IN-DEPTH: How the Feds Have Pushed Jurisdictional Boundaries With Environmental Policies

Environment is one of the grey areas in federal-provincial jurisdiction, say experts

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 30, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Canadian courts have recently identified federal overreach in two pieces of environmental legislation, raising questions about where federal jurisdiction ends and how politicians may try to expand its boundaries.

On Nov. 16, a Federal Court judge ruled that the government’s classification of all plastic products as toxic—which would bring them under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act—was “unreasonable and unconstitutional.”