Rohini Peris
Rohini Peris is a nationally recognized leader and advocate for people living with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). As President and CEO of the Environmental Health Association of Québec and the Environmental Health Association of Canada, she has spent over three decades advancing awareness, policy reform, and support systems for individuals affected by MCS.
A strategic changemaker, Rohini leads national and international collaborations to advance inclusion, accessibility, and healthier built environments. She brings lived experience to her work, combining it with evidence-based advocacy to influence meaningful and lasting change across policy, research, and practice.
She is the driving force behind the federally funded Empowering Community and Removal of Barriers (ECRoB) project and the Accessible Indoor Air in the Built Environment research initiative. Through this work, she has led the design and implementation of national research and has delivered over 100 workshops across Canada to human rights commissions, law societies, healthcare institutions, and government bodies, advancing accessibility, equity, and safer environments.
Rohini has contributed to federal accessibility efforts through her work with the Parliamentary Precinct Accessibility Advisory Panel and the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) Accessibility Advisory Panel, helping to ensure that indoor air quality and chemical exposures are recognized within accessibility frameworks.
In March 2025, she was part of the Canadian delegation before the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, contributing to the inclusion of MCS in the UN’s Concluding Observations for Canada, a significant step in advancing recognition of MCS within a human rights framework.
Her collaborations with academic institutions, including UQAM and TÉLUQ, have helped bridge research and lived experience, strengthening the evidence base and its application to policy and practice. Through her leadership, Rohini continues to advance the recognition of accessible air, inclusive environments, and the rights of individuals affected by environmental exposures.