Canada is warming at twice the global average. From devastating wildfires and record-breaking heat waves to floods, droughts, and melting permafrost, the climate crisis is no longer a distant threat—it’s an everyday reality. In 2023 alone, wildfires scorched more than 18 million hectares across the country, displacing thousands of families and exposing millions to hazardous air quality. Coastal communities are bracing for rising sea levels. Farmers face crop failures. Indigenous territories are under siege from extractive industries. And yet, political will and public investment continue to lag behind the urgency of the crisis.
But the climate emergency isn’t just about emissions or temperatures—it’s about justice. The communities hit hardest by climate change are often the least responsible for it. Racialized, low-income, and Indigenous communities bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harm, yet they are also among the most underfunded when it comes to resilience and adaptation resources.
Amid this landscape of urgency, there is also hope. Across Canada, a vibrant network of charities and nonprofits are pushing for bold solutions—from restoring habitats and defending clean water to empowering youth climate activists and advancing Indigenous-led conservation. These organizations are not only responding to crisis; they are imagining—and building—a livable, sustainable future.
Here are some of the Canadian charities leading the fight for climate and environmental justice today.
Environmental Defence: Holding Polluters Accountable
Environmental Defence has been a powerful watchdog in Canada’s environmental movement for over 35 years. Their work spans a broad range of issues—clean water, plastic pollution, toxic chemicals, urban sprawl, and climate policy—but their central mission is clear: expose environmental wrongdoing, advocate for strong regulation, and empower Canadians to take action.
One of their flagship campaigns focuses on ending fossil fuel subsidies and stopping the expansion of oil and gas infrastructure. Environmental Defence uses policy research, media advocacy, and grassroots mobilization to pressure governments to align with climate science. In 2022, their work helped influence the federal government’s commitment to cap oil and gas emissions and phase out public financing of fossil fuels abroad.
They’re also working to make cities more livable through smart urban planning and transit justice, advocating for walkable neighborhoods, green infrastructure, and affordable housing. Donations help fund their independent research, public education campaigns, and policy work that keeps corporate polluters in check and amplifies community voices.
Indigenous Climate Action: Centering Indigenous Knowledge
True climate justice is impossible without Indigenous leadership. Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) is a grassroots, Indigenous-led organization that works to empower Indigenous communities across Turtle Island to take the lead on climate solutions—solutions that are deeply rooted in land stewardship, sovereignty, and traditional knowledge systems.
ICA offers community-based training programs, climate toolkits, digital storytelling projects, and leadership gatherings that foster collective learning and resistance. In recent years, they’ve organized land defender training, supported food sovereignty projects, and created toolkits on just transition strategies developed by Indigenous thinkers.
Their model doesn’t rely on extractive research or external saviours. Instead, ICA centres cultural revitalization, intergenerational dialogue, and land rematriation. Donating to ICA supports Indigenous-led climate action on the ground, from water protection to wildfire resilience to Indigenous science education. It’s not charity—it’s reparative justice.
Nature Conservancy of Canada: Safeguarding Land and Biodiversity
Protecting land is one of the most direct and effective ways to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is the country’s leading land conservation charity, with more than 15 million hectares protected in partnership with local communities, private landowners, governments, and Indigenous nations.
NCC’s work safeguards critical habitats for endangered species, supports carbon storage through wetlands and old-growth forests, and enhances natural climate resilience. From the Prairies to the Boreal, NCC works across all provinces and territories to protect land that matters—for wildlife, for water, and for future generations.
Their projects are science-driven and community-led. Whether it’s restoring peatlands in Quebec, rewilding grasslands in Alberta, or partnering with Indigenous Guardians in the North, NCC turns conservation into a collaborative, long-term investment. A donation helps secure and steward land that cannot be replaced—once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Ecojustice: Taking Climate Offenders to Court
Sometimes, the most effective climate action happens in the courtroom. Ecojustice is Canada’s largest environmental law charity, using strategic litigation to challenge government inaction, corporate polluters, and policies that violate environmental rights.
From suing the federal government over weak carbon pricing rules to holding mining companies accountable for water contamination, Ecojustice takes on high-stakes legal battles that set national precedents. Their team of lawyers, scientists, and policy experts work together to defend the public interest and ensure that Canada’s environmental laws are enforced—not ignored.
