Canada: Indigenous Peoples

La Cour suprême de la Colombie-Britannique a rejeté une demande de réouverture du procès dans l'affaire Cowichan Tribes, où un titre ancestral avait été déclaré sur des terres comprenant des propriétés privées. Cette décision soulève des questions importantes sur la coexistence du titre ancestral et de la propriété en fief simple, ainsi que sur le rôle des propriétaires fonciers privés dans de tels litiges.

In August 2025, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (Court) released its decision in Cowichan Tribes v. Canada (Attorney General) (Cowichan Tribes), declaring Aboriginal title over an area that includes privately owned land and concluding that Aboriginal title and fee simple ownership can legally coexist.

British Columbia's First Nations Equity Financing Program is now accepting applications, offering up to $1 billion in loan guarantees to support First Nations acquiring equity ownership in revenue-generating projects within their traditional territories. The Program aims to position First Nations as equity partners in economic development while reducing borrowing costs and unlocking access to capital for major infrastructure and resource projects.

On June 16, 2026, Canada re-introduced the First Nations Clean Water Act as Bill C-37. This modified version of what was Bill C-61, first introduced in late 2023...

On May 12, 2026, the Government of Canada (Government) released the Getting Major Projects Built in Canada - Discussion Paper on Proposed Legislative, Regulatory, and Policy Reforms (Discussion Paper). The Discussion Paper outlines proposed legislative, regulatory and policy reforms to reduce the regulatory burden facing proponents of major projects, ensure federal decisions are made in a timely manner and ultimately attract investments in large-scale projects in Canada.

The federal government has published proposed regulations (the "Proposed Regulations") under the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act (the "UFPBA"), establishing a new French-language regime for federally regulated private businesses. The Proposed Regulations address consumer-facing rights, internal workplace obligations, and governance requirements for federally regulated private businesses operating in Quebec and in regions with a strong Francophone presence.

La Cour suprême du Canada a rejeté la demande d'autorisation d'appel dans l'affaire Nation Wolastoqey, laissant subsister une divergence juridique entre provinces...

The modernization of Canada’s broadcasting regulatory system has just experienced another big step forward. On May 21, 2026, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) released two new policy decisions: Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-96, which imposes new and updated Canadian programming expenditure requirements applicable to broadcasters; and Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-95, which addresses the discoverability of Canadian and Indigenous programming.

The federal government has unveiled a national electricity strategy aimed at doubling Canada's electricity capacity by 2050 while advancing reliability, affordability, competitiveness and decarbonization.