Bill 31 – New Energy Rules
Bill 31, the Energy Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 was tabled on October 20. It proposes amendments to the Hydro and Power Authority Act and the Utilities Commission Act, which will accelerate the construction of the North Coast Transmission Line and allow BC Hydro to enter into ownership arrangements with First Nations. The amendments will expand access to the energy grid in the Northwest, addressing growing demand for electricity.

The Bill will also add the authority to make regulations respecting access to a set amount of power for companies specializing in artificial intelligence, data centres and hydrogen-for-export projects. The new policy, to be launched in January 2026, will prioritize natural resource and manufacturing projects, and will limit available power to 300 megawatts for AI companies and 100 megawatts for data centres every two years. The policy will keep the current ban on cryptocurrency connections.

The Bill is currently at second reading, and if passed, will come into force by Royal Assent.

Feds Pitch $2B Fund for Critical Minerals
Investments, Including Equity Stakes
The federal budget says Canada will take out equity stakes in critical mineral projects to open up mining and position Canada as a major global supplier. The federal budget, released Tuesday [November 4] in Ottawa, outlines a plan for a $2 billion "critical minerals sovereign fund" over five years for equity investments, loan guarantees and offtake agreements. Ottawa is also planning to add a dozen more critical minerals to its exploration tax credit list. Many of the minerals and metals on the list play roles in Canada's EV and battery supply chains. Many of the newly added minerals, such as tin, tungsten and chromium, have defence applications. They're also used in the energy sector and to build semiconductors and clean technology. Read the full article by Nick Murray with the Canadian Press.

Federal Agency Orders Further Review of
B.C. Coal Mine Expansion
A proposed expansion of a B.C. coal mine will require further assessment after a federal agency found the project could damage wildlife, water quality, and the health and rights of Indigenous peoples.

Located 29 kilometres northeast of Elkford, B.C., the Fording River operation is one of four steel-making coal mines owned by the multinational Glencore plc through its Vancouver-based subsidiary EVR Operations Ltd.

The company purchased Teck Resources Ltd.'s coal division in 2023, and is looking to extend the life of the mine into the 2060s. EVR is planning to make use of existing infrastructure – including a processing plant, access roads, power lines, gas lines and rail line – at the current site. Read the BIV article.

Trans Mountain Faces $292k Environmental Fines
After 2024 B.C. Rainstorm: Regulator
Trans Mountain is facing $292,000 in regulatory fines for alleged environmental issues in January 2024 along a stretch of its British Columbia pipeline expansion route hit by a major rainstorm.

The Canada Energy Regulator posted four penalties dated Oct. 3 to their website and referred The Canadian Press to an inspection order and compliance report when asked for details.

The inspection order details alleged issues with watercourse crossings, questionable response times, broken wildlife fencing and a small landslide along the pipeline expansion route in the B.C. Fraser Valley after heavy rainfall in January 2024. Read the article published by The Canadian Press.

Big Risks and Costly Fixes: What Went Wrong with
Site C Detailed in New B.C. Hydro Report
B.C. Hydro completed 40 years worth of state-of-the-art studies into the geotechnical risks at Site C before the start of construction in 2015.

But the government-owned utility discounted the findings as "low risk" albeit with "high consequences" if they materialized.

Nor did Hydro make provisions in the budget to cover the cost of those "high consequences" if the risk estimation was proven wrong.

Alas for Hydro ratepayers, the risks did materialize in the form of tension cracks on the north bank of the Peace River in 2017 and growing displacements in 2018 under the right bank foundations for the dam, spillways and generating station. Read the Vancouver Sun article.

BC Energy Regulator Announcements
The following BC Energy Regulator announcements were posted recently:

• TU 2025-15 – Updates to the Wildlife Act application type in AMS for Renewable Energy and Prescribed Transmission Line Proponents
• TU 2025-16 – Changes to Orphan Site Restoration Levy

Visit the BC-ER website for more information.

Young Claimants Take CPP to Court Over Climate Risks
A first-of-its-kind lawsuit targeting Canada's largest pension fund manager could help set a precedent for how investment funds handle climate change, legal experts say.

Earlier this week, the four young people filed a lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court, alleging that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) is breaching its legal duty by exposing CPP contributions to an undue risk of loss due to climate change.

"It is really about financial risks of climate change," says Karine Peloffy, a lawyer at Ecojustice, which is co-counsel on the case, along with Goldblatt Partners LLP. Read the full article by Moira Donovan in the CBA National.

B.C. Pulp Mill Penalized for Toxic
Emissions, Monitoring Failures
A B.C. pulp and paper mill has been penalized more than $21,000 for releasing potentially toxic emissions and failing to monitor what comes out of its smoke stacks.

