UN CRPD Concluding Observations on Canada: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and What You Can Do
Read the full Concluding Observations from the UN CRPD Committee (March 2025)
UN CRPD Concluding Observations on Canada:
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and What You Can Do
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Identifies Discrimination Against People with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)
| More than 1.13 million Canadians report a medical diagnosis of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (Robins, Molot & Peris, 2026). |
In March 2025, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued its Concluding Observations on Canada’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In its findings under Article 5 on equality and non-discrimination, the Committee noted with concern the persistent discrimination and stigma experienced by persons with disabilities, specifically including people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).
For the first time, the UN Committee explicitly referenced MCS in its review of Canada. This recognition highlights the need to address barriers that prevent people with MCS from participating fully in public life.
Key Evidence
The following research and evidence support the need to address accessibility barriers faced by people with MCS.
Prevalence
More than 1.13 million Canadians report a medical diagnosis of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) (Robins, Molot & Peris, 2026).
Accessibility
Fragrance-free and lowest-emission indoor environments are a practical, low-cost accessibility measure that can reduce environmental barriers and improve access to healthcare and public services for people living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).
Healthcare Access
Environmental chemical exposures in healthcare settings can create barriers that prevent individuals with MCS from safely accessing medical care.
Indoor Air Quality
Fragrance-free and lowest VOC-emission environments can improve indoor air quality and accessibility for many people with chronic health conditions.
Gender Dimension
MCS is reported more frequently by women, raising important considerations for gender-based health and disability policy.
This is a turning point.
More than 1.13 million Canadians report a medical diagnosis of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and many continue to face barriers to healthcare, housing, workplaces, and public spaces due to environmental chemical exposures.
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) highlighted the need for Canada to address the discrimination and stigma experienced by people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). These barriers are often invisible but have serious impacts on daily living.
The UN findings provide individuals, communities, and organizations with a powerful tool to advocate for safer and more accessible environments.
Below are clear steps you can take.
1. What Individuals with MCS Can Do
The Concluding Observations give you strong language to use in your advocacy. These tools help shift the burden from the individual to the system.
How to Use the Templates
You may copy and personalize the templates below when requesting accommodations in workplaces, housing, or healthcare settings. Adding a short sentence describing your own experience may help explain why safe indoor air is important for you.
A. Write to Your Healthcare Providers
Ask for:
- A fragrance-free, lowest VOC-emissions, and least-toxic care environment
- Safe spaces for appointments
- Documentation of your need for accommodations
- Training for healthcare staff on MCS
Template letters are available here: [Download Template Letters A1, A2, A3, A4, A5]
B. Contact Your Elected Representatives
Let your MP, MNA, or MLA know that the UN has identified discrimination against people with MCS in Canada.
Key messages:
- “The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) has identified stigma and discrimination against people with MCS.”
- “Canada must improve access to healthcare, housing, income supports, and safe indoor air.”
- “Fragrance-free and lowest VOC-emission environments are disability accommodations.”
Template emails: [Federal] [Provincial]. You are encouraged to personalize these letters by adding a short sentence about your own experience or why safe indoor air and fragrance-free environments are important to you.
C. Advocate for Safe Public Spaces
Use your voice to request:
- Fragrance-free policies in clinics, workplaces, and community centers
- Safe air in housing, childcare, seniors’ settings, and schools
- Fragrance-free, lowest VOC-emissions, and least-toxic cleaning and procurement policies
Tools: [Request Letter for Workplaces] [Letter for Housing]
D. Build Awareness in Your Community
Change often begins locally.
You can help raise awareness about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) by:
- Sharing information about the UN Concluding Observations
- Educating workplaces, schools, and community organizations about MCS
- Promoting fragrance-free and lowest VOC-emission environments
- Encouraging organizations to recognize safe indoor air as an accessibility issue
Small actions across many communities can help reduce stigma and improve inclusion.
E. Use These Social Media Posts
Copy, paste, and share:
- “The UN has acknowledged discrimination against people with MCS. It’s time for fragrance-free, lowest-VOC, least-toxic environments and real inclusion.”
- “Fragrance-free is not a preference. It’s accessibility.”
- “We all need safe air. The UN agrees.”
- “Chemical exposures keep people with MCS out of healthcare, housing, and public life. This must change.”
Hashtags:
#RightToBreathe · #MCSisDisability · #UNCRPD_MCS · #SafeAirForAll
2. What Other Organizations Can Do
These Concluding Observations are not just for MCS groups. Any organization that works with people — and people breathe — has a role to play.
This includes:
disability organizations • health groups • housing advocates • environmental justice groups • environmental groups • social services • unions • workplaces • women’s organizations • Indigenous health groups • long-COVID advocates • human rights organizations.
Here’s how your organization can help.
A. Acknowledge MCS as a Disability and Accessibility Issue
Add a simple sentence to your materials:
“Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is an accessibility and human-rights issue recognized in the UN Concluding Observations on Canada (2025).”
This small step opens the door for inclusion.
B. Adopt Fragrance-Free and Lowest-Emission Policies
Organizations can reduce accessibility barriers by adopting fragrance-free and lowest-emission practices in workplaces, events, and facilities.
Examples include:
- Adopting fragrance-free policies for meetings, events, and indoor spaces to help ensure safe participation for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).
- Adjusting procurement policies to prioritize fragrance-free, lowest-emission, and least-toxic products across facility operations, including cleaning products, laundry products, hand soaps, air freshening (e.g., baking soda), natural pest control, mould control, landscaping, and other operational needs.
- Providing guidance to staff and visitors on avoiding scented products in shared environments.
- Sharing fragrance-free guidelines with employees, volunteers, and event participants.
These measures help reduce barriers for people living with MCS and can also improve indoor air quality for many others.
Fragrance-free and lowest-emission environments are a practical accessibility measure that can improve participation and inclusion for many people with chronic health conditions.
C. Share the UN Findings in Your Communications
A Quick Recap and Summary for you to Share
Add the following message to newsletters, social media, and advocacy documents:
“The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities identified ongoing discrimination and stigma against people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Canada.”
This amplifies awareness and builds momentum.
D. Integrate “Safe Air” Into Your Advocacy
Frame the issue around shared needs:
- Indoor air quality
- Health equity
- Environmental exposures
- Safe workplaces
- Housing standards
- Accessibility in public programs
Safe air is universal—and a strategic place to build alliances.
E. Partner With Us
Organizations can:
- Co-sign advocacy letters
- Work with us on policy and research
- Host scent-free events
- Promote our public education tools
- Connect people with MCS to our resources
Together, our voices carry farther.
Closing Message
The UN has spoken clearly:
People with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are facing discrimination and stigma in Canada. This must change.
We all share the need for safe, healthy air.
We all share the right to environments that support health and do not make us sick. And now, with the UN’s findings, we have a powerful tool to push for real, systemic change.
This page is your starting point.
Use these tools. Share them. Build alliances.
Together, we can make Canada safer and more accessible for everyone.
References
Robins, S., Molot, J., & Peris, R. (2026). Prevalence of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Canada Between 2000 and 2020. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(2), 236. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23020236
Yousufzai, S. J., Psaradellis, E., Peris, R., & Barakat, C. (2025). A Qualitative Exploration of Policy, Institutional, and Social Misconceptions Faced by Individuals with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(9), 1383. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22091383
Vangala, K., Molot, J., Trifunovski, A., & Peris, R. (2026). From Invisibility to Inclusion: Evidence, Lived Experience, and Policy Directions for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Report from the Resilience 2025 International Conference. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(3), 280. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23030280