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The report synthesizes scientific evidence on the wide-ranging health impacts of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP), emphasizing its disproportionate effect on marginalized populations and its role in exacerbating COVID-19. It advocates for decisive policy, legislative, and regulatory interventions to reduce emissions and protect public health.

The report synthesizes evidence on the wide-ranging health risks of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP), noting that one-third of Canadians live within 250m of a major road. It details impacts across respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, and reproductive systems, while highlighting that racialized and low-income populations bear a disproportionate burden. The document also analyzes how the COVID-19 pandemic both exacerbated health risks and demonstrated the potential for air quality improvement through traffic restrictions. It concludes with recommendations for pollution control policies, active transport infrastructure, and urban greening.

CAPE supports the federal government's proposal to ban specific single-use plastics, emphasizing that plastic pollution is a human health crisis as well as an ecological one. The organization highlights health risks including respiratory illness and cancer for fenceline communities and plastics workers, as well as the presence of microplastics in infants. CAPE recommends bringing regulations into force by the end of 2022, removing export exemptions, and expanding the list of banned items to include drink cups, cigarette filters, and products containing additives like PFAS and bisphenols.

Environmental and health groups are calling for the urgent passage of Bill S-5 to modernize the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), arguing that the current law is over 20 years old and fails to address 21st-century risks. The groups recommend specific amendments to ensure the legal recognition of the right to a healthy environment, stricter controls on toxic substances, and improved public access to risk data.

The CAPE Strategic Plan 2022–2024 establishes a framework to mobilize health professionals to advocate for planetary health in Canada. The plan is organized around six priorities: transitioning to a wellbeing economy, eliminating toxics, addressing the climate crisis, protecting nature, advancing equity and justice, and increasing organizational capacity. Key objectives include advocating for a legal right to a healthy environment, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, and implementing a Quality of Life Framework in government decision-making.

The document argues that the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), 1999, is outdated and fails to address current environmental and health threats, such as the climate emergency and plastic pollution. It highlights the disproportionate impact of toxics on marginalized groups, including Indigenous people and lower-income Canadians, and calls for the implementation of 87 recommendations made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in 2017. The authors advocate for specific amendments to Bill C-28, including the recognition of a human right to a healthy environment, the prohibition of carcinogenic and mutagenic substances, and the establishment of a presumption of non-confidentiality regarding chemical substances.

The report finds that bicycle ridership in Vancouver grew consistently between 2010 and 2020, driven by a 28% expansion of the protected cycling network. While total collisions decreased in 2019 and 2020, the highest collision risk occurs in late fall and early winter. A key finding is the distinction between high-frequency collision sites (often in the downtown core on existing facilities) and high-risk sites (often on arterials lacking protected infrastructure).

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) asserts that the government must shift from risk management to a hazard prevention paradigm to protect public health. Key recommendations include eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, reforming the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), implementing a just transition for workers and Indigenous peoples, and adopting a planetary health lens to integrate climate adaptation and mitigation.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) calls for the next Canadian government to prioritize environmental health by reforming the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and reintroducing an improved version of Bill C-28. The organization highlights that air pollution causes nearly 15,000 premature deaths annually in Canada, with lower-income populations and marginalized groups disproportionately affected by toxic exposures. CAPE advocates for an unqualified right to a healthy environment, the prioritization of toxic substances of concern, and the cessation of all fiscal supports to the oil and gas sector by 2022.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) states that the IPCC 6th Assessment Report confirms severe climate change impacts on health at 1 degree of warming and reinforces the urgent need to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. CAPE argues that while the technical expertise to transition from fossil fuels exists, Canada lacks the political leadership required to implement bold changes. The organization emphasizes that avoiding warming is essential for human health and urges Canadian political leaders, particularly ahead of a federal election, to present clear plans for mitigation and adaptation.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and partner organizations advocate for the listing of talc under Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and a comprehensive ban on its use in personal care products. They argue that current industry-led changes are inadequate and that risk management must account for the racialized and gendered contexts of talc exposure, particularly the targeting of Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and Filipino communities by companies like Johnson & Johnson. The authors emphasize that a precautionary approach is necessary to protect vulnerable populations, including athletes and gendered occupations such as makeup artists and estheticians, from inhalation and perineal risks.

