At a glance – Evaluation of the Addressing Air Pollution Horizontal Initiative, Environment and Climate Change Canada

About the program

The Addressing Air Pollution Horizontal Initiative (AAPHI) is the cornerstone of the federal government’s efforts to address air pollution. The AAPHI is led by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in collaboration with Health Canada (HC) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). It aims to improve air quality, reduce impacts of air pollution on health and the environment and provide Canadians with the tools to make informed decisions to reduce their exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollutants. Total funding for the initiative was $367.7 million from fiscal year 2016 to 2017 to fiscal year 2019 to 2020. This included $271.3 million (74%) for ECCC, $88.7 million (24%) for HC and $7.6 million (2%) for NRC.

The Initiative consists of the following four areas of activity:

• Science and reporting (ECCC and HC)
• Policy and analysis (ECCC and HC)
• Mitigation actions for outdoor air quality (ECCC)
• Indoor air quality activities (HC and NRC)

What the evaluation found

The AAPHI is a relevant, well-designed program which has had a number of key accomplishments, including: the ongoing implementation of the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) across Canada; the development of new Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide and updated CAAQS for ozone; and the implementation of the Multi-Sector Air Pollutants Regulations as well as a number of non-regulatory instruments that establish Base-level Industrial Emission Requirements (BLIERs) for several pollutants and sectors.

There are however opportunities to improve aspects of the program’s design and delivery, such as communications and outreach regarding federal air quality activities, advancing commitments to develop and establish remaining BLIERs including in regulations to address emissions from petroleum refineries (if this need is reconfirmed), better integration of climate change and air quality policy and initiatives and greater emphasis on both Indigenous engagement and indoor air quality. 

The AAPHI has been effective in making progress toward some of its expected outcomes. In particular, it contributed to:

• Access to information and analysis for decision making by stakeholders
• Reduced emissions from air pollutants
• Clean air and reduced adverse impacts

However, evidence is lacking to conclude that the AAPHI contributed to increasing public awareness and behavioral change related to indoor air quality. There is also a lack of evidence on the extent of compliance with air pollution mitigation measures.

Recommendations and management response

The following recommendations are directed to ECCC’s Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection Branch, as the lead senior departmental official responsible for the AAPHI, as well as to HC’s Assistant Deputy Minister of Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch and NRC’s Vice President of Engineering.

Recommendation 1

Improve communication and outreach to partners, stakeholders and the general public related to federal air quality activities. This should include:

• finalizing and implementing an air quality communications strategy in collaboration with HC and NRC
• consolidating information related to air pollution and air quality in a central location online and updating this information in a timely manner
• enhancing public awareness of available information on outdoor and indoor air quality, including the Air Quality Health Index
• actively publicizing and disseminating key reports to interested partners and stakeholders, such as local public health authorities, community organizations and health care professionals
• sharing information about the federal government’s air quality agenda with relevant external partners and stakeholders, including the provinces and territories

Management response

ECCC’s Air Emissions Priorities Division, in collaboration with HC and NRC, will finalize the AQP Communications Strategy, which will lay out an approach to improving communications and outreach and submit it for approval. The Strategy will include, but may not be limited to, specific components to address the recommendations above: 

• A centralized online platform for air quality information, including information about the federal government’s air quality agenda with a schedule for updating this information in a timely manner
• A list server, or similar mechanism, where interested parties (e.g., local public health authorities, community organizations and health care professionals) can register to receive studies and publications related to air quality
• A social media approach to enhance public awareness of available information on outdoor and indoor air quality, including the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI)

Recommendation 2

Advance commitments to develop and establish outstanding Base-level Industrial Emissions Requirements, including in regulations to address emissions from petroleum refineries.

Management response

ECCC’s Air Emissions Priorities Division will lead an analysis to determine the ongoing need for the outstanding BLIERs given measures put in place since 2012. For the petroleum refining sector in particular, ECCC will conduct an analysis of gaps in coverage of sulphur dioxide and other air pollutant emissions from refineries, upgraders and other facilities that will persist once VOC and methane regulations, carbon pricing and other measures are taken into account. A report to senior management will be provided. If warranted by the analysis, ECCC (led by the Energy and Transportation Directorate) will develop a proposed approach to address emissions of sulphur dioxide and other air pollutants from refineries and other facilities in the petroleum sector.

Recommendation 3

Better integrate air quality and climate change policy and initiatives, while continuing to recognize these as distinct policy areas.

Management response

Preliminary discussions to better integrate climate change and air quality policy have occurred.  The Air Quality Program will continue to advance the issue, taking into consideration that it is broader than air quality. ECCC’s Air Emissions Priorities Division will work with appropriate groups within ECCC and HC towards more systematic consideration of both the impacts on air pollutant emissions of proposed measures to address climate change and the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions of proposed measures to address air pollution. As a first step, a stock-taking exercise to assess the impact of key measures will be undertaken.

Recommendation 4

Support more meaningful engagement and consultation with Indigenous peoples and explore options for greater Indigenous involvement in air quality monitoring and management.

Management response

A number of air-related initiatives underway include engagement with Indigenous communities to monitor and manage air quality and this will continue. ECCC’s Air Emissions Priorities Division, in conjunction with HC’s Safe Environments Directorate, will co-lead the development of a stock-taking exercise to identify current activities and explore options for more meaningful engagement of Indigenous peoples in air quality issues with the goal of identifying areas of greatest interest and developing targeted actions.

Recommendation 5

Recognizing that Canadians spend a large proportion of time indoors and that concentrations of indoor air pollutants can be significant, consideration should be given to enhancing the initiative’s focus on indoor air quality.

Management response

A number of indoor air quality initiatives are already underway to improve indoor air, which is vital to the health of Canadians. Building on this, HC, in collaboration with NRC, will develop a plan that identifies activities to increase emphasis on indoor air quality. This plan may include developing calls for research proposals and exploring new options to leverage technologies (such as portable sensors) to better understand and manage indoor air quality issues.

About the evaluation

This evaluation was conducted in fiscal year 2019 to 2020 and fiscal year 2020 to 2021. It focused on the period from April 2016 to September 2019 and included all AAPHI activities except HC’s work under the National Radon Program, which will be assessed as part of separate evaluation activities. The evaluation examined questions related to the Initiative’s relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. It used multiple methods including document and data review, key informant interviews with representatives of the three federal departments and external stakeholders and focus groups.