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B. People and Environments · Political and Physical Regions of Canada

Industry and the Environment: Finding a Balance

B1 B1.3 B2.1About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can explain how industries affect the natural environment.
  • I can explain how the natural environment affects industries.
  • I can describe actions that industries and citizens take to use resources sustainably.
  • I can ask a question about an industry and the environment in my region.

Words to know

environment
The natural world around us: land, water, air, plants and animals.
habitat
The natural home of a plant or animal.
pollution
Harmful things added to air, water or land.
sustainable
Meeting our needs today while leaving enough for future generations.
reforestation
Replanting trees after a forest is cut or burned.
overfishing
Catching fish faster than they can be replaced.
stewardship
Taking care of the land, water and living things.

A two-way street

People need natural resources for food, homes, heat and jobs. But using resources changes the environment. And the environment can change industries too. Geographers say industry and the environment affect each other.

IndustryEnvironmentcutting, mining, pollutingdrought, fire, floods, pests
A simplified diagram. Industries affect the environment (top arrow), and the environment affects industries (bottom arrow).

How industries can affect the environment

  • Forestry: cutting large areas of forest removes habitat for animals like caribou and birds, and can let soil wash into rivers.
  • Mining: digging leaves waste rock, and can pollute water and air. Long ago, smoke from smelters around Sudbury killed most of the plants nearby, leaving bare, black rock.
  • Oil and gas: the oil sands in Alberta clear large areas of land and use a lot of water. Burning oil, gas and coal adds greenhouse gases to the air, which warm the climate.
  • Farming: extra fertilizer can wash into lakes. In Lake Erie, this helps cause large blooms of algae that can harm fish and drinking water.
  • Fishing: catching too many fish can make them disappear.
  • Hydroelectric dams: they make clean electricity, but they can flood large areas of land and change rivers.

How the environment can affect industries

  • Drought (a long time without rain) can ruin crops on Prairie farms.
  • Wildfires can burn forests that forestry companies and communities depend on. In 2023, Canada had its worst wildfire season on record.
  • Tiny mountain pine beetles killed huge areas of pine forest in British Columbia, so there were fewer trees to cut.
  • Warmer winters mean winter roads in the North can't be used for as long, so it is harder to bring in supplies.
  • Floods and storms can damage farms, ports and roads.

Two true stories

The cod fishery (Newfoundland and Labrador). For hundreds of years, huge numbers of cod were caught off Newfoundland and Labrador. Big modern ships caught more and more. By 1992, so few cod were left that the Government of Canada stopped fishing for northern cod. Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs. The cod have been slow to come back. In 2024, more than 30 years later, a limited cod fishery was allowed again. Lesson: even a renewable resource can run out if we take too much.

Sudbury re-greening (Ontario). Pollution from mining and smelting left the land around Sudbury bare and black. Starting in 1978, the community, mining companies, scientists and volunteers spread lime on the soil, planted millions of trees and grasses, and the companies cut their pollution a lot. Today much of the land is green again. Lesson: people working together can heal damage.

19701980199020002010202020301978: Sudbury re-greeningstarts1992: Northern codfishing stopped2024: Limited codfishery allowed again32 years
The two true stories on one timeline. Notice how long it took: the northern cod fishery was closed for more than 30 years before a limited fishery was allowed again.

Sustainable use: thinking about the future

Using resources in a sustainable way means meeting our needs today while leaving enough for future generations.

Actions taken by industries:

  • Replanting trees after cutting (reforestation).
  • Following limits on how many fish can be caught.
  • Cleaning water before it goes back into rivers, and restoring land after a mine closes.
  • Making electricity from wind, sun and water instead of coal.
  • Recycling materials and using less energy.

Actions taken by citizens (like you!):

  • Reduce, reuse, recycle and compost.
  • Save water and electricity: turn off taps and lights.
  • Walk, bike or take the bus when you can.
  • Buy local food, and products from well-managed forests or fisheries.
  • Join a clean-up or tree-planting day.
  • Speak up: write to a local councillor or to a company about an issue you care about.
Rows of small young spruce trees planted among old tree stumps, with a tall forest behind.
Replanting after trees are cut is called reforestation. These small seedlings will grow into a new forest for future generations. AI-generated image
Just for fun

What did one young tree say to another on tree-planting day in Sudbury?

"Leaf it to us. We're going to make this place green again!"

