Canada’s securities regulators have announced a pause in the development of proposed rules that would have made climate-related disclosures mandatory and expanded diversity reporting requirements for publicly listed companies.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA)—the coordinating body of provincial and territorial securities regulators—said the decision was made to help domestic markets and issuers adjust to shifting global and U.S. regulatory landscapes.
Stan Magidson, Chair of the CSA and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission, cited “significant changes in the global economic and geopolitical landscape” as contributing to uncertainty and competitiveness concerns for Canadian firms. “The CSA is focusing on initiatives that enhance the competitiveness, efficiency, and resilience of Canadian capital markets,” he said.
The move comes as U.S. President Donald Trump begins his second term with a concerted rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across federal agencies, publicly traded companies, philanthropic bodies, and academic institutions. Environmental disclosure requirements have also come under pressure, with all of Canada’s Big Five banks withdrawing earlier this year from the United Nations-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance, amid wider North American resistance to ESG-related regulations.
Despite the pause on formal rulemaking, the CSA reiterated that companies are still legally obliged to disclose material climate-related risks under existing securities legislation, as they would for any other significant risk. “Climate-related risks are now mainstream business issues,” the CSA said, adding it would continue to monitor companies for misleading disclosures, including greenwashing.
Voluntary sustainability disclosure standards were introduced by the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board in December 2024, offering companies a framework for reporting climate and environmental performance.
The CSA confirmed that current diversity disclosure requirements for non-venture issuers—specifically regarding the representation of women on boards and in executive roles—will remain in place.
The regulator said it intends to revisit the paused initiatives “in future years” and may move to finalise the rules at a later date. In the interim, the CSA will continue monitoring domestic and international developments in climate and diversity reporting to assess future regulatory steps.
