Canada: Environment

Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued mandatory Section 71 notices under CEPA requiring Canadian businesses to report 2025 calendar year activity data for 200 chemical substances across two deadlines in 2027. The notices cast a wide net beyond bulk chemical producers to manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers handling components, mixtures or finished goods containing targeted substances, with penalties of up to $500,000 for non-compliance.

Le 29 août 2026, Environnement et Changement climatique Canada a publié deux avis obligeant certaines entreprises ayant fabriqué, importé ou utilisé 200 substances spécifiques en 2025 à déclarer des renseignements détaillés. Ces exigences de déclaration s'appliquent largement aux importateurs, fabricants et utilisateurs de produits contenant ces substances, avec des seuils quantitatifs et des échéances strictes à respecter.

Canada has introduced a new national framework setting expectations for data centre infrastructure development, with 42 major industry signatories including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and NVIDIA. The Principles establish five core requirements covering local benefits, electricity cost allocation, environmental impacts, transparency and strategic value, though their practical implementation will depend heavily on provincial and municipal policy decisions.

Gowling WLG's Energy Innovator Roundtable explored how infrastructure finance can transform building decarbonization from isolated projects into scalable investments. Industry experts from infrastructure, lending, and building sectors identified six critical strategies for structuring bankable projects, from evaluating complete investment economics to addressing institutional conservatism in the building power sector.

Canada's carbon markets are undergoing significant transformation as federal and provincial governments reshape their climate policies. The federal consumer carbon tax has been eliminated while industrial carbon pricing remains in effect, and provinces like Québec and Alberta have introduced major regulatory reforms to their cap-and-trade and emissions reduction systems.

Ontario has launched its first call for expressions of interest in carbon capture and storage licences under the new Geologic Carbon Storage Act, targeting Crown-owned pore space beneath lakebeds surrounding the Ontario Peninsula. The detailed submission requirements reveal expectations that proponents have advanced well beyond initial planning stages, with the process serving as a critical test of Ontario's emerging CCS framework and its attractiveness to industry.

Green Rise Foods Inc. v. N.V. Hagelunie, 2026 ONCA 334, is a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal about insurance coverage for a business loss caused by a series of related events.

On May 15, 2026, the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of Alberta announced an agreement to implement the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) announced in November 2025. This implementation agreement (Agreement) is the latest announcement on intergovernmental cooperation and formalizes the draft cooperation agreement announced in April and discussed in our March 25, 2026 Update: “Canada and Alberta sign draft cooperation agreement on impact assessment after historic MOU”.

Sustainable living does not have to end with your lifetime. In today’s increasingly eco-conscious world, more and more individuals are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and leave things “greener” for future generations. Eco-friendly estate planning can integrate those values into practical decisions that reduce your environmental impact while caring for loved ones after your death.

On July 18, 2026, Environment and Climate Change Canada (“ECCC”) published a Notice of Intent to develop a new regulation under the Species at Risk Act (“SARA”) for the protection of the critical...

Le gouvernement du Québec a récemment publié un projet de règlement modifiant le Règlement sur les matières dangereuses. Il s’agit d’une révision en profondeur d’un régime demeuré largement inchangé depuis la fin des années 1990.

Québec's government has introduced a comprehensive draft regulation to modernize its hazardous materials management framework, marking the first major overhaul since the late 1990s. The reform introduces five key focus areas including enhanced traceability systems, new disposal charges, clearer rules for accidental releases, refined regulatory standards, and more stringent requirements for disposal sites. These changes aim to strengthen accountability across the hazardous materials management chain whi