Key Takeaways

1. Communities across Canada are experiencing environmental injustices in their daily lives, including air and water pollution, industrial and workplace exposures, inadequate housing, inequitable neighbourhood investment, limited access to green space and public transit, and climate-related hazards.
2. Participants consistently called for communities to share power in environmental decision-making. They emphasized mandatory community consultation, community-based participatory research, representative advisory bodies, and transparent decision-making processes that meaningfully involve Indigenous Nations, racialized communities, newcomers, youth, and other historically excluded groups.
3. Participants identified stronger government accountability as essential, including protecting Indigenous rights, guaranteeing access to clean drinking water, improving environmental monitoring, requiring health impact assessments, increasing corporate accountability, and investing in environmental justice research and education.
4. Environmental racism was understood as a systemic issue that intersects with public health, housing, infrastructure, climate change, and economic inequality. Participants consistently emphasized that coordinated action across governments and sectors is needed.
5. Participants envisioned communities where everyone can access the environmental conditions necessary for health, dignity, and wellbeing, with governments prioritizing equity, environmental protection, and community leadership over corporate interests.

The community consultation findings below are organized into three categories: (1) experiences and observations of environmental racism, (2) priorities for advancing environmental justice, and (3) their visions for healthier, more equitable communities.

Citizens are concerned about historic and ongoing disproportionate environmental burdens facing marginalized communities

Participants described learning about and witnessing environmental racism through both well-known examples and personal experiences in their own communities. Many referenced the ongoing generational impacts of mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows First Nation, the lack of clean drinking water in Indigenous communities, the industrial pollution affecting Aamjiwnaang First Nation, and the systematic neglect and demolishment of Africville, the historic Black community in Nova Scotia, as powerful examples of environmental injustice in Canada. Nathaniel from Vaughan shared how learning about environmental racism in Indigenous communities has had a profound effect on them: “The water shortage in various Indigenous communities across Canada…is a topic close to my heart since I was about 13. Many Indigenous communities are currently under or have been under a water advisory. This is practically exclusively affecting these communities and it raises a question regarding how we treat the people who came before us while we overtake their own land.”

Participants overwhelmingly reflected on how environmental harms disproportionately affect racialized, Indigenous, immigrant, rural, and low-income communities through exposure to pollution, proximity to landfills and industrial sites, limited access to green space, food insecurity, poor air quality, inadequate public transit, and climate-related disasters such as extreme heat events. Annabel from Midtown Toronto noted how “environmental issues and its effects on members of the society are usually heightened in areas where Indigenous and other racialized groups lived.” Beyond this, Samar from Vancouver described witnessing environmental racism in the workplace: “As someone in the sustainability field, I’ve visited waste management facilities across BC and the workers there need to work in toxic conditions. Most of the people there are people of colour working minimum wage jobs and disproportionately getting affected by toxic climate impacts.”

Citizens have observed concerning environmental inequities in their own neighbourhoods and workplaces across Canada

Participants from Toronto, Hamilton, Brampton, Scarborough, Montréal, and other communities described visible disparities in neighbourhood infrastructure, tree canopy coverage, environmental quality, and public investment. Several also shared personal experiences of living near industrial areas, waste sites, or construction zones. Aranee, a resident of Peel Region, Ontario, described how they “see first hand the neglect experienced in racialized neighbourhoods and the lack of community consultation”, including “the development plan of making Brampton a central waste burning site, to the limited green spaces in low-income areas” and “limited transit options.”Srobona, a resident of Regent Park in Toronto, shared how their neighbourhood “is a prime example of gentrification pushing out low income families for the sake of profit.” Lauren, who has lived in various neighbourhoods across Toronto, described how “the evidence and clarity of environmental racism and classism are clear.” They went on to share the environmental disparities they have personally experienced and witnessed: “I have since lived in Kensington Market, Little Jamaica, Swansea/Etobicoke and now Greenwood/Riverdale – the stark differences in tree coverage, public green spaces, old growth nature, access to trails and rivers, the cleanliness of the streets, the width of the sidewalks, the diversity of different plants and air quality became impossible to ignore. These differences impacted my quality of life in those neighbourhoods and it’s been proven time and time again how your environment has a domino effect on the rest of your life.” Claire, a teacher in Toronto, similarly reflected that “the divide is clear” across the many neighbourhoods they spend time in and consider home. They described how troubling it is to see that their own students are “restricted by their circumstances”, adding that “it is not fair that their communities have worse air quality.” Poor air quality in Hamilton was also identified as a concern. Michelle reflected on their awareness of “the smog and air pollution issues”, while Samantha shared their experience of continuing to “[breathe] the air everyday” while living there. Meera, a Scarborough resident, described the environmental racism they have witnessed and personally experienced: “I noticed that construction projects tend to create pollution, and make it difficult for pedestrians to get around. This poses a threat to respiratory and cardiovascular health. Many communities in Scarborough are racialized and low income communities. We have gotten used to it, however the health impacts can build up and become detrimental over time.”

Participants also identified housing conditions as an environmental injustice, reflecting on how housing affordability often forces families to accept unhealthy living conditions. Victoria from Toronto described how her family had little choice while growing up, as their low-income household could not afford to live in a healthier neighbourhood or purchase safer consumer products: “Being raised by a single mother with a racialized identity who struggled to simply provide basic necessities meant that she had no time to consider how we were affected by environmental exposures we experienced such as proximity of our housing to industrial parks (no financial ability to move somewhere better anyways) and how the products we could afford to purchase were full of toxicants that I believe contributed to the numerous health issues my family faced (e.g., cheap cookware, polyester clothing, cleaning chemicals, etc).”

