From the Fraser Institute

By Annika Segelhorst and Elmira Aliakbari

Canadians care about the environment and breathing clean air. In 2023, the share of Canadians concerned about the state of outdoor air quality was 7 in 10, according to survey results from Abacus Data. Yet Canada outperforms most comparable high-income countries on air quality, suggesting a gap between public perception and empirical reality. Overall, Canada ranks 8th for air quality among 31 high-income countries, according to our recent study published by the Fraser Institute.

A key determinant of air quality is the presence of tiny solid particles and liquid droplets floating in the air, known as particulates. The smallest of these particles, known as fine particulate matter, are especially hazardous, as they can penetrate deep into a person’s lungs, enter the blood stream and harm our health.

Exposure to fine particulate matter stems from both natural and human sources. Natural events such as wildfires, dust storms and volcanic eruptions can release particles into the air that can travel thousands of kilometres. Other sources of particulate pollution originate from human activities such as the combustion of fossil fuels in automobiles and during industrial processes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) publish air quality guidelines related to health, which we used to measure and rank 31 high-income countries on air quality.

Using data from 2022 (the latest year of consistently available data), our study assessed air quality based on three measures related to particulate pollution: (1) average exposure, (2) share of the population at risk, and (3) estimated health impacts.

The first measure, average exposure, reflects the average level of outdoor particle pollution people are exposed to over a year. Among 31 high-income countries, Canadians had the 5th-lowest average exposure to particulate pollution.

Next, the study considered the proportion of each country’s population that experienced an annual average level of fine particle pollution greater than the WHO’s air quality guideline. Only 2 per cent of Canadians were exposed to fine particle pollution levels exceeding the WHO guideline for annual exposure, ranking 9th of 31 countries. In other words, 98 per cent of Canadians were not exposed to fine particulate pollution levels exceeding health guidelines.

Finally, the study reviewed estimates of illness and mortality associated with fine particle pollution in each country. Canada had the fifth-lowest estimated death and illness burden due to fine particle pollution.

Taken together, the results show that Canada stands out as a global leader on clean air, ranking 8th overall for air quality among high-income countries.

Canada’s record underscores both the progress made in achieving cleaner air and the quality of life our clean air supports.

Annika Segelhorst

Junior Economist

Elmira Aliakbari

Director, Natural Resource Studies, Fraser Institute

MxM News

President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is marking what officials are calling a landmark moment in U.S. immigration enforcement, announcing Wednesday that more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have now left the country since Trump returned to the Oval Office in January. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the surge reflects a sweeping, sustained crackdown driven by Immigration and Customs Enforcement teams that — according to internal tallies — have already removed more than 605,000 illegal aliens, most of whom were facing criminal charges or carrying prior convictions. Nearly two million more have opted to self-deport, a wave Noem attributes to stepped-up enforcement and the administration’s aggressive public messaging. She again urged those still in the country illegally to use the government’s CBP Home app, which offers a free one-way flight and a $1,000 stipend to expedite departure.

Senior DHS officials say arrests have climbed as well, with almost 600,000 illegal aliens taken into custody since January 20. “Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now,” DHS official McLaughlin said this week. “They know if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return.”

The administration argues the impact is being felt far beyond immigration courts and detention facilities, pointing to the U.S. housing market as one of the clearest signs of change. For six straight months, DHS says not a single illegal alien has been released into the interior from the southern border — a dramatic shift after years of mass inflows under President Biden. That decline, they say, is finally filtering into rent and home-price data after years of punishing increases.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said Americans have now seen four consecutive months of rent decreases — the first sustained drop in years — as fewer illegal aliens compete for housing. Vice President JD Vance emphasized the connection even more bluntly: “The connection between illegal immigration and skyrocketing housing costs is as clear as day. We are proud to be moving in the right direction. Still so much to do.”

Research abroad and at home backs up the administration’s argument. Economists in Denmark released findings earlier this year showing that a one-percentage-point rise in local immigration over a five-year period drove private rental prices up roughly 6 percent and home prices up about 11 percent. The Center for Immigration Studies presented similar data to Congress last year, with researcher Steven Camarota testifying that a 5-percentage-point increase in a metro area’s recent-immigrant share was tied to a 12-percent rise in rent for U.S.-born households.

As DHS leaders frame it, Trump’s second-term enforcement machine is reshaping both border policy and household budgets — an approach they say is finally delivering relief to Americans who spent years squeezed by soaring housing costs and unchecked migration.