The proposed new amendments to the anti-greenwashing provisions in the federal Competition Act were intended to give businesses some breathing room. But if passed as currently drafted, they may do the opposite and constrain them by creating more legal risk, more uncertainty and a wider gap between what companies say and what they can actually prove.
According to an article by The Globe And The Mail, for the last year, Canada has been home to some of the most stringent and widely discussed anti-greenwashing rules in the world. The original amendments under Bill C-59 required companies making environmental or climate-related claims about their business to substantiate them using “an internationally recognized methodology.” That language, although imperfect, at least pointed organizations toward established frameworks – the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, science-based target methodologies, and third-party assurance practices.
The government has now proposed removing the “internationally recognized methodology” requirement altogether and that change is expected to pass into law in early 2026. In its place, organizations will fall back on the general due-diligence standard that already exists in competition law: claims must be adequately and properly substantiated. On paper, that may sound flexible. In practice, it will be a problem.
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