Member List

RCEN’s membership consists of organizations and individuals from across Canada whose common interest is to protect the natural environment and work towards a sustainable future.

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Class A Members

ACAP Cape Breton

  • ACAP Cape Breton is an environmental non-profit organization that offers the knowledge that Cape Bretoners need to make greener choices, and works directly on practical solutions that help protect and restore our natural environment.

    Our mission is to support resilient, environmentally-sustainable communities across Unama’ki-Cape Breton.

    Our work spans four core areas: Habitat Restoration, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Education, and Waste Diversion.

    We weave considerations of climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation into all of our work.

Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA)

  • Alberta Wilderness Association is the oldest wilderness conservation group in Alberta, advocating for wildlands, wildwater, and wildlife since 1965. For more than 50 years, AWA has worked throughout Alberta to protect the wilderness and develop a network of protected areas that allow refuge and movement for wildlife, and secure our biodiversity, water, and clean air. AWA aims to be reflective of Alberta’s diversity in their composition, perspectives, thinking and values, how they reach out, and how they do things.

Bow Valley Naturalists

  • For more than 50 years the Bow Valley Naturalists (BVN) have been engaged in education and advocacy for understanding, appreciating and protecting natural ecosystems in the Bow Valley and beyond. Our membership is open to anyone who supports our objectives and includes amateur naturalists as well as environmental scientists and ecosystem managers, many of whom live and work in the Bow Valley.

British Columbia Council for International Cooperation (BCCIC)

https://www.bccic.ca/
Vancouver, BC

  • The British Columbia Council for International Cooperation (BCCIC) is a coalition of people working in solidarity with partners across the world working to improve their own conditions. Our diverse and capable membership is made up of international development organizations, civil society groups and individuals. We also works alongside different communities (geographical, social, interest-based, among other types of communities) through BCCIC programming, the youth-led Climate Change Branch and regional chapters.

Centre for Health, Science and Law

  • When the US-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) shuttered the Canadian edition of Nutrition Action Healthletter in December 2015 and its Canadian operations a few months later after nearly two decades, long-time Canadian National Coordinator, Bill Jeffery, launched the Centre for Health Science and Law (CHSL) to continue the sorely needed independent health advocacy on food and nutrition policy issues and publish a successor magazine.

    Six times per year, the new Food for Life Report magazine will feature the best scientific research on food and nutrition to inform reader on how to best protect and enhance their health and navigate the myriad of self-serving dietary advice touted in food labels, menus, advertisement-fueled magazines, and fad-diet books. Food for Life Report will help apprise readers of developments in food and nutrition law in Canada and internationally. For people who care about food and health, Food for Life Report is a great recipe for savvy eating and savvy citizenship.

    Like CSPI, the Centre for Health Science and Law (CHSL) accepts no funding from government or industry and our new Food for Life Report will be advertisement-free.

    The new group will be headquartered in Canada with all-Canadian staff and financially supported chiefly by subscribers to Food for Life Report .

    Both the magazine and the public policy advocacy will be Canada-focussed, but enlightened by scientific research and law reforms from around the world, especially beyond the United States where reforms are often stymied by powerful multinational food companies and laws that permit corporations to bankroll electoral campaigns of politicians.

    Help support what could become Canada’s first real food watchdog.

Centre for International Sustainable Development Law

https://www.cisdl.org/
Montreal, QC

  • The Center for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) is an international legal research center with the mission to promote sustainable societies and the protection of ecosystems by advancing the understanding, development and implementation of international sustainable development law.

    The CISDL is governed by a distinguished Board of Governors and is guided a roster of honoured international advisors and expert collaborators. The CISDL is engaged in six primary areas of sustainable development law research, each of which is led by a CISDL Lead Counsel based at a developing or developed country law faculty or international organisation. These include: Trade, Investment & Competition Law Biodiversity & Biosafety Law Health & Hazards Law Climate Change Law Human Rights & Poverty Eradication Natural Resources Law Governance, Institutions & Accountability. The CISDL has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area

  • Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area (CCRCA) is an incorporated, non-profit organization that has been working for the clean-up and prevention of radioactive pollution from the nuclear industry in the Ottawa Valley for 40+ years. Our current focus is the proposed giant mound for one million cubic meters of radioactive waste at Chalk River, Ontario and the proposed “entombment” of the Nuclear Power Demonstration reactor at Rolphton, Ontario. Both of these proposed nuclear waste disposal projects risk contaminating the Ottawa River, a drinking water source for millions of Canadians. 

East Coast Environmental Law

  • East Coast Environmental Law envisions a future in which laws and legal systems protect ecological health and promote environmental and climate justice in Atlantic Canada.

    We take a dynamic approach to environmental advocacy in Atlantic Canada. By engaging with diverse individuals, groups, and communities in our region, we work to ensure that environmental laws and policies throughout Atlantic Canada are founded on responsible, transparent, proactive, and inclusive decision-making.

Environmental Health Association of Quebec

https://aseq-ehaq.ca/
Saint-Sauveur, QC

  • The mission of the Environmental Health Association of Québec (EHAQ) is to achieve equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all spaces for people experiencing the medical condition and disability of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), by promoting education and working to eliminate poverty, isolation, and discrimination experienced by this population group.

