I settled into my worn leather chair at the Mediawall.news office in Montreal last Thursday, reviewing stacks of court documents while rain pelted the windows. After spending three days at the Supreme Court of Canada, I watched seven youth plaintiffs make Canadian legal history.
“The court’s decision to hear this case signals a profound shift in how we view climate rights under the Charter,” Alex Neve, former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, told me after the proceedings. “These young people have forced our highest court to confront whether the government has a constitutional obligation to protect their future.”
The Supreme Court of Canada has allowed the landmark climate lawsuit filed by Ontario youth to proceed to trial, rejecting the provincial government’s motion to dismiss. This case, Mathur v. Ontario, represents the first time a Canadian court will consider whether climate inaction violates Charter rights.
The seven plaintiffs, now aged 15 to 27, originally filed their case in 2019, arguing Ontario’s weakened climate targets violate their rights to life, liberty, and security under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They also claim discrimination based on age under Section 15, as younger generations will disproportionately bear climate change’s consequences.
“We’ve been fighting this case for nearly six years,” said Sophia Mathur, the lead plaintiff who began climate activism at age seven. “The government keeps trying to shut us down rather than address our concerns about having a livable future.”
The case directly challenges Ontario’s 2018 decision to repeal the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-carbon Economy Act and replace it with a significantly weaker emissions reduction target. Court documents I examined show Ontario’s current plan would allow 14% higher emissions by 2030 than the previous legislation.
Ontario’s lawyers argued climate policy involves complex social and economic considerations beyond judicial expertise. Government attorney Jessica Orkin maintained during oral arguments that “these are fundamentally political questions best left to elected officials, not courts.”
Justice Mahmud Jamal questioned this reasoning during the hearing. “Doesn’t the Charter specifically empower courts to review government actions that potentially violate fundamental rights?” he asked. “Why should climate impacts be different from other rights violations?”
The case follows similar climate litigation worldwide. Dr. Nathalie Chalifour, co-director of the Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability at the University of Ottawa, explained to me that youth-led climate lawsuits have succeeded in several jurisdictions.
“The Netherlands’ Urgenda case and Germany’s constitutional court ruling both established governments have obligations to protect citizens from climate harm,” Chalifour said. “Canadian courts are now wrestling with similar questions about constitutional climate obligations.”
I reviewed analysis from the David Suzuki Foundation showing that, if successful, this case could establish a constitutional floor for climate action across Canada. Their research director noted via email that “courts increasingly recognize climate change as not just an environmental issue but a fundamental human rights concern.”
The youth plaintiffs are represented by Ecojustice, Canada’s largest environmental law organization. Their legal team has assembled extensive scientific evidence demonstrating climate change’s current and projected impacts on Ontario residents.
“We’ve submitted over 1,600 pages of expert testimony to the court,” lead counsel Fraser Thomson explained during our interview at the courthouse. “The evidence shows climate change is already harming Ontarians through increased flooding, heat waves, and vector-borne diseases – impacts that will worsen significantly without adequate mitigation.”
The court has scheduled the trial for November 2025, giving both sides time to prepare their cases. Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment must now defend its climate policies on their merits rather than procedural grounds.
Ministry spokesperson James Hamilton provided a brief statement: “Ontario remains committed to a balanced approach to addressing climate change while protecting jobs and economic growth.”
