MiningWatch Canada is a pan-Canadian initiative supported by environmental, social justice, aboriginal and labor organizations from across the country. They were created by their founding members in 1999 to address the need for a coordinated public interest response to the threats of public health, water and air quality, fish and wildlife habitat and community interests posed by irresponsible mineral policies and practices in Canada and around the world.
The aims of MiningWatch Canada are to ensure that mineral development practices are consistent with the goals of sustainable communities and ecological health; strengthen technical and strategic skills within communities and organizations faced with impacts of mineral development; impose appropriate terms and conditions on mining and in some cases prevent the development of projects that would adversely affect areas of ecological, economic and cultural significance; and advocate policies to improve the efficiency and reduce the risks of mineral development.