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 Environmental Society, alongside three concerned citizens and Citizens for Public Justice, launched a legal challenge seeking a judicial review to determine whether the Saskatchewan government’s decision to extend the life of the province’s coal plants in defiance of federal law. SES has raised serious concerns about the Saskatchewan government’s flawed analysis of the federal Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), which is the basis for the Saskatchewan government’s justification for extending coal operations. In January 2026, the Court of King’s Bench struck our case on procedural grounds related to the Court’s role. The Court did not assess evidence or decide whether extending coal-fired power generation is lawful, justified, or in the public interest, but instead ruled that such questions are not for the courts to determine. SES alongside our co-applicants have filed and served a notice of appeal of the Court’s ruling. This case is ongoing.

In 2024, SES made an application to intervene in a case launched by seven citizens and Climate Justice Saskatoon against the Government of Saskatchewan and SaskPower in 2023. The applicants of this case assert 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.