UW research highlighting link between air quality and climate change
Posted May 27, 2026 03:43:38 PM.
Last Updated May 27, 2026 03:56:14 PM.
Newly published research from the University of Waterloo is showing the correlation between air quality and climate change and how it may impact Canadians’ day-to-day lives both now and in the future.
It’s sounding the alarm that, without meaningful action to address air pollution, Canadians may be spending more time indoors in the summer.
The experts consider the air quality in Canada to be good overall, yet more than 17,000 early deaths and over $140 billion in economic damage are attributed to air pollution in Canada each year.
The single largest contributor to air pollution in Canada is wildfire smoke.
And given that wildfire season begins in late spring and continues through summer, the impacts to air quality are felt most often in the summer.
Rebecca Saari, Associate Professor; Canada Research Chair in Global Change, Atmosphere, and Health, University of Waterloo, was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show, where she said that, especially for the vulnerable, air quality could determine even simple decisions.
“In our research recently, we’ve been looking at how it affects simple things like our decisions to go outside and enjoy the outdoor environment through exercise or recreation or people have to work outside. Climate change can make those decisions a lot tougher for people.”
Saari admits the path toward fewer emissions won’t be an easy one.
“There are going to be sources that are harder to decarbonize too, or emissions that are harder to address like from natural sources or wildfires. And so, we also need to help people stay protected when things do continue to get worse.”
She mentioned things like making N95 or P99 masks more readily available and eventually, home renovations that seal the interior from outside air.
While most of us have a choice to go outside or not, some people don’t always have access to clean indoor spaces, specifically outside workers and the unhoused.
When it comes to the forecast for the summer of 2026, Environment Canada is predicting cooler and wetter in Ontario, hot and dry for the Prairies and B.C.
Saari said her indicators are showing a different forecast.
“2026 is almost certainly going to be one of the hottest years on record, aside from 2023. And there are places where I don’t like the way the wildfire weather index looks in Ontario and Eastern Canada for June, for example. So, cooler and wetter would be fantastic.”
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