This article discusses the ongoing trade war initiated by the United States and its impacts on Canada’s energy sector. Canada’s retaliatory trade measures have escalated tensions, thus prompting additional tariffs and ultimately jeopardizing cross-border economic efficiency. There have been varying responses across Canadian provinces to the trade war, with energy-producing provinces emphasizing the need for trade diversification. This article argues that if Canada reduced regulatory obstacles provincially, it could increase Canada’s resilience against external trade disruptions. Further, the impact of the current trade war has influenced geopolitical stability, thus industry leaders must enhance energy security in the long-term to mitigate risk to the industry.

Alberta is implementing its most significant electricity regulatory overhaul since 1996, responding to decarbonization, reliability, affordability, and rapid changes in the generation mix. This article explores the reforms in stringent land use, visual impact, andreclamation requirements for renewables, an overhaul of market design via the Restructured Energy Market, and new transmission planning and cost allocation frameworks. These changes generate investment uncertainty, particularly for renewables and power purchase agreements, but also create opportunities for data centres and storage developers. The transition from zero-congestion to optimal transmission planning, new market power mitigation, and cost causation principles have substantial commercial impacts. Uncertainty is expected to persist until the regulatory framework stabilizes.

This article summarizes recent judicial decisions of interest to energy lawyers. The authors review and comment on case law from the past year in several areas including Indigenous law, contractual interpretation, securities litigation, class actions, environmental law, intellectual property, insurance law, bankruptcy and insolvency, employment law, and arbitration. The authors discuss the practical implications of the decisions and risk management strategies that may be of benefit to participants in the energy industry. The authors also highlight cases to watch in 2026.

This article provides a high-level overview of regulatory and legislative developments between June 2024 and April 2025, which may be of interest to Canadian energy lawyers. It includes discussions of recent regulatory decisions and changes to regulatory and legislative regimes impacting energy law while also highlighting several ongoing regulatory and legislative developments to watch for in the coming year. Topics of note include legislative and policy changes relating to the Impact Assessment Act, provincial legislation regarding federal incursions, the Canada Energy Regulator, and the Alberta Restructured Energy Market, among others.

As the use of generative AI increases, data centres have become increasingly common, with corporations seeking to rapidly expand their infrastructure to sustain their technology and services in response to rising demand. This growth in data centres presents shareholders and governments with new investment opportunities. In this context, this article unpacks the physical, economic, and legal implications of the increased demand for data centres and considers the potential consequences of their accelerated construction, which is currently set to outpace electricity generation and the necessary transmission investments. This article also explores the challenges faced by electricity regulators, as well as corporations, that wish to construct data centres, including legislative constraints, strained electricity grids, and the difficulty of implementing sustainable energy sources.

This article examines the rise of private climate change litigation in Canada, focusing on efforts to hold corporations accountable for their contributions to climate change and their environmental representations. Canadian courts are increasingly engaging with climate claims, despite ongoing challenges such as a reluctance to interfere with corporate discretion. These cases draw on tort, corporate, and competition law, reflecting growing legal and regulatory pressure. As international precedent and domestic reforms converge, climate risk is becoming a material legal issue for Canadian energy companies. This article contends that as Canadian law continues to respond to climate-related issues, energy companies must proactively incorporate climate risk into their governance and operations to mitigate potential liabilities and maintain competitiveness in an increasingly climate-conscious market.

As carbon capture and sequestration expands to meet climate goals, conflicts of subsurface rights present a significant obstacle. This article examines the ownership and regulation of pore space across Canada and the United States. It analyzes divergent common law and statutory frameworks governing pore space ownership and the management of convergent subsurface rights across various jurisdictions, with a particular focus on Alberta. The authors demonstrate how fragmented subsurface rights create legal uncertainty and assess legal mechanisms for mitigating these conflicts to enable the responsible deployment ofcarbon capture and sequestration.

Canada’s Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (2024) marks a shift from voluntary corporate social responsibility to legislated transparency. It mandates annual reporting from entities producing or importing goods into Canada, including energy companies, on policies and risks related to forced and child labour. This article analyzes the Act’s structure, interpretive challenges, and compliance issues from its first reporting cycle. It compares Canada’s model to international regimes — transparency laws, mandatory due diligence, and import bans — and critiques its limited enforcement.The article also explores implications for multinational supply chains, investor scrutiny, and reputational risk, offering practical steps for Canadian companies to strengthen compliance and align with global standards.

Recent geopolitical developments, in particular the evolving Canada-US trade relationship and the aftermath of the 2025 Canadian federal election, have created both challenges and opportunities for Canadian energy lawyers. This article critically examines the pervasive regulatory uncertainty facing Alberta’s energy sector, situating these challenges within both domestic and international contexts. Conventional oil and gas, potash, carbon capture and storage, liquified natural gas, and battery storage are sub-sector case studies that highlight the unique regulatory hurdles and opportunities in the industry. This article analyzes each area in turn and concludes by offering practical strategies for legal practitioners and industry participants to manage risk and adapt to ongoing change.