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“Children are particularly susceptible to harm from air pollutants … They’re much more vulnerable to the health effects of poor indoor air quality because their bodies, brains and respiratory systems are still developing,” Erica Phipps, the Executive Director of CPCHE, told the Star.

But while their report investigating Canada’s existing legislative tools to improve indoor air quality found that measures did exist, they are significantly underutilized and lacking in specificity. Phipps hopes her organization’s call to action would spur action.

“There is not a dearth of policy levers that can be leveraged to address these issues,” she said. “What we’re seeing is a lack of focus, a lack of prioritization in terms of guidelines.”

Why is air pollution bad for kids?

The physical and psychological impacts of air pollution have been widely documented in adults, and are expected to be compounded in kids.

With their smaller bodies and higher physical activity levels, children breathe in more pollutants per kilogram of body weight than adults, Phipps explained. Combined with their developing bodies, air pollution exposure can lead to respiratory problems, allergies and even reduced cognitive function down the line.

Air pollution can also cause or worsen asthma, the leading cause of school absenteeism in Canada, according to CPCHE’s news release. 

Meanwhile, ventilation, filtration and the reduction of polluting sources have been associated with improved brain function and reduced school absences. As demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, cleaner indoor air may also cut down on the spread of contagious diseases.

Children spend a significant chunk of their time indoors and in educational settings. As climate change continues to accelerate, Phipps said earlier and more intense fire seasons coupled with heatwaves mean improved indoor air quality is urgently needed.

“Air pollution is not an outdoor issue,” Phipps continued. “There’s evidence showing that the quality of the outdoor air directly affects the quality of the indoor air … (and research suggests) compared to other buildings, schools actually have greater infiltration of air pollutants from the outdoors.”

Canada already has rules in place that can improve indoor air quality

According to CPCHE’s report, Canada has multiple legal mechanisms that can be used to improve air quality, including occupational health and safety statutes, public health laws, human rights legislation and more.

The problem, according to Theresa McClenaghan, executive director and counsel of the Canadian Environmental Law Association, is the laws are lacking in specificity toward child care and educational settings — and very little work is being done to tailor new programs to these settings.

For example, all the provinces’ public health authorities have broad powers to act, McClenaghan said — “But often if they don’t have specific requirements by their province, to focus on schools, for example, or on indoor air quality, then they won’t necessarily.”

Similarly, school boards, with limited resources, generally won’t act on matters like this unless given specific direction, she continued.

This lack of specificity and guidance can often lead to miscommunication between the layers of government and institutions. Phipps recalled when an official in charge of maintaining facilities in Newfoundland schools learned about the dangers of cancer-causing radon gas — despite Canada’s schools and child care programs being required to test for radon for years.

This official and their team taught themselves how to do the screening and proceeded to test hundreds of Newfoundland schools, Phipps said. But many schools across Canada don’t, either through ignorance of the rule or a lack of enforcement.

Children are falling through the gaps, advocates say

CPCHE’s report also revealed that, because most funding streams for air quality improvements are integrated into school budgets, most child care settings are cut off from accessing financial support.

This, alongside a lack of tailored programs for home-based child care, only intensify the equity challenges faced by poor and marginalized individuals and communities, who may rely on these services for their affordability and accessibility, the report read.

This was especially pronounced in Indigenous communities, who may lack the funds or the tailored guidance to act. The report cites a study in remote northwestern Ontario that found 21 per cent of Indigenous children across four communities were hospitalized for respiratory infections before the age of two.

McClenaghan added that certain First Nations communities “are much more disproportionately impacted by wildfire events”; as wildfire seasons are expected to intensify, air quality inequities urgently need to be resolved.

How Canada can improve indoor quality for kids

The following are CPCHE’s calls for action in order for Canada to improve indoor air quality as a nation.

1. Develop indoor air quality guidance and guidelines specific to educational settings, coupled with sustained funding, technical assistance and training, to support schools and child care programs in reducing sources of pollution, ensuring adequate ventilation and filtration, and undertaking routine assessment, monitoring and maintenance.

2. Ensure transparent, timely communications and effective outreach so that all schools and child care settings have equitable access to funding opportunities and capacity to act on indoor air quality guidelines and guidance. 

3. Prioritize investment in healthy indoor air quality in schools and child care settings in communities facing environmental injustice as a targeted and tangible strategy to improve health equity and recognize every child’s right to a healthy environment.

4. Take decisive action to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals in educational settings, prevent air pollution, both indoors and out, and embrace bold action to mitigate climate change that directly contributes to wildfire smoke, extreme heat and flood-related health risks.

“Dealing with indoor air quality will have a direct effect on the health of children, on brain health, on intelligence, on opportunities in life,” Phipps said. ” … It’s an area where not only we have solutions. It also matters a great deal because these kids have their whole lives ahead of them.”