Mining 2026

CANADA Law and Practice Contributed by: Darrell Podowski, Jennifer Poirier, Joel Matson and Simi Fagbongbe, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

2.7 ESG Guidelines and Regulations ESG factors are used by investors to evaluate the sustainability of investments and corporate prac - tices. There are currently no ESG-specific legislative regimes in Canada for the mining sector. However, there are emerging securities disclosure regimes, securities exchange commentary and industry guid - ance that relate to ESG factors, any of which may: • carry the force of law; • be as influential to proponents as direct legislation; and • foreshadow the future of Canada’s ESG regulatory framework. Securities Disclosure Regimes In Canada, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) is primarily responsible for developing a har - monised approach to securities regulation across the country by working with provincial and territorial secu - rities regulators to design policies and regulations to achieve that goal. A primary guidance tool of the CSA is the publication of national instruments. CSA-issued guidance is typically adopted by provincial and territo - rial regulators, ensuring some consistency to securi - ties regulation across Canada. Despite the growing prominence of ESG in Canadian investment, the CSA has not yet developed comprehensive ESG guidance, although it has provided substantive guidance on cer - tain environmental and governance matters that are typically viewed as being within the ESG rubric. In 2021, the CSA published National Instrument 51-107, Climate-related Disclosure Requirements (NI 51-107) for public comment. The CSA has articulated that it will consider the impact of international devel - opments prior to finalising NI 51-107, including certain United States Securities and Exchange Commission and IFRS International Sustainability Standards Board climate disclosure rules proposals, which were ulti - mately adopted in 2024. Also in 2021, the Ontario Capital Markets Moderni - zation Taskforce issued 74 recommendations to the Ontario government. Recommendation 41 outlines enhanced disclosure requirements for material ESG information, which would apply to all non-investment

tion, may seek to justify an infringement of Aboriginal rights, including Aboriginal title. The federal government, the Province of British Colum - bia and the Northwest Territories have attempted to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) via statute. However, the Supreme Court of British Columbia held that Brit - ish Columbia’s UNDRIP statute did not implement UNDRIP into British Columbia law, nor create justi - ciable issues. Under the federal legislation approving the adoption of UNDRIP, Canada developed an action plan to achieve UNDRIP objectives in 2023, in con - sultation and co-operation with Indigenous peoples. Impact Benefits Agreements It has become common, through consultation pro - cesses, for proponents of resource projects to enter into impact-benefit, participation or other mutual benefit agreements with Indigenous peoples. Such agreements are often necessary to ensure that pro - jects proceed with greater certainty while the legiti - mate concerns of affected Indigenous groups are addressed. Depending upon the nature and strength of the prov - en or asserted Aboriginal right, benefits negotiated in these agreements can include revenue or income participation, employment opportunities, education and training initiatives, or contracting and business opportunities for affected Indigenous communities, as well as capacity-building initiatives and plans to miti - gate the environmental impacts of the project. Some modern treaties contain terms requiring the negotia - tion of such agreements as a matter of law. 2.6 Community Development Agreement for Mining Projects It is common, and in many cases expected, that mining projects will enter into some form of agree - ment with communities in proximity to and affected by such project. In some cases, community benefit and similar agreements are mandated by law – par - ticularly in northern Canada, relating to modern land claims agreements such as the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

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