one third of its birds in the past 50 years, and collisions with glass likely plays a role in that. We are in a biodiversity crisis, losing species at an incredible rate, yet Bill 23 seeks to remove an effective, economical method to address a major source of human-caused avian mortality. Given that Canada is hosting COP15 in December 2022, the UN conference on biodiversity, it seems incredibly contradictory to be simultaneously enacting new legislation that will destroy environmental protections.
Birds are important to Canada; we rely on them for pest control, pollination, seed dispersal, and ecosystem health, not to mention the joy that their songs and colours bring to many. We can ensure that our bird populations persist by addressing the causes of their declines, not by taking away the guidelines that help to keep them safe.
Through the Green Standard, Toronto has been a global leader in reducing bird collisions, enacting the first city guidelines for making buildings bird-safe through the use of elements like patterned glass. Many other cities in Ontario have followed suit, and adopted their own bird-safe building guidelines, ensuring that new buildings won’t be a hazard to birds. Bill 23 will render these guidelines powerless by preventing cities from having any say in the external design of buildings.
North America has lost almost one third of its birds in the past 50 years, and collisions with glass likely plays a role in that. We are in a biodiversity crisis, losing species at an incredible rate, yet Bill 23 seeks to remove an effective, economical method to address a major source of human-caused avian mortality. Given that Canada is hosting COP15 in December 2022, the UN conference on biodiversity, it seems incredibly contradictory to be simultaneously enacting new legislation that will destroy environmental protections.
Birds are important to Canada; we rely on them for pest control, pollination, seed dispersal, and ecosystem health, not to mention the joy that their songs and colours bring to many. We can ensure that our bird populations persist by addressing the causes of their declines, not by taking away the guidelines that help to keep them safe.
*collected by volunteers with Safe Wings Ottawa and used to create a display to raise awareness about window collisions