Environmental Law Centre

https://elc.ab.ca/
Edmonton, AB

  • The Environmental Law Centre (ELC) has been seeking strong and effective environmental laws since it was founded in 1982. The ELC is dedicated to providing credible, comprehensive and objective legal information regarding natural resources, energy and environmental law, policy and regulation in Alberta. The ELC’s mission is to educate and champion for strong laws and rights so all Albertans can enjoy clean water, clean air and a healthy environment. Our vision is a society where laws secure an environment that sustains current and future generations.

Grand Riverkeeper Labrador

https://www.grandriverkeeperlabrador.ca/
Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL

  • Our goal is to preserve and protect the water quality and the ecological integrity of the Grand (Churchill) River and its estuaries for present and future users and for posterity through actions of public awareness, monitoring, research, networking, intervention and habitat restoration.

In Your Nature

  • 'In Your Nature' is a community service project affiliated with the Canadian Wildlife Federation and the Canada Service Corps. The project aims to spark connections between individuals and environmental organizations.

    Finding local, community-based opportunities for volunteering, activism and community service often relies on word of mouth, the right Google keywords, or simply luck. 'In Your Nature' wants to bring intentionality and equability into that process!

    Our mission is simple: to streamline the process of finding and engaging with environmental and sustainability-focused organizations. We aim to connect individuals with their ideal organization and opportunity through an interactive matching quiz. Imagine a personality test, but instead of abstract results, you receive tailored suggestions for volunteer opportunities, local events, and engaging social media pages to follow based on your interests, passions, and availability.

Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Co-operative

https://www.icucec.org/
Saskatoon, SK

  • ICUCEC is an inter-church coalition that works to educate people about the nuclear industry in Saskatchewan and halt all nuclear development in the province, including the mining of uranium.

Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defence

  • Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defence is an organization dedicated to advancing access to justice, advocating for the protection of nature and honouring of Indigenous sovereignty in law and policy, and providing education about environmental laws and legal processes.

MiningWatch Canada

  • MiningWatch Canada works in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous communities who are dealing with potential or actual industrial mining operations that affect their lives and territories, or with the legacy of closed mines, as well as with mineworkers and former workers seeking safe working conditions and fair treatment.

    MiningWatch Canada explicitly values the experience and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, mining-affected communities, and workers, and bases its work on mutual learning and participatory, deliberative and transformative methodologies.

Nature Canada

  • Nature Canada is one of the oldest national nature conservation charities in Canada. For 80 years, Nature Canada has helped protect over 110 million acres of parks and wildlife areas in Canada and countless species. Today, Nature Canada represents a network of over 130,000 members and supporters and more than 1,000 nature organizations.

Northwest Institute of Bioregional Research

  • Northwest British Columbia’s communities are in a time of change. Unsustainable resource use is putting pressure on the region’s remaining undeveloped areas and threatening the future of communities. At present, this area is less developed than any other part of the province, its rivers are without dams and largely unpolluted, and it is still rich in natural resources. Compared to other parts of the world, there are many options available to us.

    First Nations people make up over 30 per cent of the Northwest’s population and land-claim discussions are well advanced in much of the region. Transferring responsibility for management of land and resources has already begun and will continue in years to come ­ an important opportunity to enhance land management policies in the region.

    The Northwest has a history of First Nations and environmentalists working together. Examples include opposing the proposed supertanker port in Kitimat, protecting South Morseby Island (Gwaii Haanas), and opposing the Kemano II project. In these cases, motivation came from an outside threat. Now there is a desire to move beyond simply reacting, to take a more proactive role in identifying values and supporting resource use that is ecologically sound and supports communities.

    In 1996 a number of northwest First Nations and environmental leaders came together with scientists to form a non-profit organization called the Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research. Board members are from the Hazelton-Smithers area and an advisory council with representatives from throughout the region as well as from a variety of disciplines has been established.

    The Northwest Institute seeks to:

    • Undertake research and the publication of educational information about conservation and environmentally sound, sustainable uses of natural resources, primarily in northwest British Columbia.

    • Promote cooperation within and among communities in the region, including First Nations and others interested in resource uses that protect biological diversity and support sustainable communities.

    • Initiate model projects in the fields of education and conservation which demonstrate these objectives.

Pacific Wild

  • Pacific Wild supports innovative research, public education, community outreach and raising conservation awareness to achieve the goal of lasting environmental protections for the lands and waters of the Great Bear Rainforest and throughout the wild Pacific Northwest.

Public Interest Law Centre (Legal Aid Manitoba)

  • A fair justice system requires lawyers on both sides.

    Legal Aid Manitoba (LAM) works to ensure that eligible Manitobans have access to justice, including those who are disadvantaged and facing a well-resourced individual or entity in court—from women fleeing abusive relationships to immigrants facing deportation to same-sex families fighting for inclusion.

    Our work contributes to the efficiency of the courts across Manitoba, with positive impacts on the lives of individuals and the overall health of our communities.

