Canada
Old-growth trees of the boreal forest near Dryden in northwestern Ontario, Canada
Credit:
River Jordan for NRDC
Unparalleled global treasures stretch across the distant reaches of Canada, from the Great Bear Rainforest along British Columbia’s coast to the boreal forest, which accounts for a quarter of the world’s remaining intact forests and holds nearly twice as much carbon as all the world’s oil reserves combined.
These ecosystems are home to hundreds of Indigenous communities and many of North America’s most iconic species. They also play a pivotal role in protecting our climate. But industrial activities threaten them with irreparable harm—activities like the development of Alberta’s tar sands, among the world’s dirtiest sources of oil, and the clearcutting of more than a million acres of boreal forest each year.
Canada’s energy and land-use decisions have major implications for its future, as well as that of its neighbors in the United States and the climate of the entire planet. This is why NRDC works with Indigenous allies and environmental partners to protect the country’s landscapes and shape its conservation choices, from Quebec’s James Bay to British Columbia’s Clayoquot Sound.
- NRDC experts have gained a reputation for credible research that has earned us a place in the federal regulatory process, shaping decisions on issues such as tar sands pipeline proposals and deep-sea drilling. We have established trusted partnerships with Indigenous allies, environmental and community groups, and government agencies, making us one of the few environmental organizations that can convene key stakeholders on both sides of the U.S.–Canadian border.
- NRDC is defending Canada’s boreal forest from unsustainable logging, which is driven in part by the U.S. demand for single-use, throwaway products like toilet paper. We support our allies by backing their efforts to establish Indigenous protected areas and by challenging companies like Procter & Gamble to stop using intact boreal forest to make products like Charmin toilet paper.
- As one of the first organizations to call international attention to the destructive power of oil production from Alberta’s tar sands, NRDC worked with a coalition that stopped the Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline and the Energy East pipeline that would have brought hundreds of tar sands tankers down the U.S. Atlantic coast. We continue to fight the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry tar sands oil from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast, and we work to protect our communities and marine ecosystems along the Pacific coast from tar sands tankers.
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Latest News & Commentary
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The 46th Open-Ended Working Group Heads to Montreal to discuss HFCs
Expert BlogMontrealJeff Fralick, Dr. Richie Kaur, Alex Hillbrand
Parties to the Montreal Protocol gather in Montreal next week to discuss a number of climate-crucial points.
Quebec Degrading Caribou Habitat: Federal Government to Intervene
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
As some caribou herds in Quebec approach the “threshold of near disappearance" , the federal Minister of Environment calls for emergency measures...again.
When Customers and Investors Demand Corporate Sustainability
ExplainerInternational, United States, CanadaSusan Cosier
Through shareholder resolutions, letters, and activism, consumers and shareholders can push companies to clean up supply chains—and their reputations.
Kimberly-Clark Is on a Roll with New Forest Policy and Goals
Expert BlogUnited States, CanadaShelley Vinyard
The maker of Kleenex, Cottonelle, and Scott tissue products just committed to go beyond its biggest competitors.
Logging Roads in Canada are Contributing to Forest Degradation
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
Canada has more than 1.5 million kilometres of resource access roads. That's enough to circle the Earth 37 times. It's leading to wide-spread forest degradation.
Forest Degradation Increases Community Vulnerability to Extreme Floods
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
Extreme flooding events are increasing with climate change. Research shows how clearcut logging increases risks to communities and ecosystems.
Poll: People Want Action on Plastics for Health and Wildlife
Expert BlogInternational, Canada, United States, Ohio, PennsylvaniaDaniel Rosenberg
New poll results show overwhelming public support for government action to address the plastic crisis, including a strong global plastics treaty.
Removing Forest “Waste” Degrades Ecosystem Structure and Function
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
Canada, as a signatory to the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, must halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.
Canaries in a Coalmine: Birds and Forest Degradation in Canada
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
Canada, as a signatory to the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, must halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.