The penalties to Mercer Celgar Pulp Ltd. come after the company was found to have breached the amount of odorous total reduced sulphur it can release into the air across multiple dates spanning 2023 to 2025.

In one case, levels climbed nearly six times above provincial limits, according to an Oct. 9 decision from director of the Environmental Management Act Stephanie Little.

The company, which owns B.C.'s oldest pulp and paper mill in Castlegar, B.C., was also found to have failed to monitor a number of air pollutants – including sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and chlorine dioxide – emanating from the facility on 71 different occasions. Read the BIV article.

Feds Form Working Group with B.C. to
Support Forestry Sector
Politicians from B.C. and Ottawa met in Vancouver Monday [November 3] for a forestry summit, where they agreed to create a working group on supporting the industry in the face of ever-increasing U.S. fees and tariffs.

In September, the Americans imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Canadian companies ranging from 26 per cent to more than 47 per cent, and then added another 10 per cent last month, claiming Canada's industry is a U.S. national security threat.

The fees have been a significant blow for B.C.'s already struggling forestry sector, which employs tens of thousands of workers in the province. Read the CBC article.

Putting Out Fires: Phase 1 of the Government of
Canada's Risk Management Approach for PFAS
The federal government has initiated consultation on its proposed risk management approach for PFAS. This article outlines what you need to know about the plan, anticipated timelines and how to engage. This information will be of particular interest to those involved in the manufacture, import, sale or use of firefighting foams – a key focus of the proposed management plan.

If you have questions about how the regulation of PFAS, including the proposed regulatory developments, may impact you or your business, please reach out to any of the authors or key contacts listed below. Read the full article by Rick Williams, Gabrielle K. Kramer and Braeden Stang with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.

Province, ʼNa̱mg̱is First Nation Reach Milestone
in Forest Stewardship Agreement
ʼNa̱mg̱is First Nation and the Province are one step closer to a joint decision-making agreement that will support predictable harvesting, job creation and sustainable forestry operations on the north Island.

ʼNa̱mg̱is First Nation and the Province have developed a first-of-its-kind draft Section 7 joint decision-making agreement for the forestry sector under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (Declaration Act) and Forest Range and Practices Act. The agreement will support the joint establishment of forest landscape plans (FLPs) and joint approval of associated forest operations plans (FOPs) within Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 37, currently held by Western Forest Products. The draft agreement will be shared with neighbouring First Nations, industry, local governments, stakeholders and the public to provide input from Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 until Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. Read the full B.C. government news release.

B.C. Charges Canada's Lowest Industrial
Water Rates, Finds Report
B.C. charges the lowest rates for industrial water use in Canada at a time when government funding to protect watersheds has plummeted, according to a new report.

The B.C. government charges a maximum of $2.25 per million litres of water for industrial users in the province – nearly 70 times less than the $155 charged per million litres in Quebec, according to a report from the B.C. Watershed Security Coalition.

Coree Tull, chair of the group and co-author of the report, said a million litres of water is equivalent to someone leaving their kitchen tap running for six months straight. Read the BIV article.

BOD Decision: Societies and Volunteer Firefighters
On July 11, 2025, WorkSafeBC's Board of Directors approved amendments to policies in the Assessment Manual to clarify how the employer of a volunteer firefighter who meets the definition of "worker" under the Workers Compensation Act is determined. The amendments also remove language that has become outdated as a result of the Workers Compensation Amendment Act, 2019 (Bill 18). Read the WorkSafe BC article.

Serious Injury Risk 44% Higher than
Average in BC Manufacturing
British Columbia's manufacturing sector has a serious injury rate 44 per cent higher than the provincial average, according to WorkSafeBC. As the province recognizes the contributions of manufacturing workers this October, the agency is urging employers to strengthen their workplace safety systems. Over the past five years, more than 26,000 manufacturing workers in B.C. have lost time due to injury – including over 4,300 serious cases. "Manufacturing is a broad and diverse industry," says Andrew Kidd, Director of Prevention Field Services at WorkSafeBC. "It includes everything from textiles and food production to plastics and even 3D printing." Read the full article by Shane Mercer with Canadian Occupational Safety Magazine.

OHS Policies/Guidelines – Updates
Guidelines – Occupational Health and Safety Regulation
October 20, 2025
Editorial revisions were made to the following guideline:

• Part 6 – Hazardous Drugs
  • G6.50(3) Mixing, preparing, and priming of specific hazardous drugs

Visit the WorkSafeBC website to explore this and previous updates.