National

Youth Climate Corps investment

Over 180 faith-based organizations and civil society groups have officially endorsed the Youth Climate Corps open letter launched on December 4, 2024. The launching event hosted by the Youth Climate Corps campaign and Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) on Parliament Hill brought together a broad coalition advocating for a transformative Youth Climate Corps to address Canada’s climate and workforce challenges. Over 180 organizations, including ORCIE, are calling on key ministers to commit to an initial $1 billion investment for the program’s national, large-scale rollout.

See Open Letter and ORCIE’s endorsement here: An Open Letter to Federal Political Leaders in Support of a Youth Climate Corps

ORCIE was present at the launching event along partners from KAIROS

On November 20, 2025 ORCIE sent a letter to Steven Guilbeault, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change at the release of the draft Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap Regulations. We recognized its importance as the first emissions regulation of Canada’s oil and gas sector. Faith groups and environmental organizations, like ORCIE, have long campaigned for these regulations and we welcome this plan to limit the emissions from the largest contributor to the current climate emergency.

ORCIE as an organization and as part of the CAN-Rac coalition have made submissions to the Consultation: Proposed Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap Regulations. Individuals are invited to do the same, participation is open until January 8th, 2024. Consultation: Proposed Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap Regulations – Canada.ca

ORCIE’s letter and submission includes these notes:

• Faith groups have long supported regulating pollution, and we appreciate the hard work needed to protect Canadians from worsening climate impacts.

• We are pleased to see the emissions cap regulations are shifting the responsibility for addressing pollution back onto industry. Let’s ensure the regulations have zero compliance flexibility, offsets, and loopholes.

• We cannot allow the oil and gas industry to continue to produce pollution and cancel out efforts made by other parts of the economy.

• We need to ramp up the ambition, with rules that take effect sooner than the proposed 2030 timeline and align these regulations with Canada’s climate commitment of a 40-45 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.

• ORCIE calls for a 60% reduction of GHG emissions below 2005 levels by 2030, because of the urgent need for fossil fuel companies to cut production and emissions.

• We want Canada to remain a leader amongst nations, putting binding limits on oil and gas pollution, and demonstrating how the Paris Agreement’s five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action or, ratcheting up, actually works.

• Canada can show its increased ambition nationally by finalizing these regulations and implementing them immediately, ahead of the federal budget and the 2025 election.

The climate emergency calls for new energy to debate ambitious ideas and innovative solutions – including ideas for our federally regulated financial institutions, who need to get in line with science and Canada’s international commitments. Instead of debating the best in international financial practices the Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy is letting Bill S-243 on Climate Aligned Finance languish.

ORCIE long ago joined over 120 organizations endorsing Bill S-243 as a crucial starting point on how we will invest in a fair and just future for the next generation. We know climate change is risky business for individual companies or for banks, but what about the systemic risk that federal financial institutions impose on the real economy when they are financing fossil fuel expansion?

It’s time to recognize Bill S-243 as a key climate solution and move this bill forward. While many are preparing for COP29 in Azerbaijan, at home in Canada let’s ensure our financial system does not continue to fund activities that are fueling the climate emergency. Watch for upcoming advocacy activities on this file.

After months of ORCIE’s dedicated efforts to arrange a meeting with Minister Guilbeault, the opportunity finally came on August 28, 2024. ORCIE, together with KAIROS and Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), met with Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, and his senior advisor, Jennifer Lash. The zoom meeting aimed to encourage Canada to adopt more ambitious climate targets, explore the mutual benefits of closer collaboration, and establish ongoing relationships with the Minister and his team to advance shared goals of decarbonization and a just transition for workers.

This meeting follows from a November 2023 letter, spearheaded by ORCIE, and signed by 13 church leaders and faith organizations calling for an urgent meeting to dialogue on how Canada can strengthen its climate commitments. Representing ORCIE, Sue Wilson thanked the Minister for the work on recent climate regulations and called for deeper emissions reductions, a cap on oil and gas emissions, and increased international climate finance. CPJ’s Maryo Wahba highlighted the “Give It Up to the Earth” campaigns, while KAIROS’ Cheryl McNamara shared the success of Climate Action Weeks and the “100 Faithful Climate Conversations” initiative. These presentations emphasized faith communities’ strong desire to collaborate more closely on climate justice.

Minister Guilbeault was highly receptive, recognizing faith groups as valuable allies in the push for climate policy. However, he acknowledged the challenges posed by fossil fuel lobbyists and legal limitations on regulating natural resources. He outlined ongoing government efforts, including consultations on 2030 climate targets, new regulations on plastic production, and initiatives to empower Indigenous communities to lead climate adaptation projects. The meeting concluded with a request for an in-person gathering with church leaders. The Minister responded enthusiastically, stating, “It would fill me with joy. I’m sure we can make this happen!”—signaling continued dialogue and collaboration. A letter was sent to the office of Minister Guilbeault at the beginning of October, requesting an in-person meeting. ORCIE is eagerly awaiting a response, though it acknowledges that the Minister’s preparations for COP 29 in November may delay the scheduling. Meanwhile, ORCIE and its partners will continue to actively follow up on this matter.