Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs

This executive summary from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment argues that four specific Canadian environmental regulations will generate significant direct health benefits and healthcare cost savings by 2050, primarily by reducing respiratory-related emissions.

• Four specific Canadian environmental regulations—the Coal Phase-Out Regulations, Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Regulations, and Methane Regulations—are projected to provide between $18 billion and $21 billion in direct health benefits by 2050. These savings, converted to 2024 dollars, are equivalent to the cost of employing between 2,200 and 2,500 doctors over the 36-year period of the regulations.
• The estimated health savings are conservative, as they focus primarily on respiratory benefits from reducing key pollutants (NOX, SOX, PM2.5, and VOCs) and generally exclude broader environmental benefits such as agricultural improvements or the health benefits resulting from reduced climate change risks, with the exception of the Methane Regulations.
• Federal government regulations targeting coal, VOCs, methane, and electricity-related emissions reduce the spread of various harmful substances, including lead, mercury, smog-creating chemicals, particulate matter, and carcinogens like benzene.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (n.d.). Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Healthy-Wealthy-Wise-Report-Summary.pdf

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs. n.d. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Healthy-Wealthy-Wise-Report-Summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Healthy-Wealthy-Wise-Report-Summary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironmentndhealthy, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: How environmental policies lower health costs}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Healthy-Wealthy-Wise-Report-Summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }