Environmental Enforcement Discretions in Canada

The Government of Canada recognizes that Canadians and all businesses operating across Canada are facing extraordinary circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Environment and Climate Change Canada will not waive any environmental laws, on March 20, they issued a letter that stated "environmental discretion" will be taken for those who may face challenges with compliance due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended that regulated parties who find themselves in non-compliance should, to the extent possible, document the nature and dates of non-compliance, how COVID-19 contributed to the non-compliance, and the actions taken to prevent or minimize any risk to human health and the environment. Several Provinces in Canada are taking different approaches than Environment and Climate Change Canada. See below for specific guidance.

• The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (MOE) has issued a notice stating that authorization requirements under the Environmental Management Act (EMA) and the Integrated Pest Management Act (IPMA) remain in effect and all reasonable measures should be taken to comply. If an authorization holder is unable to meet its requirements due to the impact of orders, directives or guidance issued by B.C. in response to COVID-19, the MOE requires notice of the non-compliance, including a rationale as to how the compliance issue is related to COVID-19 and information on mitigative measures being taken.
• Notice regarding non-compliance pursuant to the EMA must be provided to environmentalcompliance@gov.bc.ca, while notice regarding non-compliance pursuant to the IPMA must be provided to ipmreporting@gov.bc.ca. 
• On April 1, 2020, OIC 158/2020 was approved to amend regulations made pursuant to the Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act which gives the director discretion to accept incomplete emission reports or compliance reports for the reporting period ending December 31, 2019 (2019 GHG Reporting), and to provide up to six months for the missing information to be provided. 

• The Government of Ontario has promised guidance relating to requirements for monitoring and reporting during the COVID-19 crisis, but thus far no guidance has been provided and all monitoring and reporting obligations under regulations and approvals remain in force.
• The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has announced that it is temporarily exempting all Ontario Ministries from the requirement to post proposals for instruments on the Environmental Registry

Quebec

• The Quebec Ministry of the Environment and Fight against Climate Change (MELCC) has issued guidance on its website regarding compliance inspection activities during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Under the MELCC guidance, businesses must do everything they can to avoid causing damage to the environment and they must continue to comply with legal obligations for situations that may have a direct impact on the health and safety of the population as well as on the quality of the environment.
• The MELCC has also indicated that it will be tolerant with businesses whose ability to comply with environmental obligations are affected by the restrictions put in place as a result of the COVID-19 emergency measures, particularly in relation to compliance with administrative requirements, such as requirement to transmit reports.
• The MELCC has also announced that it will temporarily exempt companies who seek to convert their operations in order to participate in efforts to combat COVID-19 from obtaining environmental authorization that would normally be required to modify an activity.