Environmental Law & Regulation

Environmental protection is dependent on good legislation and effective compliance at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels. The Saskatchewan Environmental Society continues to regularly monitor and review changes in these systems.

In 2025, the Saskatchewan government announced their plans to extend the life of the province’s coal plants until 2050. This decision directly violates federal regulations that mandate a phase-out by 2030, putting our climate, communities, and environment at risk. It also ignores the potential of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. In response, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, alongside three concerned citizens and Citizens for Public Justice, launched a legal challenge. We are seeking a judicial review to determine whether the government’s decision is lawful and fair. We have also requested an interim stay to freeze any action until the court can assess the case. Our last hearing at the Court of King’s Bench was about whether the Court has the power to review this government decision. We now await the Judge’s decision on whether our case can proceed at a later date. SES has also raised serious concerns about the Saskatchewan government’s flawed analysis of the federal Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), which is the basis for their justification of extending coal operations.

In 2024, SES made an application to intervene in a local climate action lawsuit. The case, launched by seven citizens and Climate Justice Saskatoon against the Government of Saskatchewan and SaskPower, asserts that in the face of a growing climate change emergency, citizens’ charter rights are being violated by the ongoing expansion of conventional natural gas-fired generating stations that release millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere. Intervenors are a third party who participate in a legal process to provide expertise and evidence to the proceedings. In 2025, this case was dismissed by the Court of King’s Bench, so SES will no longer have the opportunity to contribute.

In 2022, SES expressed our concerns about the provisions related to greenhouse gas regulation and environmental standards in Bill 88 The Saskatchewan First Act. We are concerned because we contend that the bill has legal, environmental, ethical, and economic ramifications that have not been considered. Despite these concerns, Bill 88 was signed into law in early 2023. Read our press release, fact sheets, and letter to the Saskatchewan government here.

In 2019, SES made an application to intervene in the Supreme Court of Canada’s case addressing the constitutionality of the Greenhouse Gas Pricing Pollution Act. This case initially began because the governments of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Ontario challenged the federal government’s legal power to enact a minimum national standard for pricing greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to mitigate climate change. You can find our press release here.

In 2016, the federal government initiated a review of the federal environmental assessment review process. Read SES’s submission to the review panel here.