Worried About Mandatory ESG Reporting? Read This

Across Canada, public and private companies are scrambling to understand the implications of upcoming environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) disclosure requirements. In this article, we'll break down where the ESG disclosure mandates for Canadian companies are coming from, when they will be in effect and the legal risks they'll present.

Current State: Voluntary ESG Reporting

To date, climate-related disclosure in the form of ESG or sustainability reports has been voluntary for Canadian companies. Although current securities regulation generally requires companies to disclose certain climate-related information if it is deemed material¹, at the moment there are no Canadian regulations or requirements that specifically mandate a company to publicly disclose ESG information (e.g. greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions) in accordance with a formal ESG reporting standard such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). However, this will soon change.