New Brunswick has made real progress on air quality over the past several decades. Cleaner fuels, improved technology, stronger standards, and sustained public investment have led to measurable improvements in many communities since the Clean Air Act was introduced in 1996. Government deserves credit for expanding air quality monitoring, modernizing public reporting, and giving New Brunswickers access to current and historical data through the provincial Air Quality Data Portal.
These efforts matter. Clean air protects health.
Yet the most recent State of the Air data make one thing clear: progress has been uneven, and some communities continue to experience poor air quality that impacts their health. At the same time, climate change is making air pollution harder to control. Against this backdrop, proposals for new fossil fuel-based energy projects raise serious public health concerns.
If New Brunswick is serious about protecting the air we share, we cannot continue adding new sources of air pollution.
Air pollution remains one of the biggest health risks we face
Air pollution is not an abstract environmental issue. The World Health Organization has identified it as the single largest environmental risk to human health. Health Canada estimates that more than 17,000 premature deaths occur each year in Canada due to air pollution, along with millions of days of worsened symptoms for people living with chronic disease.
Both short-term pollution spikes—such as wildfire smoke—and long-term exposure from industry, transportation and energy generation harm health. There is no safe level of exposure.
Certain groups face higher risks: seniors, pregnant people, infants and children, people who work or exercise outdoors, and people living with chronic illness, including lung and heart disease.
In New Brunswick, that “at-risk” group includes a large share of the population.
According to the New Brunswick Health Council, lung cancer is the leading cause of avoidable death in the province, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) ranks third, with heart disease between them. Nearly one in five New Brunswickers lives with lung disease, more than 60% manage at least one chronic condition, and almost 23% of the population is aged 65 or older.
For people living with COPD, asthma, or heart disease, poor air quality can mean missed work or school, emergency department visits, or hospitalization. In fact, exacerbations of COPD are one of the leading causes of hospitalization in Canada, second only to childbirth.
From a health perspective, clean air is not optional. It is preventative care.
Share your Air Quality concerns
NB Lung is compiling your stories to bring to decision makers at key moments – Share Your Story.
Climate change is worsening air quality
Climate change is intensifying the conditions that lead to poorer air quality. Higher temperatures increase the formation of ground-level ozone and, when combined with stagnant air patterns, allow pollutants to accumulate where people live and breathe, rather than dispersing. As a result, periods of extreme heat are increasingly also periods of degraded air quality, compounding health risks for people with lung and heart conditions. In 2025, New Brunswick experienced significant wildfire activity: at one point there were dozens of active fires in the province, with a few deemed out of control, and Environment Canada issued special air quality statements for Moncton, southeastern New Brunswick, and surrounding counties due to wildfire smoke, prompting the health warnings for vulnerable populations. Wildfire smoke has become a more frequent and impactful source of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅), which is linked to worsened respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes. Health authorities identify heat-related ozone formation and wildfire smoke as pathways through which climate change is already affecting air quality and harming human health. Health Canada’s report Health of Canadians in a Changing Climate outlines how these trends are already increasing health risks and straining health systems.
Protecting air quality requires reducing pollution, not adding new sources.
New fossil fuel projects raise health concerns
Energy projects that rely on burning fuels for electricity produce air pollutants known to worsen respiratory and cardiovascular health. These emissions matter most in communities already experiencing repeat air quality exceedances and among populations already burdened by chronic disease.
New Brunswick has committed to improving the percentage of monitoring stations rated “good or better” for air quality—from 69% in 2023 to 78% by 2028. Updating the Clean Air Act is a critical step toward that goal, and NB Lung welcomes the province’s decision to engage the public extensively in shaping those reforms.
Those strengthened protections cannot succeed, however, if new sources of pollution are introduced at the same time.
Public health prevention works best when risks are reduced upstream. Adding new fossil fuel emissions moves New Brunswick in the opposite direction—particularly at a moment when climate change is already amplifying pollution levels beyond historic norms.
Cleaner options exist—and they protect health
New Brunswickers want reliable electricity. They also want clean air, safe drinking water, protected ecosystems, healthy communities, and jobs. These goals are not in conflict.
Across Canada and internationally, jurisdictions are meeting reliability needs using combinations of energy efficiency, demand management, renewable generation, and non-polluting grid support technologies—approaches that do not add air pollution.
The debate should not be framed as health versus reliability. From a lung health perspective, the relevant question is simple:
Can New Brunswick meet its energy needs without worsening air quality and public health?
Evidence shows the answer is yes.
New Brunswickers want stronger protection for the air we share
Public opinion aligns with the science. A recent Atlantic Quarterly survey found that 71% of New Brunswickers believe pollution laws are too weak and should be strengthened to force polluters to reduce emissions and improve air quality.
NB Lung supports the province’s efforts to modernize air quality protections and recognizes the progress made to date. At the same time, more must be done, particularly in communities experiencing repeat exceedances and among populations already carrying a heavy burden of lung and heart disease.
Protecting the air we share requires consistency. We cannot strengthen air quality regulations while approving new sources of pollution that undermine them.
What you can do:
Share Your Story
If air quality has affected your health, or the quality of life of someone you love, your story matters. NB Lung is collecting stories from across the province to ensure decision-makers understand the real human impact of air pollution.
Add your voice
The PCIC (Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition), including community members and organizations are calling for a halt to new fossil fuel projects that threaten air quality and public health in the Tantramar area.
Stay informed.
Major decisions affecting air quality and health are being made now. Paying attention—and sharing accurate information—helps ensure public health stays at the centre of those decisions.