One of their most groundbreaking cases is a legal challenge to the Ontario government’s rollback of climate protections, which would increase emissions and weaken air quality standards. Ecojustice has also advocated for the legal recognition of environmental rights in the Canadian Charter.
When you support Ecojustice, you’re funding legal power for the planet. These aren’t symbolic cases—they’re high-impact interventions that protect ecosystems, uphold public health, and push the legal system toward accountability and justice.
The Starfish Canada: Empowering Young Environmental Leaders
Founded by youth and for youth, The Starfish Canada is on a mission to celebrate and amplify the voices of young environmental changemakers. They run one of the country’s most well-known youth-focused awards programs—Canada’s Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25—and offer mentorship, storytelling, and leadership development opportunities that inspire the next generation of green leaders.
The Starfish believes that young people already have the creativity and vision to tackle complex environmental issues—they just need platforms and networks to be heard. Their youth-led team produces media content, workshops, and campaigns that connect environmental action with equity, justice, and cultural inclusion.
In a climate discourse often dominated by fear, The Starfish offers hope. Their model shifts the narrative from crisis to capability, showing that youth aren’t just the future of environmentalism—they’re the present. Donations help fund youth programming, storytelling initiatives, and national outreach that puts young changemakers in the spotlight.
David Suzuki Foundation: Science, Solutions, and Sustainability
Few names are as synonymous with environmental action in Canada as David Suzuki. Since 1990, the David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) has combined science, advocacy, and education to protect ecosystems and promote sustainable communities across the country.
DSF’s work spans climate action, biodiversity conservation, environmental rights, and renewable energy transitions. They’re known for their high-quality reports, digital tools for citizen engagement, and bold campaigns that push for systemic change. Recent priorities include ending fossil fuel subsidies, advocating for clean electricity grids, and expanding urban green spaces.
What makes DSF unique is its balance of grassroots and policy work. From petitioning governments to supporting citizen science programs, DSF connects national advocacy with local impact. Their website also offers practical tools for individuals who want to reduce their carbon footprint or join collective action.
Supporting DSF means backing rigorous science, ethical advocacy, and a vision for Canada that’s greener, fairer, and more livable.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The climate crisis demands more than just alarm—it demands action. And while systemic change is essential, individuals have tremendous power when we work together. Donating to frontline climate and environmental justice organizations is one of the most immediate and impactful ways to contribute to a livable future.
Start by supporting the charities featured here. Whether it’s $15 or $500, your gift helps restore ecosystems, defend clean water, protect Indigenous rights, and train the climate leaders of tomorrow. These organizations turn donations into real-world impact—land protected, laws changed, emissions reduced, communities empowered.
Get involved in your own community. Many of these charities offer volunteer opportunities, training sessions, or citizen science projects that let you make a local difference. Speak up at town halls. Support Indigenous land defenders. Attend climate rallies. Advocate for climate literacy in your schools and workplaces.
Share the work. Climate action isn’t just about cutting emissions—it’s about changing culture. By sharing these stories, you can inspire others to care, contribute, and take action in their own way.
And most importantly, push for policy change. Vote for climate. Call your MP. Demand accountability from corporations and governments. Charities can do a lot—but they can’t do it alone. A just and sustainable future depends on political will, public investment, and persistent, informed pressure from people like you.
Final Thoughts
The climate crisis can feel overwhelming—but paralysis is not the answer. Across Canada, bold and visionary organizations are showing us what’s possible when care, science, and justice come together. They are restoring wetlands, protecting forests, defending water, uplifting Indigenous leadership, and preparing youth for a world in transition.
Environmental Defence, Indigenous Climate Action, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ecojustice, The Starfish Canada, and the David Suzuki Foundation are more than charities—they are lifelines. They are giving us a chance to respond to crisis not with despair, but with courage and collaboration.
Your role in this is simple but powerful. You don’t have to do everything. You just have to do something. Start with support—financial, vocal, or practical—and let it grow from there. Because the planet doesn’t need perfection. It needs participation.
There’s still time to protect what matters. There’s still time to restore balance. And there’s still time to build a future where nature and humanity thrive together.
That future begins with the choices we make today.
