Environmental Law

Businesses across Canada face unique challenges from complex and rapidly changing environmental laws that affect their daily operations and long-term investments. To help organizations navigate these issues, McCarthy Tetrault’s Environmental Law Group offers a team of experienced lawyers with deep industry knowledge and multidisciplinary expertise, allowing it to provide practical solutions for complex projects, transactions, and disputes.

Top-tier environmental law advice:

Our Environmental Law Group is one of the most experienced in Canada, with a long history advising on complex provincial, territorial, federal, and international environmental issues. We offer national coverage and market-leading insights for all industries and organizations, ensuring that our clients receive top-tier legal guidance across the full spectrum of environmental law:

• Multidisciplinary expertise: Our team is composed of lawyers from a wide range of disciplines with expert knowledge of Canada’s most important sectors and industries. Working closely with our colleagues in the Indigenous and the regulatory spaces, we provide timely and innovative advice from litigators and solicitors working at the intersection of these dynamic areas of the law.
• Country-wide service: With offices across Canada, and in New York and London, U.K., we’re available to help no matter where you’re operating. Our national teams in Energy and Resources, Global Metals and Mining, Infrastructure, Construction, Retail and Consumer Markets, Real Property and Litigation and Dispute Resolution provide additional integrated support for seamless service throughout Canada and beyond.
• Market-leading insights: Our Environmental Law team is recognized as one of the strongest in Canada, holding a Band 1 ranking in Environment from both Chambers Canada and Chambers Global. We can help you maintain your competitive edge with insights from seasoned and creative experts recognized for continually delivering excellence to sophisticated clients working on complex matters.

Full spectrum environmental law services

Whether you’re developing a major project, facing an environmental prosecution, dealing with a contaminated site, or addressing virtually any other type of environmental issue, our team has the experience and expertise to protect your interests and achieve your goals in a cost effective and efficient manner. Examples of environmental matters we address on an almost daily basis include:

• Environmental regulatory compliance: From environmental permitting to impact assessments, licensing, and regulatory compliance, our team of experienced lawyers specializes in guiding clients through the often complex world of environmental regulations to facilitate your company remaining in compliance with evolving environmental standards.
• Inspections and investigations: No matter the circumstances, inspections and investigations by government entities into your business’ operations can be unnerving. We help you organize your operations to allow for compliance with regulators’ needs and to avoid unexpected regulatory oversight unnecessarily impacting on your business operations. If your business is prosecuted, our unmatched litigation experience and strategic insights are your best bet for meeting this challenge with as little disruption and reputational risk as possible. 
• Spill management and emergency planning: With growing business operations, the scale of environmental incidents can present significant risks. Our legal team is here to assist in developing emergency response plans and protocols aimed at preventing such crises in the first place and managing every facet of the response should such incidents occur. This includes compliance with all spill response obligations, reporting and dealings with appropriate authorities to effect an efficient and timely remediation effort, and safeguarding your reputation through every step of the process.
• Contaminated sites: Since the 1990s, contaminated sites issues have become increasingly important to address in real estate development, industrial operations, and investment decisions. The governing laws rest primarily with Canada’s provinces, creating a patchwork of liability regimes. Our Environmental Law Group has been counsel on some of the most significant contaminated site disputes, and provides advice on all manner of issues, from avoiding liability and obtaining contractual protections in the first place, remediating, obtaining governmental certificates of compliance, and seeking recovery of costs from other parties.
• ESG considerations: Many of our environmental lawyers are members of our ESG and Sustainability Group, giving you critical insights into this strategic agenda that is reshaping how businesses operate, report, and meet their obligations to diverse stakeholders. To help your organization fully integrate its environmental, social, and governance considerations, our multidisciplinary advice in this space covers carbon markets, sustainable finance and investing, sustainability and climate change strategies, greenwashing, the energy transition, responsible enterprise, and corporate governance and social justice.
• Environmental litigation: A significant component of our Environmental Law team are members of our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group. They are involved in a broad range of matters, including regulatory appeals, defence of regulatory prosecutions, class actions, private claims based in nuisance and negligence, wildfire cost recovery litigation, pesticide litigation, judicial review of regulatory decisions, and precedent-setting constitutional litigation in the environmental context.      
• Environmental corporate strategy: When companies and their leaders set ambitious targets to meet environmental goals or mandates, it is essential that their strategy and execution meet stakeholder expectations. Our team can help your board and executives develop new policies, procedures, codes of conduct, compliance audits and education and training initiatives. Beyond steering your organization towards corporate excellence, these measures may be essential in constructing a robust due diligence defense in the event of non-compliance or unforeseen incidents.
• Mergers and acquisitions: Almost every major acquisition now comes with significant environmental considerations. Working closely with our colleagues in Mergers and Acquisitions, we bring the perfect combination of seasoned M&A expertise and environmental law excellence to meet the challenges of any deal no matter the complexity of its environmental dimensions.
• Stewardship programs: Canada’s extended producer responsibility and product stewardship programs are becoming increasingly complex with both federal and provincial laws and regulations proliferating. We can help you understand these laws, anticipate change, and manage your risk by providing compliance advice, updates on legal developments, strategic support in negotiations or litigation, contract reviews with producer responsibility organizations, and advocacy on behalf of producers and regulators.

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Climate Change Essentials Guide

In the February 2022 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s scientists advise that in order to avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure, ambitious and accelerated action to adapt to climate change is needed, along with rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report also finds that progress on adaptation is uneven and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with increasing climate risks.

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