Montréal, October 17, 2026 — As the Carney government advances its agenda of weakening and bypassing certain environmental requirements through Bill C-39 to attract investment and accelerate major projects, Canadians are expressing a strong attachment to these protections. According to a Léger poll commissioned by Équiterre, 66% of Canadians want Canada’s environmental requirements maintained or strengthened, despite the trade war with the United States, compared with just 20% who want them reduced. That figure rises to 80% among Liberal Party supporters, with only 13% favouring a reduction.
“The Carney government needs to hear this message, including from its own supporters: the trade war does not justify weakening environmental protections. Canadians do not want the American model of environmental deregulation. Canada’s approach to the trade war and economic development must distinguish itself from the American approach by preserving—and even strengthening—our existing environmental protections and the progress we have made,” says Daniel Rotman, Executive Director of Équiterre.
Support for environmental protections across the country
A majority of respondents in every Canadian region covered by the poll want environmental requirements maintained or strengthened. This includes 70% in Quebec, 68% in Alberta and 67% in Ontario, despite the trade war with the United States.
“This message crosses provincial boundaries: Canadians across the country value their environmental protections. The Carney government will not solve Canada’s economic challenges by weakening river protections or stripping the impact assessment agency of its responsibility to assess the impacts of pipeline development. Respondents are telling us that we need to pursue economic development that protects natural ecosystems and communities,” says Marc-André Viau, Director of Government Relations.
Reservations about pipelines and making regulatory rollbacks permanent
The poll also finds that nearly half of Canadians oppose removing the impact assessment agency’s responsibility to assess the effects of pipelines on the environment and communities, compared with 29% who support doing so. Opposition rises to 54% among Liberal Party supporters.
Respondents are also more likely to oppose than support removing the impact assessment agency’s responsibility to assess the effects of pipelines on the environment and communities: 44% oppose the measure, compared with just 29% who support it.
Furthermore, half of Canadians (49%) want measures aimed at accelerating projects and easing certain environmental requirements to be time-limited, compared with just 29% who want them made permanent. Support for temporary measures rises to 57% among Liberal Party supporters, compared with 27% who favour making them permanent.
Canadians are therefore clearly expressing opposition to the provision in Bill C-39 that would make permanent the measures under the Building Canada Act (C-5), adopted in 2025, which were initially limited to a five-year period.
Strong majorities want environmental laws preserved
Even when the goal is to attract foreign investment and develop industrial projects, 68% to 75% of Canadians want the scope of the environmental laws presented in the poll maintained or strengthened:
- 75% for the Species at Risk Act
- 74% for the law protecting rivers
- 73% for the Fisheries Act
- 72% for the Canadian Environmental Protection Act
- 68% for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
By contrast, only 5% to 14% want their scope reduced, depending on the law.
“Canadians are sending a clear message: attracting investment and developing industrial projects must go hand in hand with environmental protection. The government must preserve the laws that protect our rivers, species and the places we call home,” says Marc-André Viau.
Methodology
Léger conducted the online survey from October 9 to 12, 2026, among 1,525 adults residing in Canada who could respond in English or French. Results were weighted by age, gender, region, mother tongue, education and the presence of children in the household. No probability-based margin of error applies to this online survey. Results by political affiliation reflect respondents’ self-reported political affinity.
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