On November 18, 2025, Canada’s federal government introduced Bill C-15. Going forward, all environmental claims by companies doing business in Canada need to have adequate and proper substantiation. In effect, companies are required to publicly disclose the evidence supporting their environmental claims and allow for easy verification by consumers, competitors and regulators.
This is relatively easy if your claim is project based:
- As an example – “We put solar on our roof, and it reduced our energy bill by 25%”
- This is an easy claim to substantiate as you can show pictures of the panels on your roof and copies of the pre and post energy bills.
However, providing adequate and proper substantiation when making an environmental claim about your company is practically impossible without being certified under a standard.
- The standard provides the substantiation for your claim – “We are an environmentally certified sustainable company under the Edenark Group ISO 14001” – as it provides the framework that the claim is based on.
On the other hand, if a company is not certified under a standard and simply says, “We are sustainable” or “We are environmentally friendly” or “We are a green company” or any corporate environmental claims, the question becomes:
- “What is your claim tied to?”
- Or, said a different way, “What globally accepted framework are you using or did you just make this up?”
If you are doing business in Canada and you are making environmental project claims, all you need to do is document the before and after performance. But if you are making corporate claims of being eco-friendly, or sustainable or green or environmentally friendly, you will need to become certified under a standard, allowing you to make your claim under that standard.
If you decide to become certified+verified under a globally respected program, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.