31 undergraduate courses in the 2026–27 Undergraduate Calendar, and 1 graduate course in the Fall 2026 Graduate Calendar.
Undergraduate
ENVS 105Environmental Sustainability and Ethics0.50 units
This course examines and evaluates the reasons why the compatibility of commercial activity, ethics and environmental stewardship has been challenged or defended by stakeholders in government, business and civil society organizations. Concepts and activities by which stakeholders describe and debate this compatibility will be discussed. Different cultural perspectives on the compatibility debate will be considered, compared and evaluated. Case studies will test whether and to what extent compatibility may be defended adequately. Private and non-profit enterprises will be considered.
ENVS 131Communications for Environmental Professions0.50 units
This course provides a practical introduction to effective communication in written, visual, and oral forms. You will learn to strategically consider the purpose, audience, channel, and style of your communication, and understand its connection to broader cultural, political, academic, and professional contexts. An iterative design process will encourage revision and refinement of your work through collaboration and peer feedback. Practical exercises, case studies, and interactive tutorials will help you develop the ability to communicate complex environmental issues clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences. This course integrates Indigenous knowledge and perspectives and is tailored for students in the Faculty of Environment.
ENVS 178Environmental Applications of Data Management and Statistics0.50 units
This course introduces techniques for collecting, evaluating, and using data-based evidence in environmental research, including descriptive statistics (measures of centre, variation and shape, and measures of association between two variables), statistical research designs, sampling theory, and fundamental probability theory for inferential statistics. The course also develops skills in using statistical software for data display and analysis.
Antirequisites
Not open to students enrolled in programs offered by Faculty of Mathematics
ENVS 195Introduction to Environmental Studies0.50 units
This course introduces the field of environmental studies through an exploration of environmental issues that contribute to crises and challenges at the global, national and local levels. The course provides an overview of human ecological aspects of environmental studies from an inter-cultural and global perspective, and offers an integrative framework for understanding them.
Antirequisites
Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
Introduces the main concepts and principles of ecology; the cycling of elements; energetics and structural organization of major ecological systems; population dynamics; impact of natural resource management practices and urban and industrial development on the environment; incorporating environmental quality considerations into development activities. The lab sessions include field trips to study natural and disturbed ecosystems, urban and applied ecology.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Students must be in level 1B or higher
Obtained all of the following milestones: Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System Milestone
Antirequisites
Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
ENVS 201Introduction to Canadian Environmental Law0.50 units
Introduction to the basic legal framework that regulates the natural environment in Canada. The course provides students with an understanding of the foundational legal institutions in Canada and their respective roles in environmental regulation. The course includes both public and private law approaches to environmental regulation, and covers the principal regulatory tools used to protect the environment.
ENVS 205Sustainability: The Future We Want0.50 units
This course introduces students to the goals, principles, and practices of sustainability. Sustainability thinking, policies, and programs aim to increase and maintain human well-being by integrating or reconciling current social and economic goals (e.g., economic growth; poverty alleviation; gender inequality) with long-term environmental objectives (e.g., improved environmental quality; climate stability; biodiversity conservation; and managing resources to ensure future access). Case studies are used to illustrate solutions for realizing sustainability, emphasizing efforts underway for reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The course assesses four intersecting and sometimes competing approaches for realizing sustainability: technological innovation; market-based approaches; state regulation and investment; and individual and collective ("grassroots") action. Key values underlying sustainability are explored, including notions of the "good life", democracy, social justice, and efficiency.
In this introduction to futures thinking, students will learn to apply robust methods for understanding emerging shifts impacting our volatile world and explore possible alternative outcomes of those changes. Through the lens of a defined topic area we will apply a holistic approach to gathering relevant information, process that information into plausible future scenarios, and use that new knowledge to develop strategic responses for building resilience. Students will work individually and in groups using active learning approaches to imagine new possibilities and craft tangible outcomes.
Evaluation of various economic approaches to the environment. The links between economics, systems and the natural environment will be explored and future directions examined.
This special topics course covers material relevant to all students in the Faculty of Environment. Course content is not specific to an individual program and is specified by the instructor at the level indicated by the course number.
ENVS 278Applied Statistics for Environmental Research0.50 units
This course examines further techniques for collecting, evaluating, and using data-based evidence in environmental research. It builds upon ENVS 178, with a focus on inferential statistics, including sampling distributions, confidence intervals, parametric and nonparametric hypothesis tests, and linear regression models. It further develops skills in using statistical software for data analysis and modelling of environmental data.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Must have completed the following:
ENVS178 - Environmental Applications of Data Management and Statistics (0.50)
Enrolled in a program offered by the Faculty of Environment
Antirequisites
Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
ENVS 300Vascular Plants of Southern Ontario0.50 units
This is an applied course where students will learn to identify vascular plants using botanical keys. Through lab work and field trips, students will understand vascular plant structure and associated terminology as the basis for plant identification. Students will also learn how to collect specimens to create a herbarium collection and how to conduct vegetation community assessments.
