Scope and Limits of the Right
Scope
The right to a healthy environment applies solely in the context of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA). CEPA is the cornerstone of Canada’s environmental legislation and an important part of Canada’s broader legislative framework aimed at preventing pollution and protecting the environment and human health.
In CEPA, the term “healthy environment” is defined as an “environment that is clean, healthy and sustainable”.
It is important to note that, for many of the areas CEPA provides the authority to take action on, other federal legislation also plays a role, and that a right to a healthy environment is limited to the CEPA context and is not applicable to these other Acts (e.g., Fisheries Act, Species at Risk Act, Impact Assessment Act, Pest Control Products Act, Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, Canadian Consumer Products and Safety Act, Food and Drugs Act). Many are also areas of shared jurisdiction with the provinces and territories as well as Indigenous governments, and there are processes in place to support collaboration.
The key environmental and health issues managed under CEPA include:
Air pollution - CEPA provides authorities to monitor and assess air pollutants, develop and administer regulatory and non-regulatory risk management instruments to reduce releases of air pollutants, and establish objectives for outdoor levels of air pollutants.
Water pollution - work on water quality under CEPA involves leadership on the development of Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality, in collaboration with the other federal, provincial and territorial government departments.
Risks posed by harmful substances - within CEPA there are requirements and authorities for the assessment and management of existing substances that have been or are being used in Canada and new substances that are proposed to be introduced to Canada.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) releases - CEPA provides authorities to develop and administer regulatory and non-regulatory risk management instruments to reduce the releases of GHGs from certain activities and sources (e.g., electricity production, oil and gas activities, landfills, vehicles and engines), contributing to Canada’s action on climate change.
Waste - CEPA provides the authority to manage the movement of hazardous waste and recyclable materials, imposes a prohibition on disposal at sea and establishes a permit system to control the disposal of non-hazardous substances into the sea.
Further information on the scope of these activities and their results can be found at CEPA: focus on issues and the CEPA, 1999: Annual Report to Parliament for April 2021 to March 2022.
Limits to the Right
The right to a healthy environment under CEPA is subject to reasonable limits and the framework will elaborate on relevant factors to be considered when determining the reasonable limits. These factors include, but are not limited to:
- social
- health
- scientific
- economic
These factors might not be relevant in all cases but decision-making under CEPA typically involves situations where many considerations need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
For more information on the scope and reasonable limits on the right, please see section 3.1 of the Discussion Document.
