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.
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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.
Meet Our Experts
Latest News & Commentary
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Studies Expose Reality of Logging-Driven Forest Degradation in Canada
Expert BlogOttawaJennifer Skene
New publications on the impact of industrial logging in Canada reveal pervasive forest degradation and significant climate consequences,
Wahkohtowin Development: Creating an Indigenous Conservation Economy
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
Using a collaborative approach, Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree and Brunswick House First Nations are advancing a new paradigm of sustainability.
The Issue with Tissue Fifth Edition
Expert BlogCanadaAshley Jordan
Five years in, laggards remain far behind a growing number of sustainable tissue brands.
Walking the Talk: How Will Canada Halt and Reverse Biodiversity Loss?
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
NRDC is working with Canadian and international environmental non-governmental organizations to provide recommendations for how Canada can develop a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan that aligns with its commitments to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
Glasgow Forests Declaration Success Hinges on Northern Accountability
Expert BlogCanadaJennifer Skene
In the absence of accountability from the Global North, there are warning signs the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use is set up for failure.
Canada’s Caribou Protection Delays Bring More Forest Degradation
Expert BlogOntario, CanadaDr. Julee Boan
Canada gives Ontario another year to degrade at-risk caribou habitat, taking it further away from international promises to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
Questions Answered on Canadian Wildfires—a Public Health Threat Linked to Climate Change
Expert BlogUnited States, CanadaDr. Vijay Limaye
Here is some key information that may help us prepare for the future and address the fossil fuels at the root of the problem.
Indigenous-led Collaborations Are Transforming Conservation
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
The pressure is immense and the clock is ticking to ensure the course correction needed to stave off the worst climate and biodiversity impacts predicted for our industrialized world. A new collective, called the Restore, Assert, Defend (or RAD) Network…
Canada Must Intervene to Protect Caribou in Ontario
Expert BlogCanadaDr. Julee Boan
In 2022, environmental groups called out the caribou conservation agreement between Canada and Ontario as being the weakest in the country - with no measurable targets to protect critical habitat. Now, a year later, the federal Environment Minister has stated…
Auditor Calls for Canada’s Transparency on Logging Emissions
Expert BlogOttawaJennifer Skene
Canada's Environment Commissioner found that the Government of Canada has failed to transparently report on the climate impact of industrial logging, with potentially sweeping ramifications for its forest policymaking.
Latest Policy Resources
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The Issue with Tissue
ReportCanadaAshley 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.
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.
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.
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…
Pandora’s Box: Clearcutting in the Canadian Boreal Unleashes Millions of Tons of Previously Uncounted Carbon Dioxide Emissions
ReportCanadaJosh Axelrod, Lance Larson
To fight climate change, Canada must do more to protect its boreal forest.
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.