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National Observer
14 hours ago
- Business
- National Observer
Canada's competition watchdog publishes final greenwashing guidelines
Businesses can make environmental claims — only if they aren't false or misleading and have been properly substantiated, according to new Canadian anti-greenwashing guidelines. The guidelines released Thursday by Canada's Competition Bureau are intended to help companies comply with anti-greenwashing laws introduced last June. Businesses making environmental claims will require an assessment, not only of the literal wording of the claim, but also of the general impression created by the advertisement as a whole, including the words, images and layout, the bureau said. The new rules elicited both praise and swift backlash. 'The bureau's guidance is important, but it is really just one piece of the puzzle, and it is not determinative,' said Keldon Bester, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project, an Ottawa-based think tank focused on economic competition issues. After the amended legislation came into force last summer, corporate Canada clamoured for clarity on how it would apply, so this guidance should answer some of their questions, but the real test will be the cases the bureau decides to pursue and how they fare in front of competition tribunals, Bester said. But it is encouraging to see the bureau 'matching the spirit of the law,' he said. INSERT ALBERTA ENVIRONMENT AND PARKS MINISTER REBECCA SCHULZ STATEMENT Canada's competition watchdog published finalized guidance to help corporate Canada navigate the new greenwashing rules that came into force last summer 'The new guidelines appear to get to the heart of the matter,' Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said in an emailed statement to Canada's National Observer. "'Greenwashing' is just another form of untruthful advertising. We need enforceable 'truth in advertising' laws and these guidelines move in that direction,' May said. The bureau's guidance explained that if a Canadian business claimed in its marketing that it was on its way to net-zero emissions by 2050 and 'had good intentions about reducing greenhouse gases' — but made the claim before making a clear, evidence-backed plan to reach net-zero — that would be inadequate. Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist for Greenpeace Canada called this the 'Pathways clause,' in reference to the Pathways Alliance's ad campaign. In 2023, the bureau launched an investigation into the oilsands lobby group's campaign, 'Let's clear the air,' after Greenpeace Canada filed a complaint alleging net-zero claims in the ads were false or misleading. After the new greenwashing laws came into force last summer, Pathways Alliance removed all of the content related to its 'Let's clear the air' campaign from its website, social media and other public communications. The Competition Bureau dropped the investigation a few months later, in December 2024, according to a letter Greenpeace Canada shared with Canada's National Observer. 'Given that the representations that were the subject of this inquiry are no longer publicly available, as well as the Commissioner's discretion with respect to the assignment of limited resources, the Commissioner has decided to discontinue the inquiry at this time,' reads the letter to Greenpeace Canada. 'You don't have to read very far between the lines … to see that Pathways was going to lose that case, which is probably why they took all those ads down so quickly,' Stewart said. 'I think the Competition Bureau essentially said, 'OK, we're going to give you a mulligan on this one. We're not going to go after you because you took all the ads down … and we're now putting it in black and white, clarifying the rules around what constitutes greenwashing on net-zero claims, so don't do it again',' he said. 'You'll notice Pathways no longer talk about being on the path to net-zero.' The Pathways Alliance did not respond to a request for comment on the new guidelines. Alexandre Boulerice, NDP critic for environment and climate change, said deceptive marketing practices, particularly greenwashing, are a major problem because it misleads consumers and 'hurts public trust in a genuine green transition.' The new rules could be a step in the right direction, but consumers must know that they can report deceptive or false advertising and file a complaint, Boulerice said in an emailed statement to Canada's National Observer. 'Additionally, the Bureau requires the resources and capacity to carry out all those inquiries,' Boulerice said. Boulerice said the next few months will tell whether the federal government is serious about this issue. The Conservative Party and Bloc Québécois did not respond to a request for comment. Although the legislation and guidelines could both be stronger, 'the new guidelines should quiet the trumped-up backlash from parts of corporate Canada,' said Emilia Belliveau, Environmental Defence's energy transition program manager, in a Thursday press release.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Competition watchdog finalizes anti-greenwashing guidelines for businesses
