Foundation 1: Environmental Justice

Privacy Act Notice Statement

The personal information is collected under the authority of section 5 of the Department of the Environment Act and subsection 7(1) of the Financial Administration Act.

The Government of Canada is seeking input from individuals and communities across the country, particularly racialized, marginalized, and Indigenous peoples, to help inform the development of a national strategy to address environmental racism. Your feedback will support a better understanding of the issues and contribute to the creation of effective, inclusive policies.

The personal information created, held or collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada is protected under the Privacy Act. Information will be used, disclosed and retained in accordance with the conditions listed in the Personal Information Bank Outreach Activities PSU 938.

Any questions or comments regarding this privacy notice may be directed to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Access to Information and Privacy Division at ECATIP-ECAIPRP@ec.gc.ca. If you are not satisfied that your privacy has been adequately respected, you have the right to file a complaint. You may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada by calling their information center at 1-800-282-1376 or by visiting their contact page.

Foreword

Environmental justice and environmental racism are broad concepts that can be applied in various contexts. Environmental justice and environmental racism are new areas of work for the Government of Canada.  However, grassroots organizations have significant knowledge and experience in advocating for communities and raising awareness on these issues. The Government of Canada aims to work with these organizations, affected communities, and those with lived experiences. Their input will help to develop a national strategy to assess, prevent, and address environmental racism and to advance environmental justice (the Strategy).

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is conducting a series of engagement activities, which will help us develop the Strategy. These activities represent a significant part of the policy development process, in principle and in the  context of the requirements of the National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act. It is important to ensure that the Strategy reflects the needs and perspectives of all stakeholders and partners that it may affect. To achieve this, ECCC will engage with a broad audience during the next consultation phase of strategy development.

Engagement documents are one way that governments can engage broadly with the public and various interested groups. They can be used when considering the development of new legislation or regulations or implementing a new policy or program. Each engagement document will focus on one of the following four key foundational topics:

1. Advancing environmental justice
2. Assessing, preventing and addressing environmental racism
3. Examining the link between race, socio-economic status and environmental risk
4. Indigenous environmental justice and racism

Each engagement will include a focused webinar that will consist of one session of up to two hours in length. The webinars incorporate presentations from federal officials as well as time for discussion and questions. Following the completion of the engagement period, ECCC will:

• review all feedback
• engage bilaterally with respondents to discuss submission (as required)
• publish a What We Heard Report to detail the input received
• publish a What We Did Report to detail how we used the input provided

The input received in response to the engagement documents, including through the accompanying webinars, will inform the development of the national strategy to assess, prevent, and address environmental racism and to advance environmental justice. Consultation related to the Strategy will follow in 2026.

Introduction

This engagement guide aims to support Canadians to contribute their experiences, ideas and suggestions to the national strategy.

Environmental justice is a movement with a focus on ensuring that affected people are fairly and meaningful included. It advocates for equal sharing of benefits and costs when making decisions about the environment. When making these decisions, environmental justice aims to recognize and address the existing inequalities faced by Indigenous, racialized, or otherwise marginalized communities.

ECCC has divided this engagement guide into three discussion topics:

1. Defining environmental justice in Canada
2. Vision and guiding principles
3. Government leadership

Topic 1: Defining environmental justice in Canada

From the Government of Canada perspective, there is no single definition of environmental justice that is accepted by everyone or reflects all scenarios. Instead, environmental justice is considered a concept that can be applied in various practical contexts. It is a movement seeking to ensure fair and meaningful inclusion of affected peoples and communities. This includes equal sharing of benefits and costs when making decisions about the environment. Environmental justice aims to recognize and address the existing inequalities faced by Indigenous, racialized, or otherwise marginalized communities throughout the decision-making process.

Further, the concept of environmental justice is broadly understood to include improved procedural, recognitional, and distributive justice.

Procedural justice and recognitional justice seek to improve the ways in which decisions are made. They aim to ensure that those who are affected by environmental injustice, and their values and priorities, are included in decision-making spaces.

