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Provincial and territorial legislatures are responsible for deciding which responsibilities to delegate to municipalities. Municipalities are then authorized to regulate those areas through the issuance of bylaws. In the case of environmental services, many municipal governments provide environmental services such as refuse disposal services and sewage services directly to the public. For those services that have been privately contracted, municipal Conservation Authorities conduct monitoring and management of private environmental services contracts.

The waste management industry in Canada comprises the collection and transportation of waste for disposal and recycling, the operation of hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal facilities, operation of transfer stations, operation of recycling and compost facilities, and hazardous waste treatment. These services are provided by public bodies such as local governments or municipalities, or private firms that are typically contracted by local governments. The number of full-time workers in the waste management industry, including both government and business sectors, totalled just over 32,000 in 2010, an increase of 2% from 2008. Over 1,500 Canadian firms are engaged in this industry, providing a number of services such as waste management planning, consulting, engineering and analytical services, customized landfill and liner design, landfill management, stabilization and containment services and procedures for hazardous waste and pollution prevention systems. Hazardous waste in Canada is comprised of household hazardous waste, mostly batteries, medication, and paint; e waste; and radioactive waste, i.e. spent nuclear fuel waste. The majority of household hazardous waste is returned to suppliers or waste depots, while e-waste is most often brought to waste depots. A lot of radioactive waste is imported or exported for treatment or recycling in the United States, i.e. 358,236 tonnes was imported and 425,334 tonnes was exported in 2010.

Hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials can come from a myriad of sources such as residues from industrial operations, manufacturing processing plants and hospitals, or they can be obsolete materials such as waste lubricants and pesticides. Canada implements its international obligations as a party to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention), the OECD Decision on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations, and the Canada–USA Agreement on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste through the Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations. These regulations control and track the movement of hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable material between Canada and other countries, as well as implement prior informed consent mechanisms for exports, imports and transit of such materials. The regulations cover hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable material generated from industrial, commercial, governmental, and institutional activities. More than 99% of Canada's imports and 98% of Canada's exports of both hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable materials are with the United States. In 2012, the quantity of hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable material imported into Canada was 346,700 tonnes, while the quantity exported from Canada was 496,095 tonnes.

The wastewater sector in Canada is comprised of municipal wastewater, industrial wastewater, and storm water, of which Canada renews an average of 3,472 km3 per year, one of the largest in the world. Most of the wastewater is generated from households, accounting for 65% of wastewater. Industrial wastewater accounts for 18%, and discharge from electric and nuclear power generating facilities accounts for the majority of this wastewater. Not all wastewater is treated before being released in Canada. While the majority of municipal wastewater is treated by municipal sewers before being released into the environment, the situation is different for industrial wastewater, as over 85% is released to surface freshwater or tidewater. Canadian firms in the wastewater industry provide a number of services, notably water purification services and rain water harvesting and treatment.

Canada's air pollution control industry employs over 65,000 people and firms in this industry export over Can$187 million annually in services and products. In recent years, annual Canadian air pollution control revenues exceeded Can$771 million, with 10% of services and 29% of equipment revenues derived from international sales. Canadian firms offer a variety of air pollution control services such as environmental impact assessments, preparation of performance specifications and compliance management, expert air monitoring, sampling and testing analysis with dispersion modelling and prevention control processes and mechanisms.

Soil remediation and contaminated site assessment technologies and services are in high demand in Canada. Between 2002 and 2008, the Canadian soil remediation industry grew by 26%; in 2005 revenues in the industry were between Can$250 million and Can$500 million. Canadian firms in this industry have a wide range of service expertise in the assessment, clean-up, decommissioning and rehabilitation of soil contaminated by petroleum hydro carbons, pesticides, in-organics, heavy metals and radioactive wastes. The Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP) is a 15-year programme that was established in 2005 with funding of Can$3.5 billion from the Government of Canada. The primary objective of this programme is to reduce environmental and human health risks from known federal contaminated sites and associated federal financial liabilities. Between 2011 and 2014, the Government of Canada invested Can$1 billion in the FCSAP programme, including work on close to 1,100 federal remediation projects.

Radioactive waste in Canada is comprised of nuclear fuel waste, low-level and intermediate-level waste, and uranium mine tailings. Canada exports radioactive waste to the United States for recycling and volume reduction. Metal radioactive waste is melted at United States' commercial facilities for recycling within the nuclear industry, and combustible radioactive waste is volume-reduced through incineration, with the residual material (ash) returned to Canada for long-term management. Canada also exports very-low-level radioactive waste to the United States for disposal in commercial hazardous waste facilities. This export route is limited to materials that meet the waste acceptance criteria for disposal as hazardous waste. Further, Canada repatriates U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium materials under the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, in response to commitments made by the Government of Canada at the 2010 and 2012 Nuclear Security Summits.

The Government of Canada is also implementing the Nuclear Legacy Liabilities Program (NLLP) to decommission outdated nuclear research facilities, remediate lands contaminated by past practices, and manage legacy waste at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) sites. Since the inception of the NLLP in 2006, the Government of Canada has spent Can$1.2 billion to control and reduce risks and liabilities at AECL sites. In addition, the Government's Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) is implementing long-term solutions for the clean-up and safe management of historic low-level radioactive waste in the municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington, Ontario. The Can$1.3 billion implementation phase of the PHAI was initiated in 2012, and is expected to take about 10 years to complete.

The following priorities and achievements have been reached under the GMAP (Global Markets Action Plan) as of January 2015:
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• Announcement of the ecoENERGY innovation initiative, to invest in new clean technologies that will create jobs, opportunities and help protect the environment, including a Can$268 million investment over five years to support the research, development and demonstration of innovative clean technologies.
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Box 2.1 Priority trade sectors
Sustainable technologies
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