Learning from First Nations, Métis and Inuit stewardship

Many First Nations, Métis and Inuit teach that the land, water, plants and animals are relatives to be respected, and that people must care for them for future generations. The Haudenosaunee speak of thinking about how decisions will affect people seven generations from now.

Today, many nations run Guardian programs, where Indigenous guardians watch over the land and water, count animals and test water. In 2019, the Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation, Canada and the Northwest Territories created Thaidene Nëné, a large protected area around the East Arm of Great Slave Lake. Its name means "land of the ancestors".

Worked example

Let's find both directions

A forestry company cuts trees in northern Ontario. Then a dry summer brings big wildfires. Describe how the industry affects the environment and how the environment affects the industry.

  1. Industry → environment: cutting trees removes habitat for animals and can cause soil erosion.
  2. Environment → industry: the wildfires burn trees the company planned to cut, so it may have less wood and workers may lose hours.
  3. So the two affect each other.

Cutting trees changes the forest habitat, and wildfires reduce the trees the company can use.

Worked example

Let's suggest sustainable actions

A mining company plans to close a mine in 10 years. What could the company and the citizens of the town do to protect the environment?

  1. Company: clean polluted water, cover and replant waste rock areas, and restore the land after closing.
  2. Citizens: ask questions at public meetings, check the water with local groups, and help plant trees.
  3. Both can plan for new jobs when the mine closes.

The company restores the land and water; citizens speak up, watch and help. Working together protects the environment.

Hands-on activity

Household sustainability audit

You need: paper, a pencil, and a grown-up.

  1. Walk through your home with a grown-up. Make a tally chart of lights left on, taps dripping, devices plugged in but not used, and items in the garbage that could be recycled or composted.
  2. Choose two actions your family will try for one week (for example: turn off lights when leaving a room; sort recycling).
  3. At the end of the week, count again. Did the numbers go down?
  4. Write two sentences: "Our action helps the environment because ___." and "A company could help by ___."

What to look for: Your child identifies real actions, keeps a simple tally, and connects family actions to bigger actions by industries.

Your turn

1

Give one way mining can affect the environment.

2

Give one way the environment can affect farming.

3

What does sustainable mean?

4

Why did the Government of Canada stop most cod fishing in 1992?

5

What is reforestation?

6

Name two things citizens can do to use resources more sustainably.

7

What do Indigenous Guardian programs do?

More practice: warm-up

1

What is a drought?

2

Can a renewable resource run out?

3

Name one kind of clean electricity.

4

In what year did Sudbury's re-greening begin?

5

What does Thaidene Nëné mean?

More practice: on your own

1

How can fertilizer from farms harm a lake like Lake Erie?

2

How did mountain pine beetles affect the forestry industry in British Columbia?

3

What can the Sudbury story teach us?

4

Why do warmer winters cause problems for northern communities that use winter roads?

5

What does the Haudenosaunee idea of thinking seven generations ahead mean for using resources?

Challenge

1

Hydroelectric dams make electricity without burning fossil fuels, but they can flood land. Is a dam good or bad for the environment? Explain both sides.

2

The cod collapse hurt the environment and people. Explain how both were affected.

3

Write one question you would want to investigate about an industry and the environment in your own region.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is an example of the environment affecting an industry?

2.

Why did most cod fishing stop off Newfoundland and Labrador in 1992?

3.

Sustainable use of resources means...

4.

Which is a sustainable action by a forestry company?

5.

Which is a sustainable action by a citizen?

6.

What did people do to help the land around Sudbury recover?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Industrial development and the natural environment affect each other. Industries can harm habitats, water, air and resource supplies; drought, fire, pests and climate change can harm industries. Industries and citizens can take action for more sustainable use of land and resources. First Nations, Métis and Inuit stewardship and Guardian programs offer important models.

How to help at home:

  • Do the household audit together and follow through on one or two actions.
  • Look for local news about an industry near you (a quarry, farm, mill or factory) and talk about effects in both directions.
  • Model sustainable choices and explain why you make them.

Common difficulties:

  • Thinking industry is "bad". People need resources and jobs; the goal is balance and sustainability.
  • Forgetting the second direction. Ask: "How did nature change this industry?"
  • Feeling worried. Some children feel anxious about environmental problems. Focus on the Sudbury story and on things people are doing to help, including things your family can do.