Competition Bureau releases final guideline on “Environmental claims and the Competition Act”

Canada’s Competition Bureau recently released the final version of its guideline on “Environmental claims and the Competition Act” that is intended to help businesses ensure their environmental claims comply with the Competition Act’s deceptive marketing provisions that came into force last June.

These provisions specifically address environmental claims made to promote a product or other business interest and are intended to target “greenwashing”—i.e., making a business or product seem better for the environment and/or climate than it is. Specific substantiation requirements are now imposed on a broad range of environmental claims.

The Bureau’s guideline provides the following key principles businesses should consider regarding the Competition Act’s deceptive marketing provisions for environmental claims:

• Environmental claims should be truthful, and not false or misleading
• Environmental benefits of a product and performance claims should be adequately and properly tested
• Comparative environmental claims should be specific about what is being compared
• Environmental claims should avoid exaggeration
• Environmental claims should be clear and specific—not vague
• Environmental claims about the future should be supported by substantiation and a clear plan.

While the guideline reflects the Bureau’s enforcement approach, it is not binding on private parties or the Competition Tribunal, so it is unclear how the guideline will affect private enforcement actions (private parties, including activist groups, can bring cases to the Competition Tribunal as of June 20, 2025).

Key takeaways

The greenwashing provisions create substantial compliance risk for businesses operating in Canada that make environmental claims about their products, services, or business activities. While the guideline sheds some light on the Bureau’s enforcement approach, it does not change the broad language of the law. Accordingly, even where the Bureau has suggested it may not take enforcement action, businesses should not assume there is no risk of private enforcement. 

The coming into force of the private right of enforcement means companies (both Canadian companies and multi-national companies doing business in Canada) should review their existing and future environmental claims to ensure they comply with the Competition Act’s greenwashing provisions.

Read the full update here.