Breathe Easy

Ecology Ottawa's Breathe Easy Campaign

Breathing clean air is vital to our physical health, but is a growing challenge with the rise of pollutants in our atmosphere. Although we rarely see it, air pollution is one of the most significant environmental challenges impacting public health and one of the most avoidable causes of death and disease globally. Air pollution leads to disease, increased hospitalizations, and even premature death from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.

People most at risk for health effects include seniors because age weakens the heart, lungs, and immune system and increases the likelihood of health problems such as heart and lung disease. Children are also more vulnerable to air pollution: they have less-developed respiratory and defense systems. Because of their size, they inhale more air per kilogram of body weight than adults. This means that they are particularly vulnerable whilst travelling in and moving around diesel school buses.

In light of these worrying statistics, and in view of the fact that in Ottawa there is only a single air quality monitoring station downtown, over 2020, 2021, and 2023 Ecology Ottawa ran a community-led air quality monitoring program across the city with over 100 volunteers involved each year. Thank you to our volunteers, staff, and partners who made this campaign possible!

The World Health Organization estimates that 4.2 million deaths occur globally every year occur as a result of exposure to outdoor air pollution, with the Government of Canada estimating that 15,300 premature deaths per year in Canada are linked to air pollution from fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Of these, Health Canada estimates that air pollution contributes to 6,600 premature deaths in Ontario alone; equivalent to 42 premature deaths per 100,000 Canadians. Health Canada has released numerous reports on the negative health impacts of air pollution. For further information, here you can access their 2021 report Health Impacts of Air Pollution in Canada.

In 2021 we held two webinars looking at the results of our air quality data collection campaign in collaboration with Sierra Club Canada.

The first of these featured prominent researcher and University of Toronto professor Dr. Greg Evans, whose research focuses on air pollution and understanding its impacts on human health and the environment.

The second featured Dr. Errol Thomson, a Research Scientist with Health Canada and Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa, who provided an overview of ongoing research efforts into the health effects of air pollution, including the widespread nature of effects, how pollutant composition (and hence source) matters, and factors that contribute to vulnerability.

Where it all began - Breathe Easy 2020

In 2020, Ecology Ottawa’s volunteers collected air quality data from 40 sites across Ottawa, measuring particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide (which is produced by Ontario’s fleet of 18,000 diesel school buses) in the air. Over 150 volunteers trained to use the devices for air quality monitoring across Ottawa, while five more were involved in the data management, analysis and mapping effort. The campaign was Ottawa’s largest community-led science project and we are so proud to be leading such a critical campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of air pollution all around us.

See the interactive map with the data points from the 2020 campaign below.

Breathe Easy Map

We focused on the most vulnerable sectors of the population, including children in schools and seniors in care homes. Driven by studies on air quality specifically in school zones, a number of our sites were located outside of schools so that we could assess the effect of diesel buses as well as other vehicle emissions where children are being dropped off in the morning. The results of such studies are particularly notable in relation to the location of kindergartens, which are often right beside bus drop-off locations and of course involve highly vulnerable individuals on account of their small size.

Find the 2020 Breathe Easy Report here!

Tackling inequality and protecting the vulnerable - Breathe Easy 2021

In 2021, we monitored 46 locations across Ottawa, with the aim of having a robust geo-spacial representation across the city. The air quality data collected by our 100+ volunteers was analyzed against socio-economic demographics within neighbourhoods, including population density and affluence. The analysis looks at the links between neighbourhood demographics and air quality, increasing the equity lens of our monitoring program.

The results of the data analysis was shocking and showed clearly that populations in lower income neighbourhoods tend to be those subject to elevated levels of contaminant concentrations and therefore elevated levels of environmental health risk. Air quality worsens with income in a more significant way than any other factor. This is a clear demonstration of environmental inequity within the city.

You can read the report from Breathe Easy 2021 here:

We are calling on the City of Ottawa to ensure that municipal planning changes (in relation to truck routes, areas of industrialization, areas of environmental protection and policy on affordable housing) are made to help address environmental health inequities. The City of Ottawa must step up now to protect the most vulnerable populations in our neighbourhoods.

Download the Breathe Easy 2021 report now

Pour le français, cliquez ici.

Wildfire smoke engulfed the city of Ottawa in the summer of 2023; with people abandoning their daily outdoor activities due to the bad air quality surrounding them. The community was scared of sending their children out to play, perform outdoor exercises, or spend as much time outside as they did before. Children, seniors, and immunocompromised individuals are especially at risk of poor air quality. In its third and final year, the Breathe Easy campaign was welcomed by over 50 volunteers and the Ottawa community to help shed light on the quality of air that we breathe in every day. Community members need more data to make informed decisions about our health and well-being.

Read our 2023 report here:

A special acknowledgment is due to Dr. Thomas Walker and Emelia A. Ndebugri from Carleton University, who led the data analysis for this project and authored parts of this report. Many thanks to Harry Hitsman, Tara Dwivedi, and Michael Allen for volunteering to work on the data analysis for this project. A special thank you to Alex Neufeldt, Gemma Patey, and Laura Casciaro for their work on Breathe Easy as volunteer organisers and our climate program coordinator, Dan Rutabingwa Gakire for coordinating this campaign.

Thanks to the Trottier Family Foundation for making this project possible for the third year through their generous support.