The global energy transition is accelerating, bringing with it significant opportunities for Canadian companies, but also economic risks if Canada lags behind global peers. Our Sustainable Finance research stream is focused on supporting governments, investors, and businesses to unlock the investment necessary for Canada to compete and prosper as the global markets shift in response to climate change.
The Canadian Climate Institute’s Sustainable Finance team is proud to work in collaboration with Business Future Pathways, an investor-led initiative, to advance two important areas of work related to sustainable finance, outlined below.
Sustainable Investment Guidelines
In December 2025, the federal government announced two years of seed funding to develop Canada’s sustainable investment guidelines, commonly referred to as a sustainable finance taxonomy.
The Canadian Climate Institute’s Sustainable Finance team will lead the technical research and advice for the development of these guidelines, and will work collaboratively with Business Future Pathways to establish advisory bodies and an independent Taxonomy Council that will approve guidelines for priority sectors in Canada’s economy. The development of technical criteria to underpin the guidelines will be grounded in a robust and independent governance structure, will be aligned with science-based targets, and will be informed by extensive engagement with experts and the private sector.
This work will build on the Taxonomy Roadmap Report, delivered by the Sustainable Finance Action Council to the federal government in 2023.
Establishing sustainable investment guidelines in Canada will be crucial to securing our country’s future prosperity and enabling Canadian companies to thrive in the energy transition. It will create a common language for capital markets around the types of projects and activities that are aligned with Canada’s climate and economic goals. And it will help mobilize private finance towards new, clean growth projects that can decarbonize existing, emissions-intensive sectors, increasing their global competitiveness.
Transition Planning
Alongside its work on the sustainable investment guidelines, the Institute’s Sustainable Finance team, in collaboration with Business Future Pathways, will advance credible transition planning guidance for Canadian businesses and investors. Corporate transition plans help Canadian companies to attract capital and secure their place in a changing global economy marked by climate disruption. By identifying the key risks and opportunities facing a business, transition plans provide a path for integrating this information directly into business strategy and financial planning and are often directly informed by sustainable taxonomies.
The ultimate goal of this work is to l create clear, pragmatic, and investor-endorsed guidance to help companies develop, operationalize, and communicate climate transition plans. Tailored to Canadian industries, this voluntary guidance will help companies increase investor confidence and facilitate greater access to capital.