Our impact
Together, we build on 30+ years of legal wins to secure a better future for us all.
Made legal history fighting for Ontario youth
Ecojustice lawyers are representing seven young people in a historic case against the Ford government.
Theirs is the first climate lawsuit based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to reach a full hearing in any Canadian court, and has set a critical precedent about the justiciability of Charter-based climate lawsuits in Canada.
This case’s next stop: Ontario’s Court of Appeal.
Passed the Canadian Net Zero Emissions Accountability Act
Ecojustice legal experts and supporters were key players in the development and passage of this federal law — one of Canada’s most significant pieces of climate legislation.
The law enshrines government rhetoric into a legally-enforceable commitment to set targets and deliver plans to lower Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions and achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Challenged Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline
Indigenous leaders, activists, and Ecojustice lawyers — among many others — went before the Federal Court of Appeal to argue the federal government’s 2014 approval of Enbridge’s controversial pipeline should be revoked. Why? Because it failed to consider all the science.
We won — effectively shutting the door on Enbridge’s pipeline for good.
Cleaned up drinking water in Harrietsfield, Nova Scotia
When residents of Harrietsfield suffered unsafe drinking water for more than a decade, Ecojustice lawyers took their fight all the way to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
Our court victory secured a clean-up order for the contaminated site affecting the residents’ water quality while our victory in the court of public opinion pressured the province into committing to install water treatment systems in impacted homes.
Won for Southern Resident Killer Whales
The Federal Court ruled in 2012 that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans failed to adequately protect critical habitat of the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales.
Our landmark case established that critical habitat is more than a place on a map — it also includes the biological features necessary to support the recovery of a species at risk.
We continue to work on protecting these icons of the West Coast — and their critical habitat.
Saved the last remaining wild Spotted Owls
In 2001, we went to court for Spotted Owls and obtained the first injunction in Canada to stop logging in endangered species habitat.
We’re still working tirelessly to save these birds from extinction and protect the old-growth forest ecosystem they call home.
As long as the planet needs us, we’ll be here. All thanks to people like you.