Foundation 2: Assessing, preventing and addressing environmental racism

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 (ECCC) 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 ECCC’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).

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 racism is a form of systemic racism. Environmental racism occurs when environmental decision-making, policies, and practices disproportionately harm certain communities based on race. This is especially evident in how environmental issues are addressed and whose voices are included in the process. This outcome can be intentional or unintentional.

The Canadian Race Relations Foundation defines environmental racism as:

“A systemic form of racism in which toxic wastes are introduced into or near marginalized communities. People of colour, indigenous peoples, working class, and poor communities suffer disproportionately from environmental hazards and the location of dangerous, toxic facilities such as incinerators and toxic waste dumps. Pollution of lands, air, and waterways, often causes chronic illness to the inhabitants and change in their lifestyle.”

ECCC has divided this engagement guide into three discussion topics:

1. Defining Environmental Racism in Canada
2. Assessing Environmental Racism
3. Addressing and Preventing Environmental Racism

Topic 1: Defining Environmental Racism in Canada

Like environmental justice, there is no definition of environmental racism accepted by everyone, and it has not yet been defined by the Government of Canada. It is a broad concept that can be applied in various contexts. Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism. When it comes to the environment, environmental racism occurs when environmental decision-making, policies, and practices overly disadvantage some people due to their race. This outcome can be intentional or unintentional.

Systemic discrimination leads to the disadvantage of racialized people and communities in terms of environmental outcomes and decision-making. In other words, a community may experience instances of environmental injustice — whether procedural, recognitional, or distributive. However, these instances do not necessarily involve the structural discrimination that defines environmental racism.

The National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act highlights that the Government of Canada recognizes that racial discrimination in the development of environmental policy would constitute environmental racism.

Discussion Question: How would you define environmental racism in the context of a federal national strategy?

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

• what does environmental racism mean to you
  • how would you describe this concept in your own words
• if you’re comfortable sharing, have any personal experiences or other factors shaped how you think about environmental racism
• are there characteristics of environmental racism in the Canadian context that are unique
  • these unique features may be important when describing environmental racism in Canada specifically
• what aspects of environmental justice do you find particularly important or relevant

Topic 2: Assessing, Addressing and Preventing Environmental Racism

The National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act (the Act) requires the development of a national strategy to promote efforts across Canada to address the harm caused by environmental racism. The Act speaks to several issues which take place at various levels and involve a range of stakeholders, including:

• distributional injustice refers to the unequal exposure to environmental harms and access to environmental benefits
• in project approval processes like environmental assessments, hazardous sites—such as landfills or polluting industries—are often located in areas where Indigenous, racialized, or marginalized communities live
  • when these communities are affected more than others and not included in decisions, it can be considered racial discrimination
• within decision-making spaces, naming the exclusion of marginalized peoples in the development of environmental policy as environmental racism

In addition to these complex issues, the Act identifies potential measures that may be included in the strategy. These measures vary in scope, involve different stakeholders, and take diverse approaches, including:

• possible amendments to federal laws, policies and programs
• the involvement of community groups in environmental policymaking
• the collection of information and statistics relating to health outcomes in communities located in proximity to environmental hazards

A National Strategy would focus on key priorities and actions to help assess, prevent, and address to environmental racism.

Discussion Question: In your experience, how can environmental racism be measured, tracked, counted? What is needed to assess environmental racism that might not exist at this time?

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

• your own experiences with environmental racism—what you see, smell, feel, and how you choose to record those observations
• are there ways you have tried to measure or track environmental racism
  • what are the factors you consider when doing so, and how do you record these observations
• environmental racism takes place at local community levels; what is there to know about measuring such a unique, location-specific issue
• how can government, academia, industry, and non-government organizations meaningfully play a role in supporting the assessment of environmental racism
• have you identified gaps in data availability and/or accessibility in assessing environmental racism in Canada

Topic 2b: Addressing and Preventing Environmental Racism

Environmental racism is a systemic issue that often involves many decisions and decision-makers. These decisions span multiple jurisdictions and take place over long periods of time. Efforts to assess, prevent and address environmental racism are often 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’s important to recognize that the Government of Canada does not have authority in all locations and communities. This means its ability to act on environmental racism may be limited in many areas. In fact, federal jurisdiction is typically limited to crown lands, including lands and territories of Indigenous peoples.

Section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867 gives the federal government the authority to make laws on a broad range of matters. Section 92 sets out the issues for which the provinces may make laws. The environment is not explicitly listed in either section. As a result, there is often overlap and uncertainty in terms of which level of government is responsible for various aspects of the environment. Based on a number of 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 also works through existing networks to build stronger partnerships. These networks help share best practices on issues related to anti-racism more broadly.

Governments can work together to assess, prevent, and address environmental racism. This includes identifying current and emerging issues, encouraging coordinated actions, and finding opportunities for further collaboration.

Discussion Question: What are the key areas to focus on in preventing and addressing environmental racism? Are there roadblocks that are in the way or key challenges to pay attention to?

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

• are there success stories that can be learned from or specific challenges that could be considered
• when environmental racism occurs, what does a just response look like? Are there alternatives to traditional compliance-based processes such as restorative justice, and/or community-led resolution processes
• what can the federal government do about environmental racism? Are there any existing programs or tools that could help
• what are the opportunities and/or barriers related to the involvement of community groups in environmental policy-making
• how can the Government of Canada help Canadians, communities, and partners—such as other governments, businesses, and organizations—prevent environmental racism? How can it support them in responding effectively when environmental racism occurs
• What could the Government of Canada do to support embedding an anti-racism approach across environmental policy and decision-making

Concluding question

Is there anything else you would like to add at this stage 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 ECCC's environmental justice 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.

ECCC will compile and publish input received in a “What We Heard” document. We will publish the document online by Winter 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 ECCC’s environmental justice webpage.