Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · Canada · 2012–2025
Canada narrowed federal environmental reviews in 2012 and again in 2025
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
York University reported that 2025 laws in Canada and Ontario let some environmental reviews be skipped, after the 2012 federal law had removed screening-level reviews. Fewer reviews mean less scrutiny of how approved developments affect forests, water and habitat.
What?
Canada's 2012 federal assessment law removed screening-level reviews; York University reported that 2025 laws let some reviews be skipped. West Coast Environmental Law
Where?
Canada at federal level; Ontario for Bill 5. York University
When?
The 2012 law took effect in July 2012; York University dates the Bill 5 and C-5 changes to 2025. West Coast Environmental Law
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Screening-level federal reviews were removed in 2012; in 2025 Bill 5 and C-5 were reported to allow reviews to be skipped. West Coast Environmental Law
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who
What happened
The record, in order.
Penticton Western News and West Coast Environmental Law reported that the 2012 federal assessment law, in force from July 2012, removed screening-level federal reviews.
The same sources reported that about 2,970 ongoing assessments were cancelled.
York University's research spotlight reported in 2025 that Ontario's Bill 5 and federal Bill C-5 allow environmental reviews to be skipped.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: West Coast Environmental Law estimates that 4,000 to 6,000 assessments a year were removed.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the Building Canada Act (C-5) exempts national-interest developments from the planning stage of the Impact Assessment Act and bundles federal permits.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: Ontario's Bill 5 lets the province exempt developments in special economic zones from provincial law.
- None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: which companies or sectors gained from the 2025 changes.
- None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: how many reviews have been skipped under the 2025 laws.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers
Communities and civil society
- Greenwashing Canada's enviro assessment lawsWest Coast Environmental Law ·
Researchers
- New Ontario law prioritizes profitsYork University · 2025
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- About 100 tonnes of iron released off Haida Gwaii in 2012 ocean experiment Canada · 2012–2013
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Environment ministry searched in 2013; no charges recorded
- Alberta and Ottawa tie new oil pipeline to Pathways carbon capture plan Canada · 2025
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Party to the November 2025 agreement; federal tax credit
- Alberta orphan wells and mine liabilities Canada · 2002
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Source of federal funding (2020) and loans
- Alberta orphan wells, closure liabilities and the Redwater ruling Canada · 2002
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Source of federal funding (2020) and loans
- Canada's Giant Mine arsenic cleanup cost rises to CAD 4.38 billion Canada · 1948–2038
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Federal government funding the remediation
- Giant Mine cleanup cost in Yellowknife rose to 4.38 billion Canadian dollars Canada · 1999–2022
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Bears the federal cost of the cleanup
- Lac-Mégantic rail disaster (Quebec) Canada · 2012–2026
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Contributed C$75 million to the settlement fund
- Ontario bottled-water fee about 0.0005 CAD a litre; 2017 proposal to raise it Canada · 2017
- Government of Ontario (Government) — here: Ontario government; subject of Bill 5; there: set and proposed changes to the bottler water fee
- Québec caribou emergency order and the 17 percent protection target Canada · 2020–2026
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Began the emergency-order process
- Ruby River seeks $588m-$1bn from Canada over rejected Québec LNG plant Canada · 2021
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: respondent
- Soviet nuclear satellite Cosmos 954 crashes in Canada; USSR pays C$3m in 1981 Canada · 1978–1981
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Claimant for damage from Cosmos 954
- Trans Mountain pipeline insurers (Canada) Canada · 2018–2024
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: Owner since 2018; guarantor of the credit facility
- Westmoreland's claim over Alberta coal exit dismissed; company ordered to pay costs Canada · 2024
- Government of Canada (Government) — here: Federal government; subject of the 2012 assessment law and Bill C-5; there: respondent