Canada's competition watchdog has finalized its guidelines for new federal anti-greenwashing provisions without imposing new rules but offering more indication of which corporate communications could be scrutinized. The Competition Bureau said on Thursday that it is unable to make changes to the legislation, which has been the subject of heated debate. The guidelines are designed to help businesses ensure compliance, it said. Companies, especially in natural resource industries, have complained the provisions prevent them from publishing anything about their environmental records and plans by putting them at risk of stiff penalties under the Competition Act. The guidelines follow two rounds of public consultation about the new provisions in the act, which came into force almost a year ago with the passage of Bill C-59. Is Ottawa's anti-greenwashing law helping or hurting Canadian companies? Companies are at legal risk for making environmental assertions that do not stand up to scrutiny. Corporate communications over such things as emission reduction plans and net-zero ambitions must be backed up by international standards. Individuals and companies could face sizable fines if found liable. Later this month, private parties will be able to make their own complaints to the federal Competition Tribunal in what is known as private right of action. The bureau said its guidelines, which closely follow a draft version, do not prescribe whether companies can make environmental claims. 'Companies are free to make any environmental claims they wish, as long as they are not false or misleading, and have been adequately and properly tested or substantiated where required,' it said in a statement. The finalized guidelines point out that provincial securities commissions, not the bureau, are responsible for securities regulation, and that disclosure requirements involving environmental factors are evolving. The agency said it will not review corporate filings made to regulators. The catch, said Beth Riley, a competition lawyer with McMillan LLP, is that some material risks come under scrutiny in a private action if disclosure is reused, for example, on a corporate website or other public forum to promote a business interest or product not connected with the sale of securities. 'The sense of accountability for disclosure is a good thing, but I think the legislation, these new greenwashing provisions, are a bit unwieldly,' Ms. Riley said. 'When you capture them with the private right of action that's been granted at the same time, without transition or any case law on the new greenwashing provisions, the bureau is no longer the watchdog, or the gatekeeper, of how to engage in claims.' Some large organizations have scrubbed their websites of environmental materials they had previously trumpeted. In recent weeks, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board abandoned its net-zero carbon emission target, citing 'recent legal developments in Canada' that have changed how such commitments are interpreted, including requiring adoption of standardized metrics and interim emission-reduction targets. Its announcement came after Royal Bank of Canada dropped sustainable finance targets from its public communications, citing Bill C-59 provisions as one reason for the move. Some business groups as well as the Alberta government criticize the legislation as overreach, though supporters say corporate decisions to expunge materials show it is working. Still, environmental groups said they were disappointed the guidelines do not include more detail and practical advice for companies, as is the case in other countries. '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,' Matt Hulse, lawyer for the group Ecojustice, said in a statement. Deciding which standards are used to back up assertions are a top concern. The bureau said it will recognize methodologies deemed credible in two or more countries that result in 'adequate and proper substantiation.' Many of them will be based in science. Ms. Riley's colleague, Radha Curpen, McMillan's group head, sustainability and ESG, said several methodologies are widely recognized in areas such as tallying emissions and setting targets, including Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the International Organization for Standardization's life-cycle assessment and the Science Based Targets Initiative. The key for companies when publishing environmental materials is to make sure they are subject to internal controls and governance, and determine who in the organization needs to sign off, Ms. Curpen said. 'Lots of people have already started this, but they need to align disclosures with risk management frameworks and all that. And be prepared for what could be a private right of action,' she said.
