The Costs of Pollution in Canada

Image credit: IISD

Pollution in Canada is costing the average Canadian family $4,300 per year, according to a report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), an environmental non-government organization. In 2015, pollution costs totaled at least $39 billion with smog alone costing approximately $36 billion.

The assessment also investigates the costs of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and their negative impacts on health; heatwaves; and management of contaminated sites, including former mines, factories and gas stations. More research is needed to fill data gaps regarding costs related to: greenhouse gas emissions in terms of climate change and its impacts on the economy and the environment; heavy metals in terms of human health; and fertilizers and other nutrient runoff in terms of excessive growth of aquatic plants and algae.

The average annual cost of managing the 22,000 contaminated sites under federal jurisdiction was $238 million between 2005/06 and 2014/15. This represents a lower bound on the total cost of managing contaminated sites, as it does not include sites under provincial, municipal or private responsibility.

The total future liability for contaminated site cleanup recognized by the federal government was $5.8 billion in 2015, a figure that has been rising in recent years as the assessment of sites continues. An additional $6.4 billion in liabilities was recognized by provincial governments.

Scientific understanding of the links between climate change and extreme weather is improving, though uncertainty remains. Today, only heat waves can be attributed with enough certainty to climate change to allow their costs to be estimated. The cost of climate change-related heat waves in Canada is estimated to have been $1.6 billion in 2015. The costs of other extreme weather related to climate change were likely much larger, though they can’t be estimated today.

The estimated loss in Lake Erie’s ecosystem value due to algal blooms was $3.8 billion in 2015. A further $4 billion loss was estimated in its value as a source of market goods and services. Houses along the lake’s shoreline, whose values depend in part on the quality of the lake, were found to have lost more than $700 million in value.

A tentative estimate of the cost of tap water-borne pathogens in 2015 is $895 million based on Canadians’ spending on bottled water and water filtration devices. This does not include any health and well-being costs associated with exposure to other pollution-related pathogens, such as algal bloom toxins or contaminated shellfish.