The Competition Bureau has launched a public consultation to solicit feedback from Canadians on its proposed guidelines concerning environmental claims. This follows an initial round of consultations held during the summer of 2024.
The proposed guidelines aim to help businesses assess whether their environmental claims comply with the provisions of the Competition Act. This includes the new greenwashing provisions added to the Act through a series of amendments that became law on June 20, 2024.
The guidelines do not prescribe when or how businesses can make environmental claims. Companies are free to make environmental claims, as long as they are not false or misleading, and have been adequately and properly tested or substantiated as required.
The Bureau invites interested parties to provide feedback on its proposed guidelines before February 28, 2025, by emailing environmentalclaims-declarationsenvironnementales@cb-bc.gc.ca.
Each submission received will be published on our website unless the provider requests that it be kept confidential. Following this consultation, the Bureau will publish final guidelines.
Overview
- The Competition Act contains two new provisions that explicitly target greenwashing. They require that:
- claims about the environmental benefits of a product be based on adequate and proper testing.
- claims about the environmental benefits of a business or business activity be based on adequate and proper substantiation in accordance with an internationally recognized methodology.
- The Bureau has intervened in two environmental claims cases under the deceptive marketing practices provisions of the Competition Actover the past few years: Keurig and Volkswagen.
- The June 2022 amendments to the Act increased the penalties for misleading advertising and deceptive marketing practices.
- The Bureau issued a consumer alert in 2022 to raise awareness and reporting of greenwashing.
The Bureau strongly encourages anyone who suspects that a company or individual is making deceptive marketing claims to report it by issuing a complaint and using this online form.
Featured image credit: Getty Images