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Competition Bureau releases final anti-greenwashing guidelines
The Competition Bureau has released its final anti-greenwashing guidelines after considering more than 400 responses to the legislation that took effect about a year ago. 'While a lot of the feedback in the submissions is reflected in the final guidance, some is not,' the bureau said in a backgrounder accompanying Thursday's announcement. For instance, some suggested the guidelines spell out for businesses exactly what environmental claims they can make in their marketing material and when. But the bureau said amendments to the Competition Act that passed in June 2024 include no such rules. 'Instead, the act allows businesses to make whatever environmental claims they wish, as long as those claims are not false or misleading, and as long as those claims are adequately and properly tested or substantiated where required,' the bureau said. 'This requires an assessment not only of the literal wording of a claim, but also of the general impression created by the advertisement as a whole, including the words, images and layout.' The agency also received suggestions that it said would mean acting beyond its legal authority. The bureau said some commenters encouraged it to act as gatekeeper for private citizens wanting to launch a challenge, but it said that is the responsibility of the Competition Tribunal. The bureau added it should be left up to the courts to interpret terminology included in the legislation. Some of those weighing in argued that the bureau's enforcement of greenwashing provisions should mirror that of securities law, but the guidance says there should be a distinction between the two. 'In the bureau's view, the protections afforded to ordinary consumers under the act should not be limited to the protections afforded to people who are seeking to invest in capital markets,' it said. The new Competition Act provisions dealing with greenwashing require that companies' environmental claims be based on 'adequate and proper testing' and 'proper substantiation in accordance with an internationally recognized methodology.' When draft guidelines were released in December and put to public consultation, questions were raised about what exactly 'internationally recognized methodology' entails. In the final guidelines, the bureau said it would likely pass muster if it were recognized in two or more countries — but not necessarily by those countries' governments. The bureau said it has taken enforcement action on two environmental claims over the past two years — against coffee-pod maker Keurig and automaker Volkswagen — under deceptive marketing practices provisions. Violations under those provisions can lead to fines of $10 million or higher. Energy sector players are among those who have raised concerns about the legislation, with many clamming up on their climate communications in response. Shortly after the law passed, the Pathways Alliance — a group of oilsands majors planning to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions from their operations — removed virtually all content from its website and social media feeds, citing uncertainty over the rules. 'While Greenpeace would argue the oilsands' greenwashing was always illegal, the new rules make it abundantly clear that the Pathways Alliance's net zero claims do not pass the sniff test, which is likely why the companies so abruptly deleted them and their social media history,' said Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada. 'The climate change-fuelled wildfires that have driven tens of thousands of Canadians out of their homes again this year are a stark illustration of how making false environmental claims to delay real climate action is not a victimless crime.' Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has spoken out against the greenwashing rules, among a litany of other federal environmental moves. A day after the April federal election, the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors laid out its priorities for the Liberal government in Ottawa, including that it 'scrap greenwashing legislation that unfairly silences Canadian companies from showcasing their world-leading environmental performance and economic contributions.' In April, Canada's largest bank dropped its target of facilitating $500 billion in sustainable financing, in part due to the anti-greenwashing legislation. RBC also decided not to disclose its energy supply ratio, a measure of how its financing of high- and low-carbon energy compare. At the time, RBC vice-president Jennifer Livingston said no internationally recognized methodologies existed for some of the measurements. 'We are disappointed not to share these metrics externally but will continue to monitor and report them internally to measure our progress,' she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
CTV News
a day ago
- Business
- CTV News
Competition Bureau releases final anti-greenwashing guidelines
The government's Competition Bureau website is pictured on a mobile phone and laptop screen in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick GATINEAU — The Competition Bureau has released its final guidelines for anti-greenwashing legislation that came into effect about a year ago. The bureau says it considered more than 400 submissions as it finalized its guidance, although not all that feedback made its way into the end document. For instance, it says some suggested the bureau tell businesses exactly what environmental claims they can make and when, but it says the legislation includes no such rules — only that claims must not be false or misleading and must be backed up. The agency also received suggestions it act beyond its legal authority in some cases, but it says those matters must be left up to the courts or the Competition Tribunal to interpret. Some commenters argued that the bureau's enforcement of greenwashing provisions should mirror that of securities law, but it says ordinary consumers should be offered different protections than investors. The bureau says it has taken enforcement action in two environmental claims over the past two years — against coffee-pod maker Keurig and automaker Volkswagen — under deceptive marketing practices provisions. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025 The Canadian Press
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Competition Bureau urges retailers and landlords to drop property controls
OTTAWA — The Competition Bureau is urging retailers and landlords to drop or change competitor property controls that are not justified even if they do not raise issues under the Competition Act. In new guidance released Wednesday, the watchdog encouraged companies to only use property controls, which can make it more difficult for firms to enter new markets or expand, where they increase competition. Property controls in commercial leases may include limiting the kinds of stores that can open in a shopping mall, or limiting the kind of store that's allowed to open in that location after a tenant leaves the property. In June 2023, the bureau published a grocery market study that found property controls can limit competition from new grocers and can deny consumers the benefits of competition. It reached a deal earlier this year with Empire Co. Ltd. to remove a property control that the regulator said restricted grocery store competition in Crowsnest Pass, Alta. The bureau noted that restrictive covenants are particularly concerning as they apply to the land itself and can restrict future owners of the land. The bureau says it did not consider their use to be justified outside of exceptional circumstances. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:EMP.A) The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