Advocacy, education, and relationships strengthened participants’ understanding of environmental racism

Even participants who had not directly experienced environmental racism acknowledged their privilege and described learning about its impacts through advocacy work, community organizing, education, and relationships with Indigenous land defenders and frontline communities. Juliette from Montréal, who identified as an affluent white woman, reflected on how they are “lucky to have never personally experienced environmental racism”. They further acknowledged “how the history of Canada is littered and marred by environmental racism, by mining in Indigenous communities, polluting their environment and affecting their livelihood in the north, putting dumps by Indigenous communities outside of Montréal, putting the worst polluting industries near black & brown communities.”

Overall, participants’ stories of lived experience, observation, advocacy, and learning demonstrate a strong collective awareness of the long-standing nature of environmental racism in Canada and reinforce the need for meaningful action to address these injustices.

Clear policy priorities identified to help advance environmental justice include:

Meaningful participation in environmental decision-making

Participants overwhelmingly called for a shift toward community-led decision-making, emphasizing that Indigenous, racialized, newcomer, low-income, and other marginalized communities must be meaningfully involved in the decisions that affect their health, lands, and futures. Many stressed the need for mandatory community consultation, community-based participatory research, and representative advisory bodies to ensure those most affected by environmental harms have a direct voice in policy development and decision-making. “As a member of the public I feel as though my needs and interests as a citizen are best represented by community-led initiatives,” wrote Indrani from Mississauga. Otherwise, as Claire from Toronto emphasized, “it would be ineffective and a waste of resources to create uninformed solutions that reinforce the colonialism we are trying to rectify.”

Participants also emphasized the importance of strengthening knowledge mobilization within communities to support meaningful participation in environmental decision-making. This included a national dashboard containing accessible information about environmental hazards, as recommended by Anna from Newmarket, and education on toxic exposures for at-risk communities, as recommended by Victoria from Toronto.

Stronger government regulations and corporate accountability

Participants emphasized the urgent need to guarantee access to clean drinking water for Indigenous communities, address longstanding environmental injustices such as boil-water advisories and industrial contamination, and uphold Indigenous rights and sovereignty. As Nathaniel from Vaughan emphasized, clean drinking water for all is a “basic human right!” Stronger accountability for corporate polluters also emerged as a key priority, including increased fines, restorative justice approaches, and redirecting revenues toward affected communities. Participants called for large corporations to take greater responsibility when planning new projects, including paying for stakeholder consultations, as recommended by Juliette from Montréal. Kaneera from Mississauga also called for the government to carry out “mandatory health and demographic impact studies before the approval of any new industrial or infrastructure projects.”

Investment in environmental justice capacity-building

Participants also advocated for greater investment in environmental justice research, public education, environmental monitoring, climate adaptation planning for high-risk populations, green jobs, youth climate employment programs, and community-led environmental organizations. As highlighted by Minh-Ly and Annabel from Toronto, these investments would make communities more resilient and informed, while giving people greater capacity to discuss environmental racism and take action.

Across responses, participants expressed a shared belief that environmental racism is an interconnected issue requiring coordinated, systemic action. As Megan from Toronto emphasized, “environmental racism is a public health, environmental, human rights, housing, [and] infrastructure issue that needs all hands on deck.”

Citizens’ visions for the future involve:

Equitable access to healthy environments

Participants envisioned a future where all communities have equitable access to the environmental conditions necessary for health, dignity, and wellbeing, regardless of race, income, geography, or immigration status. Central to this vision was universal access to clean drinking water, clean air, safe and resilient housing, abundant green spaces, healthy food systems, accessible public transit, and protection from environmental hazards. Beyond this, Michelle from Ottawa envisioned a future in which “communities have full autonomy over their land.” Participants also referenced transitioning away from industries causing environmental harms in their communities, including pipelines, mines, and AI data centres. For example, Juliette from Montréal reflected on a future where “we do not have any large polluting corporations – we do not need them, we have solutions to move away from them.”

Shared decision-making and accountability

Participants emphasized that communities should be genuine partners in environmental decision-making, with governments proactively engaging residents, Indigenous Nations, youth, newcomers, and other historically excluded groups in policy development and implementation. To advance this goal, Annabel from Midtown Toronto recommended the development of “an active federal agency involved in monitoring environmental health inequity”, and Nathaniel from Vaughan called for the “consider[ation of] a community’s opinions before making any decisions regarding it.”

Many also called for stronger accountability from governments and corporations through transparent reporting, ongoing community consultation, and meaningful recognition and repair of historical and ongoing environmental injustices. Cole from Markham emphasized the need for “open community halls/consultations where residents can voice concerns regarding possible industrial/infrastructure projects and where these opinions are fully heard and considered by government officials.”

Nathaniel from Pickering emphasized that “not only is community consultation and participation key, but so is making publicly available and easily accessible updates and information on the progression of the plan. This will create trust and sow the potential for rich and responsible community-government relations.” They also highlighted the need for “accountability during and past policy implementation stages.” Indrani from Mississauga recommended “reparations and respect for Indigenous and racialized bodies, health and sovereignty” as an accountability mechanism. Similarly, Sam from Hamilton emphasized the need for “proper compensation for historic and ongoing injustices and acknowledge these wrongs beyond an apology.”

Long-term investments in resilient communities

Participants also highlighted the importance of investing in climate adaptation, public health, environmental education, Indigenous leadership, community gathering spaces, and opportunities for collective problem-solving. Victoria from Toronto emphasized the need for “resources (financial and other, ex. organizing space), to gather community members from areas experiencing higher exposure, especially in rural/suburban communities to learn and collaborate on solutions.”

Across responses, participants envisioned communities that are healthier, more connected, environmentally resilient, and empowered to shape their own futures, with public policy prioritizing people, equity, and ecological wellbeing over corporate and economic interests.