Dentons’ Pick of Canadian Regulatory Trends to Watch in 2022

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Dentons' Canadian Regulatory Trends to Watch
Dentons’ Pick of Canadian Regulatory Trends to Watch in 2022

Dentons’ Pick of Canadian Regulatory Trends to Watch in 2022

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January 11, 2022

The regulatory landscape in 2022 will be shaped by challenges relating to, among other things: accelerating climate change, the imperative of moving the ESG (environmental, social and governance) agenda forward, the digital economy, supply chain disruptions, data protection and national security concerns.

In this annual publication, Dentons’ team of leading regulatory lawyers forecast key trends for 2022 across a range of legal areas, including trade, competition, foreign investment review and national security, energy regulatory, digital economy regulation, and environment and climate change.

Showing 1 - 10 of Total Results (11)

Environmental regulatory trends to watch in 2022: Fines for environment offences continue to increase

March 4, 2022

On December 10, 2021, the Government of Canada released a paper detailing trends in environmental fines during the previous ten-year period. This document, entitled A Discussion Paper Regarding the Environmental Fines and Sentencing Regime: 10 Years Later, provided a detailed analysis of the rise in environmental fines during the past 10 years, surveying 10 different pieces of environmental legislation. Although this summary did not consider some of the most common pieces of legislation used for environmental prosecutions, such as the federal Fisheries Act, it is clear that fines for environmental offences continue to increase across a variety of different legislative regimes.

Trends to watch in agriculture for 2022: Animal rights activism and vigilante surveillance

March 2, 2022

Animal rights concerns are not new to the Canadian agriculture industry. What is new is that a small contingent of animal rights activist organizations have access to greater international resources and tactics, increasingly leveraging ever-advancing technology to coordinate their activities and enhance their impact on industry.

ESG trends to watch in 2022: Incoming regulation with a chance of litigation

February 25, 2022

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors represent a variety of non-financial risks and opportunities that impact company value. ESG reflects the increasingly accepted proposition that pursuing environmentally and socially sustainable corporate governance is not only the right thing to do, but can lead to positive financial outcomes.

Competition law trends to watch in 2022:
The enforcers’ comeback

February 18, 2022

From the appointment of “big tech” critic Lina Khan as US Federal Trade Commission chair to China’s increasingly assertive use of its anti-monopoly law against domestic firms, 2021 continued to show signs of an acceleration of competition enforcement globally.

Consumer products’ trends to watch in 2022:
The war on plastic

February 15, 2022

Historically, federal regulations restricting plastic in consumer products or their packaging were rooted in the harmful effects of plastic on humans. However, 2021 marked a shift in the rationale for regulating plastics in consumer products and their packaging when “plastic manufactured items” were added to the List of Toxic Substances in Schedule 1 to the Canada Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). This designation means that the federal government now has the authority to enact regulations restricting the use of plastics in consumer products and in consumer product packaging based on their potential harmful effects on the environment.

Trends to watch in tort liability for 2022:
BC Supreme Court confirms private entities can rely on statutory authority as a shield to tort claims brought by Aboriginal rights holders

February 8, 2022

The BC Supreme Court recently confirmed that third-party proponents can be held liable for torts affecting a First Nations’ established or claimed Aboriginal rights and title. However, the Court confirmed the defence of statutory authority can apply to relieve the third party from liability if the third party acts within the bounds of its statutory authorization.

Extended Producer Responsibility trends to watch in 2022: Waste not, want lots

January 31, 2022

2021, a year of uncertainty, adaptation, and increased focus on climate change following COP26, also marked a year of significant developments in the area of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) across Canada. This insight provides a look at some significant developments in EPR in Canada in 2021 and forecasts trends to watch for in 2022.

Anti-corruption trends to watch in 2022: A pivotal year ahead for financial crime enforcement

January 28, 2022

2022 should prove to be a telling year in the Canadian government’s anti-corruption enforcement activity. High expectations were set for 2021 and while some advances occurred, the ongoing difficulties with the pandemic resulted in less than ideal conditions for growth in anti-corruption investigations and enforcement.

Foreign Investment trends to watch in 2022:
The expanding scope of Canadian national security review

January 20, 2022

Several trends will dominate foreign investment review and national security under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) in 2022:

Online platforms’ regulatory trends to watch in 2022: New obligations on the horizon for media services

January 17, 2022

In recent years, services and media content available online have evolved and proliferated to a point where governments around the world are now seeking to subject them to more detailed and comprehensive regulation. These are invariably attempts to catch up with current technologies and business models, and establish regimes that will better stand the test of time. Canada’s efforts are playing out in proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Act and the Copyright Act.