Quebec Environmental Law Centre

The Quebec Environmental Law Centre (Centre québécois du droit de l'environnement, CQDE) is a non-profit environmental organization based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1989 by a group of lawyers interested in environmental law, it is described as the only charity in Quebec offering the public independent legal expertise for the purpose of protecting the environment. Its mission is to put legal expertise at the service of citizens and environmental protection. The CQDE works through three main axes: litigation before the courts, legislative and regulatory reform, and education and awareness. As a guardian of the environment, it frequently intervenes in court on its own behalf or in support of partners from First Nations, citizen groups, or environmental protection groups, to ensure compliance with environmental legislation or to develop jurisprudence that responds to the ecological emergency. It has submitted more than 80 briefs and legal analyses to parliamentary commissions, the Senate, and relevant ministers. Through its Ligne verte, conferences, training sessions, and its plain-language legal information bank Obiterre, it provides legal information to the public. The organization is headquartered at 5248 Boul. Saint-Laurent, Montreal. It collaborates with law faculties at the Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal, McGill University, Université du Québec à Montréal, and Université du Québec en Outaouais through its legal clinic, which offers law students credited internships in environmental law. The CQDE is active in major environmental debates, including federal Bill C-5 on projects of national interest, greenwashing regulation, and Quebec Bill 5 on accelerating megaprojects. Its vision is a society where living beings and the environment are legally protected for their intrinsic value and where everyone collaborates actively to ensure this.

The Centre québécois du droit de l'environnement (CQDE) was founded in 1989 by a group of lawyers interested in environmental law. From its creation, the organization brought together lawyers and environmental experts regularly involved in major environmental debates in Quebec and Canada. Its mission was to put legal expertise at the service of citizens and environmental protection. Over the decades, the CQDE has become a recognized guardian of environmental law in Quebec. It has submitted more than 80 briefs and legal analyses to parliamentary commissions, the Senate, and relevant ministers, contributing to provincial and federal legislative and regulatory reforms. It has also intervened frequently before the courts, either on its own behalf or in support of partners from First Nations, citizen groups, or environmental protection groups, to ensure compliance with environmental legislation and to develop jurisprudence responding to the ecological emergency. In its education and awareness role, the CQDE operates the Ligne verte, offers conferences and training, and maintains Obiterre, a plain-language legal information bank on environmental law. It also runs a legal clinic in collaboration with the law faculties of the Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal, McGill University, Université du Québec à Montréal, and Université du Québec en Outaouais, offering credited internships to law students. For example, in the Énergie Est file, after the suspension of the BAPE inquiry commission's work, students' work helped identify more than 800 questions. The CQDE has been active in recent major files, including federal Bill C-5 on projects of national interest, which it opposes as a threat to environmental protection, the rule of law, public participation, and municipal powers; the fight against greenwashing; and Quebec Bill 5 on accelerating megaprojects. It describes itself as the only charity in Quebec offering independent legal expertise to the public for environmental protection.

• 1989

  Founded by a group of lawyers interested in environmental law.

• Submitted more than 80 briefs and legal analyses to parliamentary commissions, the Senate, and ministers.

• Launched Obiterre, a plain-language legal information bank on environmental law.

• Established a legal clinic with five Quebec law faculties.

• Active in the Énergie Est file, helping identify over 800 questions after BAPE suspension.

• Opposes federal Bill C-5 on projects of national interest.

• Works on stricter regulation of greenwashing.

• Involved in Quebec Bill 5 on accelerating megaprojects.

Independent legal expertise for environmental protection, acting as a guardian of environmental law.

• Obiterre

  The first plain-language legal information bank in environmental law.

• Ligne verte

  Legal information service for the public.

• Legal clinic

  Credited internships for law students in environmental law.

1. 1CQDE - Ensemble, pour un droit au service de l'environnementcqde.org
2. 2À propos | CQDEcqde.org
3. 3Contact | CQDEcqde.org
4. 4Carrière | CQDEcqde.org
5. 5Quebec Environmental Law Centrewikidata.org
6. 6Centre québécois du droit de l’environnementfr.wikipedia.org