Distributive justice involves identifying the ways in which certain populations face disproportionate environmental burdens, such as pollution. It seeks to improve environmental benefits for those communities.

Discussion question: In the context of a national strategy to promote efforts across Canada to advance environmental justice, how would you define environmental justice?

In answering this question, you may wish to think about:

• What environmental justice means to you
• How you would describe this concept in your own words
•  Any aspects of the concept that you find important or relevant
• How you would know if environmental justice was achieved

Topic 2: Vision and guiding principles

Our vision for advancing environmental justice will unite and guide the eventual Strategy's goals, objectives, and actions. It will bring partners and stakeholders together in a shared direction.

Proposed vision

The Government of Canada envisions a future where every individual enjoys a healthy, clean, and sustainable environment. We commit to advancing environmental justice across the country and eliminating racism and racial discrimination in all forms and manifestations.

Proposed guiding principles

To achieve this vision, we seek to develop a set of principles that guide our practical environmental justice efforts.

The first principle focuses on protecting the environment in environmentally hazardous areas. We will work to improve ecological protection and safety in communities that need it most.

The second is respecting and acknowledging differences. We will increase efforts to understand the local community, to better link environmental pollution to the exacerbation of existing inequalities.

The third is encouraging environmental education. We will promote learning about the environment.

Finally, the fourth principle is ensuring inclusive participation. We will create more opportunities for affected communities, in all their intersectional identities, to be involved in decision-making.

Discussion question: What values and priorities do you believe should guide the federal government’s efforts to advance environmental justice?

In answering this question, you may wish to think about:

• If the vision captures what you think we should be trying to achieve
• If there are any key aspects missing from the vision statement
• If you agree or disagree with these principles
• If we are missing any principles for action

Topic 3: Government leadership

Environmental racism is often linked to many decisions and decision-makers. Environmental justice is often an issue pursued at localized or grassroots levels.

We recognize that the Government of Canada does not own this space nor these concepts and cannot act alone.

It is important to recognize that the Government of Canada does not have authority to act in all locations and communities. In fact, federal jurisdiction is typically limited to crown lands, including lands and territories of Indigenous peoples. The Government of Canada engages through existing networks to strengthen partnerships and share best practices on issues related to broadly advancing environmental justice.

Governments can collaborate to help advance environmental justice by:

• identifying emerging issues
• encouraging complementary actions and responses
• identifying areas for further cooperation

Some things to consider:

• based on several Supreme Court of Canada decisions, protection of the environment is recognized as a matter of shared jurisdiction between Parliament and the provincial legislatures
• the Government of Canada has recognized environmental justice in some federal initiatives. For example, amendments to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 captured the principle of environmental justice as part of the right to a healthy environment

Discussion question: What should the Government of Canada do to support the advancement of environmental justice?

In answering this question, you may wish to think about:

• What the Government of Canada can do to support individuals, businesses, and communities to advance environmental justice
• How the federal government can support further uptake of the application of an environmentally just approach

Concluding question

Is there anything else you would like to add to contribute to the development of a national strategy for Canada?

Next steps

ECCC developed this engagement guide to facilitate the contribution of Canadians’ experiences, ideas and suggestions to aid the creation of the Strategy.

Public engagement on the Strategy will include opportunities for individuals, businesses and communities to join the conversation. Please provide input by December 12, 2025. Information is available on the Advancing Environmental Equity webpage.

Organizations and interested parties are encouraged to hold their own engagement sessions and share the results with the government. A guide on how to do this and a presentation deck with additional information are available.

Environment and Climate Change Canada will compile and publish input received in a “What We Heard” document. We will publish the document online by February 2026.

This information will form the foundation of a national strategy for Canada. We will share the Strategy with Canadians for consultation in 2026.

If you would like more information on environmental justice and how to contribute to the strategy development, visit Environment and Climate Change Canada’s environmental justice webpage.