The statement argues that systemic racism and colonialism are foundational to Canada and manifest within the environmental and medical systems. It critiques environmentalism for historically erasing Indigenous rights and calls for CAPE to ensure its work is actively anti-racist, equating racism and Islamophobia with health threats like climate change.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE/ACME) addresses the impact of systemic racism and colonialism in Canada, specifically citing the discovery of children's graves at a residential school in Kamloops and a hate crime against a Muslim family in London, Ontario. The author argues that environmentalism and medicine are not immune to these systems; environmentalism has a history of erasing Indigenous peoples and sacrificing their rights for environmental gains, while the medical system has been used to perpetrate genocide and racism against Indigenous people. The statement calls for the ACME community to engage in antiracist work, support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, and recognize that systemic hate is an inherent part of Canada's colonial foundation.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE-ACME) supports the government's decision to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as a broad class under the Chemicals Management Plan. CAPE-ACME argues that the proliferation of thousands of PFAS chemicals leads to adverse human and ecological health outcomes, including cancers, liver damage, and immune system effects. The organization emphasizes the importance of considering disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations and supports the positions of other environmental and health organizations regarding PFAS risks.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) criticizes Canada's low climate finance contributions relative to its wealth and emissions, urging the government to double its annual funding to $5.2 billion and prioritize adaptation for the most vulnerable communities.

CAPE opposes the granting of a licence for the DNNP site, citing the lack of a chosen reactor design, the absence of historical data for small modular reactors (SMRs), and the high risks associated with locating nuclear facilities in densely populated areas near Lake Ontario. The submission highlights the failure to release the Provincial Nuclear Emergency Response Plan (PNERP) Technical Study and argues that the 2009 site licence application is obsolete due to population growth and climate change. CAPE advocates for a transition to renewable energy over untested SMR technology.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and other organizations urge the passage of Bill C-28 with specific amendments to better protect human health and the environment. Key recommendations include establishing a non-qualified right to a healthy environment, prioritizing the prohibition of carcinogenic and mutagenic substances, and requiring assessments of aggregate and cumulative exposures. The authors also call for legally binding air quality standards, GMO food labelling, and alignment with the Basel Convention on plastic waste.

Civil society organizations are calling on the Canadian government to advance Bill C-28, the Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act, to committee before World Environment Day on June 5, 2021. The signatories argue that the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) requires modernization to address evolved scientific understanding of risks and current toxic threats, noting that it has been over two decades since the act entered into force. The letter highlights a lack of progress on recommendations from a 2017 committee report and cites three separate public petitions—collectively gathering over 23,000 signatures—demanding action on CEPA modernization.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) advocates for the passage of Bill C-230, arguing that a national strategy is necessary to address the disproportionate health burdens faced by Black, Indigenous, and immigrant communities due to environmental racism. CAPE emphasizes that universal environmental policies are insufficient for marginalized groups and highlights the specific case of the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne, where industrial contaminants have led to neurological symptoms, cancers, and autoimmune diseases. The organization asserts that Bill C-230 complements Bill C-28 by providing a legislative mandate and regular reporting to specifically redress the harms of environmental racism.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and a coalition of 800 health professionals criticize Prime Minister Trudeau's commitment to reduce emissions by at least 40% below 2005 levels by 2030. They argue this target is inadequate compared to a proposed minimum of 60% reduction and falls behind the goals of other wealthy nations like the US and UK. The statement calls for a strengthened Bill C-12 and the reallocation of fossil fuel subsidies to ensure a healthy future for children and global climate stability.