OTTAWA/TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHNAABEG PEOPLE — The Competition Bureau has released finalized guidelines for businesses that make environmental claims, which describe the Bureau’s approach to the anti-greenwashing provisions in the Competition Act. Following the release of these guidelines, experts from Ecojustice and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) made the following statements:
Ecojustice lawyer, Matt Hulse said: “We are disappointed that the Competition Bureau has not provided greater detail and practical advice for Canadian businesses to understand how to comply with their obligations under the Competition Act when making environmental claims. Nevertheless, the law is clear that false and misleading claims are prohibited and that businesses must be able to substantiate their claims. The recent changes to the Act already appear to be weeding out greenwashing, but the federal government must continue to enact legislation and policy that mandate transparency and accountability from Canada’s biggest polluters — as well as the financial institutions that enable them.”
CAPE’s Health and Economic Policy Program Director, Leah Temper said: “While the Competition Bureau’s new guidelines are not as helpful as those in jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and Australia, they make it crystal clear that companies can make any environmental claim they want, as long as it’s true and they can prove it. The guidance reiterates that companies will not be punished when they do their due diligence, which should end the unfounded ‘greenhushing’ claims that big polluters and their enablers have been weaponizing to avoid accountability. Nine out of 10 Canadians support penalties for greenwashing and we expect that the Act will continue to weed out the bad actors from the good, thereby protecting consumers’ health, wallets and future.”
Ecojustice finance lawyer, Tanya Jemec added: “Now that the guidelines are finalized, companies should take a careful look at their green advertising to ensure that they are meeting the requirements. To be clear, the anti-greenwashing provisions do not provide an excuse to backpedal away from climate commitments, but rather help ensure that consumers are not being duped by green advertising that is meaningless, or is based on a skewed standard that a company has created just for itself.”
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Ecojustice uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change, and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions and law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax.
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is a physician-directed non-profit organization working to secure human health by protecting the planet. Since its founding in 1994, CAPE’s work has achieved substantial policy victories in collaboration with many partners in the environmental and health movements. From coast to coast to coast, the organization operates throughout the country with regional committees active in most provinces and all territories.
