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

Climate Change and Vulnerable Communities

The impacts of climate change are deeply unfair. Low-income people in Canada are least responsible for the devastating impacts of climate change but most impacted by them. CELA has new resources on extreme heat, flooding, and more.

Our Legal Services

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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.

September 2023 Bulletin

Includes an action alert about exempting harmful activities from licensing requirements, an update on the Greenbelt, and important casework profiles.

September 27, 2023

Leave to Appeal Application, Keep Napanee Great

On behalf of Keep Napanee Great, CELA has applied to the Tribunal for leave to appeal the new approval pursuant

September 27, 2023

Provincial Response to Concerns about Poor Air Quality in Hamilton

CELA received a response from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in response to our letter (co-authored with

September 27, 2023

Action Alert – Environment Ministry Proposes to Exempt Harmful Activities from Licensing Requirements

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is proposing to exempt waste management systems, storm water management, and

September 25, 2023

Webinar – Environment Ministry Proposes to Exempt Harmful Activities from Licensing Requirements

Free webinar on October 17th, 2023 to learn about government proposals to exempt waste management systems, storm water management, and

September 22, 2023

CELA Asks Provincial Government to Return Land to the Greenbelt

In a letter to Premier Ford and Minister Calandra, CELA asked that all recommendations of the Auditor General of Ontario’s

September 21, 2023

Casework: Proposed Near-Surface Disposal Facility at Chalk River

In 2016, the privately-owned Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) proposed a Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) for their Chalk River site. The NSDF is required to undergo a federal environmental assessment (EA) under the legislation that was in place at the time, specifically the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA). The CNSC must issue a decision statement under section 54 of the CEAA as to whether the designated project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

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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.