    The alternative to due process and legal aid assistance is to leave people to represent themselves in the legal system. The dangers of this approach are:

    • A clogged court system for everyone as the unrepresented try to navigate through legal complexities

    • Errors that could result in wrongful convictions, where someone who is innocent goes to jail

    • Errors that could result in the opposite, a stay of proceedings where someone who is guilty walks free because the courts determine that lack of representation will cause an unfair trial

    • Innocent people may plead guilty rather than attempting to represent themselves at trial

    • Arbitrary powers ceded to those in authority because no one is there to advocate on behalf of a low-income person. The only countries that do not provide due process to accused persons are totalitarian states.

    Social Significance

    We fund and oversee the delivery of services through the Public Interest Law Centre to help ensure Manitobans are represented in cases that affect groups of people such as human rights, environmental and consumer law cases.

Raincoast Conservation Foundation

  • Raincoast is a team of conservationists and scientists empowered by our research to protect the lands, waters and wildlife of coastal British Columbia. We use rigorous, peer-reviewed science and community engagement to further our conservation objectives. We call this approach informed advocacy. As a charitable, non-profit conservation science organization that operates a research lab, field station and a research/sailing vessel, we are unique in Canada.

    Since 1990, Raincoast has been making progress toward our habitat and wildlife protection goals. Our on-the-ground presence has given us a deep-rooted understanding of BC’s vast coastline. We work in partnership with scientists, First Nations, local communities and NGOs to build support for decisions that protect marine and rainforest habitat on BC’s coast.

    Central to Raincoast’s efforts are long-standing relationships with Indigenous Nations, many of whom are regaining agency over conservation and management decisions in their Territories.

    We have a research lab at the University of Victoria* (Raincoast Applied Conservation Science Lab), own and operate a 70’ steel Transport Canada-certified research vessel, and maintain speed-boats suitable for research in a range of coastal conditions. *Overhead for university costs is kept below 5%.

Re-Imagining Atlantic Harbours 2050

  • RAH2050 a small shop NGO based in Nova Scotia, since 2017 has been collecting and supporting local voices

    COMMUNITY BUILDING WITH:

    • Climate Awareness Raising 

    • Local Water Story Collection 

    • Unique, accessible presentations & workshops

    • Permanent Didactic Shoreline Information Panels

    • Educational Resources Sharing & Creation

    • Baseline Data Collection

Salt Spring Island Water Preservation Society

  • ​The SSI Water Preservation Society is a non-profit society that has been working to protect the water and watersheds of Salt Spring’s drinking-water lakes since 1982. The Society also owns and manages 272 forested acres on the slopes west of St. Mary Lake now protected by a conservation covenant.

Sustainability Network

  • Our mission is to strengthen environmental nonprofit leadership. The Sustainability Network works with environmental non-profits to make them more effective and efficient. By improving management and leadership skills and fostering organizational development, we help to strengthen the environmental community.

Watershed Sentinel Educational Society

  • The Watershed Sentinel has been the voice of the grassroots environmental movement in BC (and beyond) for over 25 years. When environmental community groups and thinkers –the folks who are working on-the-ground on issues such as water, oil and gas projects, climate change, GMOs, fish farming, Indigenous rights, conservation efforts, etc. – want to have their story heard, they contact us.

    In a world where our access to news is increasingly corporate-and-algorithm-controlled, we aim to amplify the stories that don’t get heard elsewhere, and to provide a forum for intelligent discussion about environmental issues and their broader social implications.

West Coast Environmental Law

https://www.wcel.org/
Vancouver, BC

  • West Coast Environmental Law is transforming environmental decision-making and strengthening legal protection for the environment through collaborative legal strategies that bridge Indigenous and Canadian law.

Wildlife Conservation Society Canada

  • WCS Canada uses a unique blend of on-the-ground scientific research and policy action to help protect wildlife across Canada. Our scientists are leaders in developing solutions to address conservation challenges, from the impacts of climate change on wildlife and wild areas to the cumulative effects of resource development and other human impacts. We work in some of the wildest corners of Canada to build a scientific case for the conservation of globally important wild areas, like the Ontario Northern Boreal, the Northern Boreal Mountains of BC and Yukon, and the Arctic Ocean, where there is still a big opportunity to protect intact ecosystems.

    We combine insights gained from our “muddy boots” fieldwork with a big-picture conservation vision to speak up for species such as caribou, wolverine, bats, bison, freshwater fish and marine mammals. This unique approach has led to many conservation successes, including a seven-fold expansion of Nahanni National Park, protection of Yukon’s pristine Peel Watershed and the creation of the Castle Wildland Park in southern Alberta.

    WCS Canada's research and conservation efforts in Ontario, meanwhile, have inspired the provincial government to commit to large-scale protection in the northern boreal, revising endangered species legislation, as well as the federal government’s commitment to reform the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

Workshops for Biodiversity

  • Workshops for Biodiversity is a non-profit that organizes workshops to raise awareness of the value and challenges related to biodiversity and to help organizations better integrate biodiversity into their decisions.

Class B Members

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RCEN also supports and collaborates with affiliate provincial environmental networks.