A group of climate advocates is suing the federal government. The lawsuit is for recent policy changes that have put it off-track in meeting Canada’s legislated emission reduction targets.
An application for judicial review filed on Monday, 15 June ’26, asked the Federal Court to order Ottawa to bring its ’30 emissions reductions plans into compliance with the Net Zero Accountability Act.
The application also says that in lieu of such an order, the Federal Court should declare Ottawa’s emission reductions plan unlawful under the act.
The lawsuit names Environment Defence and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment as applicants. This includes climate activists Marie Maltais and Sophia Mathur, as well as Shirley Barnea.
The associate director of national climate at Environment Defense, Julia Levin, told a news conference on Tuesday, 16 June, that this act needs transparency besides accountability. Currently, neither of these principles is being upheld.
Levin added that nothing the government has promised makes up for what it may have gutted, eliminated & dismantled.
The Net-Zero Accountability Act, passed 5 years back in ’21, legally commits Canada to achieving net-zero emissions in another 24 years by ’50. It also requires the government to set national emission reduction targets along the way. However, there aren’t any consequences for missing them.
A progress report published last December ’25 reflects the government’s being nowhere near on track in meeting its current target of reducing emissions to 40%-45% below the levels that had been reflected 21 years back in ’05.
The lawsuit filed on Monday, 15 June ’26, alleges Ottawa doesn’t intend to take measures to meet its ’30 target.
The lawsuit says that since ’30 (emissions reduction plan) was established, the Government of Canada has eliminated, weakened, and/or significantly altered key measures described in the plan.
The lawsuit points to the elimination of the consumer carbon price, which was implemented 15 months ago in March ’25. This was Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first day in office.