In Planning for Climate Change, Native Americans Draw on the Past
ExplainerUnited States, CanadaTim Vanderpool
Across North America, Indigenous tribes and nations are consulting their traditional ecological knowledge to help prepare for a warming world.
Latest Policy Resources
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Keystone XL Case Documents
Legal FilingsCanada, United States, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska
NRDC and our partners sued the Trump administration three times, preventing every illegal attempt to ram the Keystone XL project through. These are some of the documents associated with our cases.
The Issue with Tissue
ReportUnited States, CanadaAshley Jordan, Shelley Vinyard, Jennifer Skene
Tissue products such as toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissue are cheap and convenient—but they cost the planet a great deal.
NRDC Experts and Events at COP27
OverviewInternational, Canada, India, United StatesManish Bapna, Amanda Maxwell, Brendan Guy, Carolina Herrera, Joe Thwaites, Shruti Shukla, Sameer Kwatra, Anthony Swift, Khalil Shahyd, Lisa Speer, Jennifer Skene, Nan Zeng, Jake Schmidt, Douglass Sims, Marissa Ramirez, Prima Madan
Analysis and events focusing on the concrete steps we need to cut global emissions in half in this decisive decade, and to adapt to the mounting climate change impacts we can no longer avoid.
What Is the Keystone XL Pipeline?
GuideNorth Dakota, Alberta, Montana, South Dakota, NebraskaMelissa Denchak, Courtney Lindwall
How a single pipeline project became the epicenter of an enormous environmental, public health, and civil rights battle.
Missing the Forest: How Carbon Logging Loopholes Hinder Canada's Climate Leadership
ReportCanadaJennifer Skene
Protecting the Canadian boreal’s carbon stores is a crucial element in our fight against climate change, but industrial logging is responsible for cutting down more than one million acres of the forest each year. The government of Canada has used…
NRDC Experts and Events at COP26
OverviewUnited States, International, Canada, IndiaManish Bapna, Sarah Dougherty, Brendan Guy, Carolina Herrera, Sameer Kwatra, Jennifer Skene, Lisa Speer, Anthony Swift, Charlotte Steiner, Jake Schmidt, Douglass Sims
NRDC joins the United Nations global climate talks to hold global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, drive commitments to green finance, and promote nature-based solutions.
Pulp Fiction: Canada’s Largest Pulp Producers’ Actions Do Not Match Their Sustainability Claims
ReportCanadaCourtenay Lewis, Ashley Jordan
Canada’s largest pulp suppliers are broadly failing to implement even baseline environmental and social standards. Meanwhile, their communications materials are greenwashing their poor behavior, concealing harmful activities with false claims of sustainability.
By a Thousand Cuts: How Powerful Companies’ Wood Sourcing Is Degrading Canada’s Boreal Forest
ReportCanada, United StatesCourtenay Lewis, Ashley Jordan
By purchasing wood and pulp from the world’s largest remaining intact forest without key environmental and social safeguards, major U.S. corporations are profiting from and enabling ongoing forest degradation.
Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands
OverviewMexico, United States, Canada
The largest desert in North America is home to biodiverse grasslands that store large amounts of carbon and contribute to the livelihood of millions of people. Yet, these grasslands are highly threatened by human activity and a changing climate.
Cutting It Close: How Unsustainable Logging in Canada’s Boreal Forest Threatens Indigenous Rights, Wildlife, and the Global Climate
ReportCanadaJennifer Skene, Josh Axelrod, Anthony Swift, Courtenay Lewis, Shelley Vinyard
Runaway logging in the globally-important forest violates the rights of Indigenous Peoples, devastates wildlife, and jeopardizes drinking water sources. It also puts the entire world at risk by releasing more than 26 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the…
Industrial logging is destroying a million acres of the boreal every year.
Tell Justin Trudeau to close Canada's logging loopholes and save the boreal forest!
Tell Trudeau to close Canada's logging loopholes and save the boreal forest!
Widespread industrial logging for forest products like toilet paper and lumber is destroying a million acres of Canada's climate-critical boreal forest every year.