Canada: Oil, Gas & Electricity

Growing activity in Canada's energy and infrastructure sectors is driving demand for legal work, with law firms expanding their capabilities through strategic hiring and talent development. Torys' Calgary and Vancouver offices are responding to increased momentum across oil and gas, LNG, nuclear, critical minerals, and data centres by assessing client needs and building capacity in energy infrastructure.

Legislative Update Report No. 2026-18 Le Bulletin d’actualités législatives

As global fuel markets tighten and governments coordinate emergency petroleum reserve releases, Canadian infrastructure projects face a critical question: what happens to fuel-supply contracts when market-based distribution gives way to federal allocation? This article examines Canada's Energy Supplies Emergency Act, a statutory framework that can override private contracts and redirect diesel supplies based on government-determined priorities during a national petroleum emergency.

The Canadian government has removed seven types of energy projects from federal impact assessment requirements, shifting review responsibilities to the Canada Energy Regulator and provincial processes. This regulatory change affects pipelines, electrical transmission lines, oil sands facilities, and power plants, fundamentally altering how major energy infrastructure projects will be evaluated and approved across Canada.

Newlight is expanding its hydrogen-hybrid energy system, representing a significant development in clean energy infrastructure and sustainable power generation technology. This expansion marks an important milestone in the advancement of hydrogen-based energy solutions and their integration into modern power systems.

Alberta's data centre sector has evolved from speculative interest into billions in committed investment, supported by a new regulatory framework and hyperscale commitments from Meta and AWS. However, grid capacity constraints, power procurement challenges, unresolved federal copyright issues affecting AI training workloads, and community concerns about environmental impacts present significant obstacles that require continued collaboration between industry, government, and regulators.

Saskatchewan's Ministry of Energy and Resources has proposed comprehensive legislative reforms to The Mineral Resources Act, 1985 and The Oil and Gas Conservation Act, aimed at establishing Crown ownership of subsurface pore space and creating a modern regulatory framework for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects. These changes would align Saskatchewan with other western provinces while introducing a long-term liability management framework and Sequestration Legacy Fund to support the pro

Ontario's proposed Data Centre Playbook introduces a framework requiring large data centres to demonstrate economic value, data sovereignty benefits, and community investment before connecting to the provincial electricity grid. The draft policy signals a shift toward strategic assessment of data infrastructure projects, with implications for pricing, grid access, and operational requirements that developers and investors must carefully navigate.

This legislative update report provides a comprehensive overview of recent regulatory changes, proclamations, and notices across Canadian federal and provincial jurisdictions. The bulletin covers environmental regulations, energy law amendments, residential tenancy updates, and various sector-specific legislative developments affecting multiple industries and practice areas.