Environmental Defence (formerly known as the Canadian Environmental Defence Fund) is a Canadian

environmental organization An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environme ...

, founded in 1984. Environmental Defence works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

History

The organization was founded in 1984. Environmental Defence spearheaded education campaigns in Ontario to advocate for the creation of a

Greenbelt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or gree ...

, tighter controls on development impacting

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly within the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century, the lake was called ''Ouentir ...

, and the dangers of BPA, resulting in legislative changes such as the adoption of the Lake Simcoe Protection Act and the ban of BPA in baby bottles. Additionally, its efforts to raise public awareness about biodiversity and renewable energy contributed to the passage of the Endangered Species Act and the Green Energy and Economy Act in Ontario. Environmental Defence successfully advocated for the ban or restriction of phthalates in Canadian toys, raised awareness about the dangers of microbeads, and contributed to the passing of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

Protection Act. Additionally, its efforts led to the cancellation of the Energy East oil pipeline, secured rules supporting charities' participation in public policy, and influenced the implementation of a carbon pollution price across Canada. Environmental Defence also played a role in the drafting of federal regulations banning six single-use plastics, strengthening Canada's toxics law (CEPA), and saving Ontario’s Greenbelt from development. Moreover, its advocacy efforts resulted in the drafting of new rules requiring the availability of electric vehicles (EVs) and the tabling of the Climate-Aligned Finance Act.

Areas of focus

Environmental Defence has a number of different areas of focus, including the following: * Ending

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

by building more sustainable communities and challenging the power of the fossil fuel industry. * Protecting

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

’s environment through safeguarding local food, ensuring a stable climate, and a thriving Greenbelt. * Kicking out toxic chemicals from Canadian shelves to protect human and environmental health. * Protecting safe, clean water in Canada’s freshwater systems. * Ending plastic pollution. * Supporting a renewable energy transition in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Studies

Environmental Defence has led cutting edge research in its areas of focus.In the last ten years, Environmental Defence has produced milestone reports, listed below. To access all of its reports, including reports published before 2017, please visit th
website
* In 2017, Environmental Defence and the NRDC reported that

tar sands Oil sands are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. They are either loose sands, or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with bitumen (a dense and extremely viscous ...

mining i
Alberta produced over 250 billion gallons of toxic tailings, stored in lakes larger than Manhattan and Boston combined.
They urged the CEC to investigate potential Fisheries Act violations due to toxic tailings leaking into Alberta's water bodies. * In 2019, a report by Environmental Defenc
exposed Canada's oil and gas lobby's obstruction of federal climate efforts
noting sector emissions have risen for three decades despite industry influence on legislation. It reveals that fulfilling the industry's wishlist for Election 2019 could consume 60% of Canada's 2030 carbon budget under the

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...

. * A 2020 report by Environmental Defence found tha
none of the major oil and gas companies
analyzed by the report, including BP, Chevron, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Repsol, Shell, and Total, have climate commitments that align with the Paris Agreement goals. * A 2021 report by Environmental Defence revealed that Canada's federal government allocated ove
$18 billion
in support and subsidies to

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

companies in 2020, with incomplete transparency, and little progress has been made on climate promises made over a decade ago. * In 2022, Environmental Defence release
Highway 413: The Road to Our Ruin
which found that the construction of Highway 413 would affect 29 federally identified species at risk, including the Bank Swallow,

Red-headed Woodpecker The red-headed woodpecker (''Melanerpes erythrocephalus'') is a mid-sized woodpecker found in temperate North America. Its breeding habitat is open country across southern Canada and the east-central United States. It is rated as least concern ...

, and

Short-eared Owl The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...

. Additionally, species such as the

Blanding's Turtle Blanding's turtle (''Emydoidea blandingii)'' is a species of semi-aquatic turtle of the Family (biology), family Emydidae. This species is native to central and eastern parts of Canada and the United States. It is considered to be an endangered s ...

and the

Redside Dace The redside dace (''Clinostomus elongatus'') is a North American species of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish in the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae. It is a surface-feeding specialist, thus acting as a conduit for nutrient transfe ...

, a rare minnow, would also be adversely impacted by the highway's construction. * In 2022, Environmental Defence released a report titled
Roadmap to a Sustainable Financial System in Canada
which outlined how Canada could build a strong, clean economic future. * In 2022, Environmental Defence release
a report that examined dollar store products
for dangerous chemicals. The report found toxic levels of heavy metals in products like children’s toys and headphones. It also found that 30% of all dollar store products tested contained heavy metals such as lead and other toxic chemicals such as

phthalates Phthalates ( ), or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid. They are mainly used as plasticizers, i.e., substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity. They are used primarily to soften ...

, bisphenols and

PFAS Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also PFAS, PFASs, and informally referred to as "forever chemicals") are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain; there are 7 millio ...

(a.k.a. “forever chemicals.”) * In 2022, a report by Environmental Defence found that the expansiv
“toxic tailings” ponds created by the oil industry exceeded 300 km²
surpassing the size of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

over 2.6 times. These "ponds" contain highly toxic substances, such as concentrated

naphthenic acid Naphthenic acids (NAs) are mixtures of several cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl carboxylic acids with molecular weights of 120 to well over 700 atomic mass units. The main fractions are carboxylic acids with a carbon backbone of 9 to 20 carbons. McKee e ...

s, known to leak and evaporate into the environment, contradicting claims of responsible development by the oil industry. * In 2023, Environmental Defence released the repor
Left Holding the Bag
which revealed that more than 70% of items found in Canada’s baby food and produce aisles are now packaged in plastic, exposing people to

microplastics Microplastics are "synthetic solid particles or polymeric matrices, with regular or irregular shape and with size ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water." Microplastics a ...

and harmful chemical additives. * In 2023, Environmental Defence commissioned a study to explore alternative, an
less environmentally destructive, options to building Highway 413.
The report found that redirecting trucks to the 407 would alleviate traffic on

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian prov ...

for regular commuters and reduce truckers' journey times by about 80 minutes, costing $6 billion less than constructing Highway 413, with an estimated $4 billion subsidy over 30 years. * In 2024, Environmental Defence and Équiterre released the repor
Putting Wheels on the Bus
which outlined policy recommendations for how Canada can reduce 65 million tons of polluting carbon emissions through doubling

public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...

ridership by 2035.

References

Environmental organizations based in Ontario Organizations based in Toronto {{Nonprofit-org-stub