Unceded Algonquin Territory — Ottawa, ON | September 23, 2026

Canadians can heave a sigh of relief, that in putting forward Bill C-39, the federal government set aside its earlier proposal to license private corporations to wipe out endangered species in industrial projects.

That proposal shocked the conscience of Canadians, and led 26,000 people to write to, call, and meet with their MPs, to demand a hard stop from this “extinction agenda”. Nature Canada takes comfort in the fact that the Canadian government listened. However, Bill C-39 still proposes to shift far too much power on environmental standards away from democratic processes and towards the discretion of individual Ministers.

“Decisions on industrial proposals should depend on the objective economic and environmental merits of those proposals, not on the political influence of the proposers,” said Akaash Maharaj, Nature Canada’s Director of Policy.

The federal government has recognized some of these risks in its accompanying “Cabinet Directive on getting projects built in Canada,” meant to guide Ministers on how they should wield the power that Bill C-39 would grant them. Importantly, the Directive requires federal departments to apply the mitigation hierarchy – first avoiding harm to nature, then minimizing it, restoring damage, and finally offsetting unavoidable impacts – in line with Canada’s Nature Strategy. These are important safeguards.

However, that Directive carries no legal force.

“Nature Canada calls on Parliamentarians to amend C-39, and embed the safeguards of the Cabinet Directive directly into the legislation, so environmental protection, political accountability and integrity become the law, instead of just a suggestion,” said Emily McMillan, Nature Canada’s Executive Director.

Nature Canada also remains deeply concerned by the government’s plans to create “Regions of National Interest”, where developments could be exempted from the normal project review process.

Bill C-39 must be amended to ensure that clear, objective environmental standards apply in any “Regions of National Interest”, so they do not become zones of environmental lawlessness. In particular, Nature Canada calls on Parliamentarians to insist a project in such a region must be subject to a rigorous mitigation hierarchy, and must be net nature-positive overall.

A charity since 1939, Nature Canada has been the voice for nature. Our mission is to cultivate and strengthen the connections and conditions needed for species and habitats to flourish. Our vision is a Canada where nature is restored, thriving, and an integral part of everyday life, rooted in all the decisions that shape our shared future.

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Media Contact:
Scott Mullenix, Director of Communications
media@naturecanada.ca | Call / Text: 613-366-4776