Is it Canada Day without fireworks? What you should know about its risks

With concerns about the potential impacts on the environment and health, experts say we should scale back on the use of fireworks or do away with the tradition.  

After two years of COVID-19 lockdowns, in-person celebrations are back on Canada Day.

With events underway and planned across the country, the day will be capped off with spectacular fireworks – a long-standing celebratory tradition, but also a hazard.

“We haven’t had large-scale Canada Day events the last couple of years. This year is going to be even more meaningful,” said Aleem Kanji, chief advocacy officer for the Canadian National Fireworks Association.

In Canada, municipalities have different rules for displaying fireworks and the federal government has legally approved 4,000 products, said Kanji.

However, there are concerns about the potential impacts on the environment, wildlife and to our health.

“There are a lot of things that actually are not really great about fireworks,” said Kent Moore, a professor of physics at the University of Toronto, Mississauga.

The colours that look beautiful as they light up the sky are created by oxidizing minerals, like copper, barium and lithium, which are toxic to the environment, he said. These chemical minerals settle down to the earth and can leach into rivers.

Oxidizers contained in fireworks are also carcinogenic, Moore added.