Is a river a legal person? Some people certainly think so and there is a recent trend around the world in support of this argument. In Alberta, however, this argument was recently rejected by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) when it denied Ecojustice’s argument that the Athabasca River Basin (Athabasca) was a legal person.
There are multiple instances of rivers being given some form of legal standing across the globe. For example, the Whanganui River in New Zealand was given a legal identity with all the corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person pursuant to a formal treaty agreed to by the New Zealand government. The Whanganui River will be jointly represented by one official from the New Zealand government and one official from the Māori. Similarly, Colombia recognized the Amazon River ecosystem as “an entity, subject of rights, and beneficiary of the protection, conservation, maintenance and restoration” pursuant to a decision made by the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia – the country’s highest court.[1]
The trend arrives in Canada
The trend has also arrived in Canada, although with significantly less legal force than the declarations issued in New Zealand and Colombia. In Québec, the Magpie River was purportedly granted legal personhood via joint resolutions passed by the Minganie Regional County Municipality and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit. The Magpie River personhood declaration attracted significant media attention, however, there do not appear to be any court decisions either striking or affirming the resolutions granting legal personhood. Accordingly, the Magpie River declarations provide no real precedent for other rivers in Canada being given legal personhood.
In 2025, the Magpie River declarations were cited by Ecojustice in an effort to have the Athabasca declared a legal person in response to approvals issued in relation to the Jackpine mine in northern Alberta. The Jackpine mine is an oil sands project near Fort McMurray, Alberta that has operated since the 2000s. In March 2025, the AER renewed various Jackpine mine approvals without a hearing (the Decision) despite opposition from the Alberta Wilderness Association and Keepers of the Water – an Indigenous-led advocacy group – which “requested that the AER recognize the Athabasca as a ‘directly and adversely affected person’.”[2] As a result, Ecojustice stepped in and requested a regulatory appeal of the Decision.
AER rejects Athabasca personhood
In a request for regulatory appeal, the AER dismissed Ecojustice’s arguments that the Athabasca was a legal person and upheld the Decision for several reasons.
First, the AER held that it “is clear that the Athabasca is neither a natural person (a human), nor is it a legal person as that term is defined” and the “AER as a statutory body has no authority to expand the definition of ‘person’ beyond what has already been recognized by law in [Alberta].”[3]
Second, the AER held that endowing a “natural feature with legal personhood” is not necessary to support the purposes of Alberta’s environmental protection laws.[4]
Lastly, the AER concluded that even if the Athabasca were to be deemed a legal person, its rightful representative would be the Crown, not Ecojustice. The AER explained that Ecojustice’s claim to speak on behalf of the Athabasca usurped the Crown’s ownership of all surface and groundwater and its fiduciary duty to manage public resources on behalf of the public. Further, the Crown’s fiduciary duty cannot be delegated to a private body “without explicit statutory authority; only the Legislature can confer authority to manage or represent public resources.”[5]
Whether Ecojustice will continue to pursue this issue before the courts remains to be seen. However, for now, the Athabasca remains a river, not a person.
For more information on this topic, please reach out to Ben Kriwokon.
[1] International Union for Conservation of Nature, “Colombia Supreme Court Recognizes Rights of the Amazon River Ecosystem” (20 April 2018), online: https://iucn.org/news/world-commission-environmental-law/201804/colombian-supreme-court-recognizes-rights-amazon-river-ecosystem.
[2] Re Request for Regulatory Appeal filed on behalf of the Athabasca River Basin (22 October 2025), Application No. 1956708, online (PDF) at 2: Alberta Energy Regulator https://static.aer.ca/prd/documents/decisions/regulatory-appeal-decisions/1956708-20251022.pdf.
[3] Ibid at 3.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid at 4.
