A group of medical practitioners is calling for the federal minister to intervene after Canada’s Competition Bureau halted an investigation into a national gas industry association for allegedly making false and misleading statements.

On Thursday, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) sent a letter to Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly requesting she intervene in the case.

Anna Maiorino, a spokesperson for the bureau, confirmed to Business in Vancouver that it had closed the investigation into the Canadian Gas Association (CGA).

“CGA has removed the alleged false or misleading environmental claims referring to natural gas as a clean energy source,” said Maiorino. “As a result, these claims are no longer available to the public.”

The now-closed investigation stems from a 2022 complaint from a group of doctors and nurses—including B.C. family physicians Dr. Melissa Lem and Dr. Ulrike Meyer—who alleged the CGA had ran a “false and misleading” advertising campaign that touted gas as an “eco-friendly” fuel.

​As the “voice of Canada’s natural gas,” the industry group’s members include Fortis, Enbridge and TC Energy—some of the largest gas utility and pipeline companies across Canada.

The two-and-a-half year “Fuelling Canada” campaign ran across several high-traffic social media platforms and in The Globe and Mail, where it described gas as an “affordable” and “clean” energy.

​Under the Competition Act, corporations found liable for deceptive marketing can face penalties of up to $10 million on the first occurrence, and $15 million for repeated violations.

But the bureau also has discretion over whether to drop a case, negotiate a settlement, or send it to court, according to official guidelines cited by Maiorino.

The document requires the watchdog to weigh a number of factors, including the economic impact of a company’s actions, repeat offences and whether its actions provide sufficient deterrence.

“As the bureau is obligated by law to conduct its work confidentially, including its investigations, I can’t provide further details about this investigation,” added Maiorino.

Dropped inquiry part of ‘systemic pattern’

The initial complaint to the Competition Bureau included research that suggested combusting natural gas indoors as a cooking fuel at home increases the chance children will have asthma by 42 per cent.

Other studies have found cooking with gas is comparable to living with a smoker when it comes to the chance of a child developing asthma. One 2024 study found natural gas in Vancouver, B.C., contained some of the highest concentrations of the carcinogen benzene in North America.

In its letter to Joly, six members of CAPE claimed the bureau had failed to adequately explain the decision.

They pointed to a “concerning systemic pattern” where the bureau has dropped deceptive marketing inquiries connected to harms to human health and the environment.

The group cited a December 2024 decision by the bureau to drop an inquiry into alleged greenwashing in a “Let’s clear the air” advertising campaign from the Pathways Alliance—a group formed by some of the largest companies in the Alberta oil sands. At the time, the bureau also said it had decided to end the investigation because the ad campaign had ended.

The large campaign had garnered tens of millions of online impressions and been viewed across a number of television networks, including during the 2023 Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup and Australian Open, according to CAPE.

Investigations were also dropped without a determination in 2023 against Shell’s “Drive Carbon Neutral” campaign and in 2022 against whether “flushable” wipes were indeed flushable, according to CAPE.

“Quietly removing or altering the representations does not undo this harm to consumers and the marketplace,” reads the letter to the minister.

If the CGA’s representations were false and misleading, CAPE claims that stopping the inquiry avoids penalties for deceptive marketing and undermines Canada’s competition laws.

The letter alleges the gas industry group has continued to mislead the public on the affordability of gas, stating it has the “lowest cost per unit of energy” when technology like heat pumps are more efficient.

Business in Vancouver requested comment from the Canadian Gas Association, but it did not respond by the time of publication.

Canada’s greenwashing rules face recalibration

The bureau’s move to end its inquiry into the CGA comes as Canada’s Competition Act has undergone significant overhaul.

In 2024, the federal government passed a bill that introduced anti-greenwashing provisions into legislation.

The changes put the onus on companies to prove their claims were backed by “adequate and proper testing.” They also allowed private third parties to bring deceptive marketing claims directly to a Competition Tribunal, a process that would have forced public inquiries.

However, by March 2026, corporate backlash to the amendments pushed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to recalibrate the 2024 rules.

The latest changes eliminated the right of third parties to directly sue businesses over corporate greenwashing and watered down requirements that corporate environmental claims must be substantiated through an “internationally recognized methodology.”

Oversight over corporate environmental claims now rests solely with the commissioner of the Competition Bureau.

Regardless of how its enforcement power is structured, a federal agency tasked with maintaining baseline standards for advertising and competition is vital, says Shane Gunster, a professor at Simon Fraser University’s School of Communication specializing in energy and the environment.

The Competition Bureau’s decision to drop its latest greenwashing investigation worries him that the watchdog is abandoning its regulatory duties.

“There’s this repeat pattern of make a claim, get caught and say we won’t do it anymore,” said the researcher.

“The failure to make a decision and publicize that decision, it utterly undermines the Competition Bureau’s ability to have a deterrent effect.”

Silence from watchdog leaves well-meaning companies in the dark: expert

Wren Montgomery, an associate professor at Western University’s Ivey Business School, co-founded the Greenwash Action Lab in 2023 and has since worked with number of large companies seeking to avoid deceptive marketing.

When the Competition Bureau doesn’t weigh in on allegations of greenwashing, Montgomery said other companies have little guidance on how they can advertise their products or services.

“A lot of companies are worried about our greenwashing regulations, even though they support them, even though they think they are necessary,” she said.

“They don’t know what they can and can’t do.”

At the same time, Montgomery said truly green companies are also losing their competitive advantage when their products or services face an unfair advertising landscape where nobody knows what is truth and what is fiction.

It also creates a warped incentive. If a company can pull back deceptive advertising once a complaint is made, and then move on to the next campaign without any punishment, there’s no reason to stop, said the researcher.

“You see this really horrible pattern that could start—or that may be starting,” Montgomery said.

“There’s this really strong anti-competitive effect.”