On October 25, 2019, fifteen children and youth from across Canada filed an action in Federal Court against Canada and the Attorney General of Canada alleging that the federal government's conduct contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change violated their rights under sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The plaintiffs alleged that climate change was already harming their physical and psychological well-being and would disproportionately burden children and future generations. They also alleged that Canada had breached obligations under a proposed public trust doctrine to protect common natural resources.

The original claim challenged a broad range of federal conduct, including Canada's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the adoption of emissions-reduction targets allegedly inconsistent with climate science, its failure to meet previous emissions targets, and federal support for fossil-fuel development. The plaintiffs sought declarations that Canada's conduct violated sections 7 and 15 of the Charter and its asserted public trust obligations. They also sought an order requiring Canada to develop and implement a Climate Recovery Plan consistent with Canada's share of the global carbon budget and asked the Court to retain jurisdiction over implementation.

Canada moved to strike the claim. On October 27, 2020, the Federal Court granted the motion and struck the action without leave to amend. The Court held that the plaintiffs' Charter claims were not justiciable because they challenged an overly broad and diffuse range of government conduct rather than sufficiently discrete state action capable of constitutional review. It further held that the section 7 and section 15 claims disclosed no reasonable cause of action. Although the Court considered the existence of a public trust doctrine to be a justiciable legal question, it concluded that the doctrine pleaded by the plaintiffs had no reasonable prospect of recognition under Canadian law.

The plaintiffs appealed. On December 13, 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part. The Court held that the section 7 claims were justiciable and should not have been dismissed as having no reasonable prospect of success merely because they raised complex questions concerning climate policy or potentially positive state obligations. The Court concluded that the plaintiffs had identified federal legislation and Orders in Council capable of providing a legal framework for constitutional review and that a causal relationship between federal action and alleged harms to life, liberty, or security of the person was not manifestly incapable of proof.

The Federal Court of Appeal nevertheless agreed that the section 7 claim, as originally pleaded, was too broad and diffuse to permit constitutional adjudication. It therefore struck the section 7 claim with leave to amend so that the plaintiffs could identify with greater precision the legislation and government conduct alleged to cause the constitutional deprivation. The Court upheld the dismissal, without leave to amend, of the plaintiffs' section 15 claim and their public trust claim.

Following the appellate decision, the plaintiffs filed an amended statement of claim on May 31, 2024. The amended pleading narrowed the case to a section 7 Charter claim and identified specific federal laws and measures that the plaintiffs allege authorize, facilitate, or contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and thereby create or exacerbate risks to their life, liberty, and security of the person.

On December 11, 2024, the Federal Court issued an order setting the matter for trial beginning October 26, 2026, in Vancouver. After a further case-management order, the plaintiffs filed a further amended statement of claim on January 13, 2025. The case has since proceeded through pretrial discovery and expert disclosure. Trial is scheduled to begin on October 26, 2026.

La Rose v. His Majesty the King

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La Rose v. His Majesty the King - decision

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People who have left their homes, whether through force, voluntarily, or a mixture of both

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

La Rose v. His Majesty the King - decision

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector