CELA

Canadian Environmental Law Association is a legal aid clinic dedicated to environmental equity, justice, and health.

Founded in 1970, CELA is one of the oldest environmental advocates for environmental protection in the country. With funding from Legal Aid Ontario, CELA provides free legal services relating to environmental justice in Ontario, including representing qualifying low-income and vulnerable or disadvantaged communities in litigation. CELA also works on environmental legal education and reform initiatives.

CELA Foundation

Canadian Environmental Law Foundation

The CELA Foundation is the charitable arm of Canadian Environmental Law Association. The Foundation was established in 1993 and supports CELA’s research and education work on environmental law and justice issues.

CELA FOUNDATION

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Air Quality

Air Quality Issues in Ontario

Air pollution is a major source of harm to human health and the environment. Ontario needs to set and enforce strong standards for local air quality in order to protect people from being exposed to air pollution.

Climate Change

Environment Ministry Proposes to Exempt Harmful Activities from Licensing Requirements

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is proposing to exempt certain waste management systems, storm water management, and water-taking from licensing requirements.

Our Legal Services

How can we help?

Public Legal Education

Learn about the law

Advancing Environmental Law

Action on Environmental justice

CELA's Latest Activities

Discover staff blog posts, publications, reports, alerts, and media releases.

Report – Exploring Awareness of Impacts of Toxic Substances in the Great Lakes Basin: Voices from the Underserved and Underrepresented Communities

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) contracted the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) to assemble an information inventory and undertake a community awareness project with marginalized community members in Canada’s portion of the Great Lakes basin, specifically, to explore awareness

December 18, 2023

Blog: Parliament Rejects Private Member’s Bill That Would Have Expanded Federal Environmental Rights

New blog post from CELA Counsel Joseph Castrilli

December 11, 2023

Media Release: Ontario to Provide Free Heat Pumps to Eligible Low-Income Electricity Users

The Low-Income Energy Network is celebrating the province of Ontario’s announcement of a significant and welcome expansion of the Save

December 11, 2023

Submission: Strengthening Federal Impact Assessment

CELA and other environmental groups submitted a letter to the federal government to outline the types of amendments to the

December 7, 2023

Blog: In a Climate-Changing World Are Disasters “Natural” Any More?

New blog post from CELA Counsel Joseph Castrilli

December 6, 2023

November 2023 Bulletin

CELA says thank you to two long-serving board members, updates on two cases, and new resources including a report on

November 30, 2023

Casework: Elliot Lake and Radioactive Mine Waste

Families in Elliot Lake are demanding action by the federal government and mining company BHP to clean up radioactive wastes found on their properties. Uranium mine waste was widely used as fill for construction in the 1960s in Elliot Lake, and came from uranium mines, now closed. The residents are calling the presence of radioactive waste at their homes “an egregious failure of Canada’s nuclear regulatory system”.

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Canadian Environmental Law Association
1500-55 University Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario
M5J 2H7

info (at) cela.ca

1-416-960-2284
1-844-755-1420

This site contains general legal information for Ontario, Canada. It is not intended to be used as legal advice for a specific legal problem.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.