Productivity is a complex problem, but there is one simple way we can achieve significant change in the near-term: improve indoor air quality to protect cognitive performance and reduce the spread of illnesses caused by airborne contaminants and pathogens that can accumulate in the unnatural environment of indoor spaces.<\/p>\n
In a world with a growing range of highly contagious airborne infectious diseases that increase workplace illnesses and absences, improved indoor air is critical to public health, productivity and competitiveness.<\/p>\n
The technology exists to make this happen. It won\u2019t be cheap but the necessary expenditures will all take place in Canada, making it essential that we become an early adopter to gain the competitive advantage this transformation offers.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re already seeing some action, including in New Brunswick<\/a>, but we need a whole-of-nation approach to achieve rapid results across Canada.<\/p>\n One solution to multiple crises<\/p>\n Common indoor pollutants in Canada include radon<\/a> and various kinds of particulates generated by tobacco smoke<\/a>, wildfires<\/a> and food preparation<\/a>.<\/p>\n In even mildly elevated concentrations, carbon dioxide (CO2<\/a>) \u2013 a gas we produce and spread when we exhale \u2013 causes fatigue, headaches<\/a> and difficulty thinking.<\/p>\n Our exhalations have an additional effect when we are sick: Airborne pathogens travel in the aerosols we all routinely produce<\/a>. We breathe them out and then others breathe them in. Airborne pathogens include common ailments such as influenza, COVID-19 and increasingly measles and tuberculosis<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Canada, we are especially vulnerable to the effects of poor indoor air quality. Because of our climate, we seal our buildings tight, keeping fresh air out and pollutants in.<\/p>\n How to fix the patchwork system of paid sick leave in Canada<\/a><\/p>\n Canada\u2019s rules for sick and caregiving leave must be redesigned<\/a><\/p>\n But we have well-known and readily available technologies to reduce pollutants, CO2<\/a> and pathogens in our air through both ventilation and filtration without sacrificing energy efficiency. Their efficacy has been established for decades<\/a> and is well-understood by subject-matter experts across disciplines from domestic professional associations<\/a> to international bodies<\/a> such as the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n This knowledge has informed regulatory standards and recommendations from the CSA standard for respirators<\/a> (N95s) widely used in construction, health care, firefighting and manufacturing, to the new ASHRAE 241 standard (\u201ccontrol of infectious aerosols\u201d) for indoor air quality. Other nations are establishing advisory or legal limits<\/a> for CO2<\/a> in certain indoor spaces such as schools.<\/p>\n Competing in the age of pandemics<\/p>\n Productivity is complex, but workers cannot be productive if they are at home sick or caring for a sick family member.<\/p>\n It also means fewer productive days for those who try to work while they\u2019re sick or not fully recovered, or who cover for co-workers absent for illness or caregiving. When someone gets sick at work and passes it on to a family member, that person then takes it to their workplace, where it spreads further. Breaking the chains of transmission is critical.<\/p>\n Today, measles has spread so rapidly across Canada that Mexico<\/a> and New York State<\/a> announced travel advisories for our country and cases continue to rise<\/a>. COVID continues to spread without mitigation, while avian influenza (H5N1) lurks on the horizon, evolving in poultry, livestock and domestic animals across the U.S. as critical surveillance programs have been abandoned with potentially catastrophic consequences<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beyond the first weeks of initial illnesses lie longer-term consequences. For example, the immune- system damage from measles is well-understood.<\/p>\n The long-term effects<\/a> of COVID are new but no less real. Statistics Canada<\/a> estimates that over the first three years or so of the pandemic, long COVID affected about nine per cent of Canadians and caused \u201cabout 14.5 million missed days of work or school.\u201d That doesn\u2019t count lost days due to the original infection.<\/p>\n To put that in context, Statistics Canada estimates<\/a> there were about 6.6 million \u201cdays not worked due to labour disputes\u201d in 2023.<\/p>\n Common symptoms<\/a> of long COVID<\/a> include cognitive impairment, extreme fatigue and difficulty communicating \u2013 all of which are incompatible with work and participation in other activities.<\/p>\n As one study concluded<\/a>: \u201cLong COVID is associated with substantial work productivity loss. Given the large number of individuals affected by COVID, this has significant implications for health-care systems, the workforce, and economies.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the direct costs of health care, the OECD reported<\/a> in June 2024 that \u201clong COVID is likely costing OECD countries as much as $864 billion to $1.04 trillion USD per year due to reductions in quality of life and labour-force participation.\u201d The impact in Canada is estimated at roughly US$30 billion per year.<\/p>\n We cannot sustain losses on this scale. The \u201cage of pandemics<\/a>\u201d requires a recommitment to prevention.<\/p>\n How do we do it?<\/p>\n As individuals, we have little control over the air we breathe at school, at work, in public places and often at home, too. Like the transformation of the water supply<\/a> in the 19th century, this will require collaboration to build the infrastructure we know we need.<\/p>\n For instance, there\u2019s the 1,000 ppm CO<\/a>2<\/a> standard<\/a> recommended by Health Canada, easily measured through inexpensive CO2<\/a> monitors.<\/p>\n ASHRAE Standard 241<\/a> offers detailed guidance on mitigating airborne pathogens indoors with effective ventilation and filtration<\/a>. Improved ventilation will also protect us from the direct cognitive impairment<\/a> of CO2<\/a>-rich \u201cstale air\u201d while air filtration can reduce our exposure to pollutants and allergens as well as pathogens.<\/p>\n As a second layer of defence, N95 and CAN95 respirators are effective<\/a> and already incorporated into national workplace safety standards<\/a> for some workers. They must be made available to more Canadians to protect themselves when the need arises \u2013 from wildfire smoke, when there is an immediate risk of infection with measles or COVID, or in the event of an H5N1 pandemic.<\/p>\n A well-planned strategy in this area could pay for itself by improving productivity, reducing health-care costs and even amicably resolving ongoing legal cases<\/a>. An interdisciplinary investment in clean-air infrastructure will pay tremendous dividends while addressing the threat of airborne infectious diseases.<\/p>\n While the costs of acting are not trivial, the direct impact of long COVID on the health-care system alone is already in the billions of dollars<\/a>. But because ventilation improvements are a \u201cmade-in-Canada\u201d solution, a large portion of both labour and manufacturing costs will remain in the domestic economy. Clean-air jobs can therefore help mitigate job losses due to U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n We have the technology to improve Canadians\u2019 well-being as well as strengthen the economy and Canada\u2019s global competitiveness with a more productive workforce. We just need to act now.<\/p>\n This article<\/a> first appeared on Policy Options<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Policy Options. Originally published on Policy Options July 17, 2025 by Policy Options. 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