Environmental Defence Canada

10/09/2026

Want to use your communications skills to build support for stronger environmental policies and prompt people to take action? We're hiring a Senior Communications Manager to join our team!

This role is an opportunity to develop creative communications strategies, shape compelling campaigns, work with media and create compelling digital content.

We're looking for an experienced communicator with 7+ years of experience, strong writing skills and a passion for using communications to advance social change.

Applications are open until October 18. View the full posting and apply here: https://edc-careers.applytojobs.ca/communications/51383

10/07/2026

Why is it so hard to find an affordable place to live? 🤔

For years, we’ve banned the only kinds of homebuilding efficient enough to match demand for low-cost, family-sized homes: six-storey midrises and four-storey fourplexes on existing neighbourhood streets.

Our old laws restricted decades of construction on two wasteful extremes: pricey sprawl subdivisions where every new house or townhome requires brand new roads and sewers — far away from the places we already spend our time — or concrete high-rise condos too tiny for families.

📋 That’s why we created our Scoresheet — to flag the laws and policies municipalities must fix to deliver “more homes, faster,” and to track and compare their progress.

And Hamilton is starting to move in the right direction — already achieving 147.6 out of a maximum 500. For context, while the City of Toronto scored 324.5, the City of Pickering scored just 18(!).

✅ Hamilton has made better progress on housing than its 905 peers because of its efforts to ensure 80% of its future homes are built inside existing neighbourhoods.

It’s created some “Mid-Rise Residential Zones,” scrapped the ban on fourplex apartments inside residential neighbourhoods and ruled out any further boundary expansions.

⚠️ But that progress is under threat: the provincial government is now using the Ontario Land Tribunal to challenge these hard-fought gains and push to restart sprawl.

With the municipal election coming up, Hamilton’s next Mayor and Council must be committed to doubling down on its new pro-housing, anti-sprawl course.

If you live in Hamilton, NOW is the time to tell your Mayoral and Council candidates to:

🏡 Go further and faster on allowing more family-sized homes in existing neighbourhoods
🌳 Protect farmland and natural areas by resisting the province’s push for sprawl
💧 Support growth in existing neighbourhoods by refusing to fund infrastructure for sprawl

📣 Send your message now: https://act.environmentaldefence.ca/page/201369/action/1

P.S. Want to learn more about sustainable, affordable housing policy? Visit MoreHomesFaster.ca

10/05/2026

Ontario has passed a new law that opens the door to handing over the water and wastewater services we all depend on to for-profit corporations.

Here's what you need to know 👇

1. It paves the way for privatization.
2. It's deliberately confusing.
3. Your community doesn't get a say.

We've seen how this ends. In the 1990s, Hamilton tried privatizing its water. The result? Sewage spills, flooding, and skyrocketing costs. Families and neighbourhoods paid the price.

Water is a basic human need, not a profit opportunity. We deserve a system that is open, accountable and answers to us.

Full breakdown of the new Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act here:

Potential changes could mean Ontarians face higher water bills, less transparency and poor management.

10/01/2026

A bylaw that doesn't even mention "piping plover" is not endangered species protection. Full stop. 🛑

The Ontario government gutted the laws protecting Canada's most critical Great Lakes piping plover habitat — and the Town of Wasaga Beach's replacement bylaw has more to say about guitar busking than it does about protecting an endangered species. 🤔

Environmental Defence’s Phil Pothen breaks down exactly why this isn't good enough — and why the federal government needs to step in NOW with an emergency habitat protection order.

➡️ Read the full piece and take action: https://environmentaldefence.ca/2026/09/29/opinion-wasagas-new-beach-bylaw-is-no-substitute-for-federal-protection/

The re-establishment of Canada’s most important and successful breeding ground for the endangered Great Lakes piping plover alongside the 2 million beach goers who inundate Wasaga’s beaches each year has been an extraordinary accomplishment.

10/01/2026

📣 Why are billions in public dollars being committed to a pipeline while Canadians face urgent needs and a growing climate crisis? Read our full statement here 👇
https://bit.ly/47qlVbM

09/30/2026

Today is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which honours the victims and survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and their communities 🧡

Indigenous Peoples have protected lands and waters 🌳🌊 for thousands of years, yet continue to face the frontline impacts of environmental destruction. As environmental advocates, we recognize that our work is inseparable from justice: addressing the devastating toll of fossil fuel extraction, water contamination, and land and nature destruction on Indigenous communities is central to meaningful reconciliation.

Reconciliation requires more than remembrance. It calls us to listen to Indigenous voices, learn about the history and ongoing impacts of residential schools, and examine the role each of us can play in creating lasting change.

👉Discover how you can support Truth and Reconciliation in your community - from educational workshops to events - there are countless ways to participate and make a difference. Find local events and resources here: https://nctr.ca/.

Artwork by Hawlii Pichette - visit: https://www.urbaniskwew.com/

09/29/2026

: LNG Canada Phase 2 has been greenlit—but Canadians are footing the bill and bearing the harms. Read our statement:

Statement by Alex Walker, Energy Analytics Program Manager Toronto | Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the

09/29/2026

09/21/2026

🚨 : Environmental Defence responds to the federal government’s “Bulldoze Nature” bill and warns of the risks to Canada’s environment, wildlife and communities.
Read our release here: https://bit.ly/46DxLyZ

Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – Today's