ENVS 310Future Cities: Integrating Future Thinking into Urban Decisions0.50 units
Students will draw on ways of thinking about the future including methods for exploring future cities. Students will be challenged to understand the implications of uncertainty and disruption for the achievement of visions focused on smart, just, green, sustainable, and resilient futures.
This special topics course covers material relevant to all students in the Faculty of Environment. Course content is not specific to an individual program and is specified by the instructor at the level indicated by the course number.
Detailed field analysis of a selected destination with one or more themes related to environmental studies. Field study will be one to two weeks duration. Offering dependent upon faculty availability and student enrolment.
Detailed field analysis of a selected destination with one or more themes related to environmental studies. Field study will be two to three weeks duration. Offering dependent upon faculty availability and student enrolment.
ENVS 401Canadian Law, Indigenous Peoples, and Natural Resource Development0.50 units
The course examines the historical development of the constitutional relationship between the Crown (the Canadian and provincial governments) and Indigenous Peoples, and the current impact of this constitutional relationship on the development of resources in Canada. Particular focus will be paid to the judicial development of Aboriginal rights and Aboriginal title, the duty to consult and accommodate Indigenous Peoples in the context of resource development, and the future trajectory of the relationship between the Crown, Indigenous Peoples, and resource developers.
Students will work in an interdisciplinary environment designed to explore, engage, and collaborate with students both within and outside their home program. The course is project-based and designed to encourage the application of the principles learned in earlier courses to address a sustainability related problem.
A numeric grade for ENVS 403A will be submitted only after the completion of ENVS 403B.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Students must be in level 4A or higher
Enrolled in a program offered by Faculty of Environment
Antirequisites
Complete all of the following
Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
ENBUS402A - Environment and Business Project (1.00)
Students will work in an interdisciplinary environment designed to explore, engage, and collaborate with students both within and outside their home program. The course is project-based and designed to encourage the application of the principles learned in earlier courses to address a sustainability related problem.
Students will work in an interdisciplinary environment designed to explore, engage, and collaborate with students both within and outside their home program. The course is project-based and designed to encourage the application of the principles learned in earlier courses to address a a sustainability related problem.
Students will work in an interdisciplinary environment designed to explore, engage, and collaborate with students both within and outside their home program. The course is project-based and designed to encourage the application of the principles learned in earlier courses to address a a sustainability related problem.
Traditional electric energy systems comprising generation, transmission, and distribution are examined. Emerging technologies and trends are considered, such as competition, smart grids, energy storage, demand side management, renewable energy, and P2P. Future challenges and possibilities are then explored. Issues will be explored from technical, economic, environmental, sustainability, and social perspectives.
ENVS 444Ecosystem and Resource Management in Parks/Natural Areas0.50 units
From the local to the national level, this course examines the role of protecting and managing terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems. This course also examines the tension between the development of natural resources and conservation by exploring a variety of major themes including biodiversity, ecological integrity and restoration. Normally, analytical and field-based activities will be included as well as guest lectures from professionals working in the fields of conservation and protected areas.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
BIOL150 - Organismal and Evolutionary Ecology (0.50)
ENVS 459Energy, Governance, and Sustainability0.50 units
This course examines the ways in which communities and societies at various scales – from the local, through the provincial, to the national, and then the global – are driving energy transitions and advancing energy sustainability outcomes through various governance arrangements. Focusing upon energy as socio-technical systems, investigating multiple actors (governments, utilities, businesses, civil society, etc.), this course both analyzes current governance arrangements and identifies and evaluates alternatives going forward.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
ENBUS202 - Environmental Management Systems (0.50)
ERS201 - Environmental Policy, Politics and Governance (0.50)
ENVS 469Landscape Ecology, Restoration and Rehabilitation0.50 units
Survey of the major concepts and theories of landscape ecology. Application of these concepts to case studies in restoration and/or rehabilitation. Interaction with professionals from government, NGOs, or private industry on ecological issues will also be part of the course. The course includes a practical component on the planning of ecological restoration or rehabilitation projects.
Prerequisites
Complete all of the following
Students must be in level 3A or higher
Obtained all of the following milestones: Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System Milestone
Detailed field analysis of a selected destination with one or more themes related to environmental studies. Field study will be one to two weeks duration. Offering dependent upon faculty availability and student enrolment.
Detailed field analysis of a selected destination with one or more themes related to environmental studies. Field study will be two to three weeks duration. Offering dependent upon faculty availability and student enrolment.
Detailed field analysis of a selected destination with one or more themes related to environmental studies. Field study will be three or more weeks duration. Offering dependent upon faculty availability and student enrolment.
This topics course will be offered from time to time to students in multiple programs in the Faculty of Environment in order to cover areas of emerging teaching and/or research interest, particularly those that lend themselves to an interdisciplinary investigation.