Clean Air Day in Canada Date in the current year: June 4, 2025

Although Canada has some of the best air quality in the world, it still has air pollution. According to statistics, air pollution contributes to approximately 17,400 premature deaths in Canada every year. It also puts a strain on the public healthcare system and incurs an estimated $146 billion in economic costs annually. Air pollution not only causes health issues, but also harms wildlife, vegetation, and crops, damages buildings, and contributes to climate change and biodiversity loss.

One of the largest contributors to air pollution in Canada is transportation powered by fossil fuels, which is responsible for 28% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Other human-caused sources of air pollution resulting from the burning of fossil fuels include industrial processes and electricity generation. Natural sources of air pollution include pollen, dust, and wildfire smoke, which has become a greater problem in recent decades due to climate change.

Clean Air Day was declared an annual celebration in 1999, during Canadian Environment Week. Since then, it has been observed on the first Wednesday in June. This awareness day primarily aims to highlight the importance of clean air to health and the environment, as well as to celebrate sustainable actions that help reduce air pollution.

On Clean Air Day, organizations, workplaces, schools, municipalities, and other stakeholders across Canada organize events and activities to promote improving air quality. These include walking and cycling events to encourage reducing emissions, photo and art contests, interactive stations, virtual events, such as panels, Q&A sessions, workshops, virtual tours, contests, games, and challenges, and promotional campaigns using the hashtags #CleanAirDay and #CleanAirEverywhere.

The best way to participate in Clean Air Day is to take concrete steps to contribute to cleaner air in Canada. This can be done by reducing your carbon footprint (e.g., by reducing electricity use, driving less often, supporting renewable energy, shopping sustainably, using environmentally friendly products, reusing and recycling to reduce waste, and avoiding burning wood), planting trees in your community, learning more about air quality, and teaching others what you’ve learned.

Clean Air Day is also a great opportunity to learn about the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), which helps you stay safe and healthy when outdoor air quality is poor. The AQHI is an easy-to-use scale from 1 to 10+ based on three key pollutants: particulate matter, ground-level ozone, and nitrogen dioxide. Values of 1 to 3 indicate low risk, 4 to 6 indicate moderate risk, 7 to 10 indicate high risk, and 10+ indicate very high risk. The AQHI provides real-time information about air quality across Canada and can be found on the WeatherCAN website or app.