Ontario's climate case involving youth will face another trial in December
Ontario Superior Court to Reassess Climate Plan in December
The Ontario Superior Court will re-examine the province's climate change policies in a constitutional challenge scheduled for December 1 and 2, 2025. This hearing will reassess the claim that Ontario’s decision in 2018 to lower its greenhouse gas emissions target violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by committing the province to dangerously high emissions levels, potentially infringing on young activists' Charter rights.
The context of this case includes a previous ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA) which found that the initial Superior Court application judge had erred by treating the claim as a positive rights case and sent it back for reconsideration. The Court of Appeal determined that the constitutional challenge—that Ontario’s weakened emissions target and cancelling of cap-and-trade violated sections 7 and 15 of the Charter—deserved a fresh hearing because these rights relate to life, liberty, and equality affected by climate change impacts.
The outcome expected from the December hearing will depend on how the Superior Court reconsiders the case in light of this direction from the Court of Appeal. The hearing gives the youth activists a renewed opportunity to argue successfully that Ontario’s environmental policies must meet international science-based standards to protect their Charter rights. The historic nature of this case—Canada’s first to consider whether climate policy can violate constitutional rights—lends significance to its potential outcomes.
Additional contextual influence comes from international legal developments, such as a recent International Court of Justice ruling reinforcing governments’ human rights obligations to act on climate change, which may embolden the activists’ arguments in court.
The young climate activists were granted a favourable ruling on appeal, which led to the need for a second constitutional hearing. The new hearing is taking place after Canada's top court dismissed the province's request for intervention. The hearing will be based on the ruling from the appeal.
In the first hearing, the Ontario Superior Court judge agreed that the 2018 climate target fell "severely short of the scientific consensus" but didn't find it a violation of the constitution. However, the court's final ruling outcome remains uncertain until after the hearing. The December 2025 hearing marks a critical legal test of Ontario's climate policies and could lead to an order requiring the province to set stronger, science-based emissions targets aligned with constitutional protections for young people and others affected by climate change.
- As the Ontario Superior Court reassesses the province's climate change policies in December, the youth activists hope to argue that Ontario’s environmental policies must meet international science-based standards to protect their Charter rights, following the Court of Appeal's determination.
- The December hearing is significant, as it provides an opportunity for the activists to base their arguments on the recent International Court of Justice ruling, reinforcing governments’ human rights obligations to act on climate change.
- The outcome of the December hearing could potentially lead to an order requiring the province to set stronger, science-based emissions targets aligned with constitutional protections for young people and others affected by climate change, addressing concerns that the current policies fall "severely short of the scientific consensus."
