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Biography

Chris combines research, teaching and law reform with a law practice that focuses on environmental, climate and resource governance issues for a broad range of clients including Indigenous governments and businesses, community and conservation organizations, and public interest advocates. 

He is a Professor of Law at Ó£»¨Ó°ÊÓ Faculty of Law, and Principal of .  

Chris co-authors (with his late friend and colleague Dr. Meinhard Doelle) Canada’s leading environmental law textbook . His scholarship and law reform work is wide-ranging and regularly cited by courts and tribunals. He is a pioneer of public interest environmental clinical education and experiential learning. He was founding executive director of the UVic Environmental Law Centre, and co-founded and serves as executive director of Canada’s newest public interest environmental law non-profit, the  (“CELL”).  

Throughout his career, Prof Tollefson has been closely involved in innovative and cutting-edge environmental and public law litigation. Early in his career, he served on the board of Ecojustice Canada, including terms as its national Chair and President.  He has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and various regulatory boards and tribunals. Recent cases include La Rose v. Canada, 2020 FC 1008 and 2023 FCA 241 (youth-led climate case); Teal Cedar Products Ltd. v British Columbia, 2025 BCSC 595 (defence of constructive expropriation claim); McDonald v. Comox (Town), 2023 BCSC 18 and 2024 BCCA 180 (common law riparian rights); and Todsen v. Morse, 2022 BCSC 1341 (SLAPP dismissal motion).  Chris was counsel to BC Nature and Nature Canada during the Enbridge Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline hearing processes and on judicial review. In 2014 he was the recipient of Nature Canada’s Conservation Partner Award for his work leading their pro bono legal team during the Northern Gateway hearings.

Education

• BA Hon. with Distinction (Political Science and History) Queen's;
• LLB, Ó£»¨Ó°ÊÓ;
• LLM Osgoode Hall 

Selected books

Book highlights include:

• “Environmental Regulation and Regulatory Takings” in D. Williamson, G. Lynch-Wood and A. Prochorskaite, eds., Research Handbook on Environmental Regulation(London, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2025) with Anthony Ho
• Environmental Law: Cases and Materials, 4th ed. (Toronto: Thomson Reuters, 2023) with Meinhard Doelle
• “Biodiversity Litigation in Canada” in G. Futhazar et.al., eds., Biodiversity Litigation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022) with F. Perron-Welch and J. Ginsberg
• “Foreign Wrongs, Corporate Rights & the Arc of Transnational Law” in Corporate Citizen: New Perspectives on the Globalized Rule of Law by O. Fitzgerald (Toronto: Centre for International Governance Innovation, 2020) with Jason MacLean
• “From Old to New Governance in Canadian Forest Policy: Dynamics without Change?” in D.L. Van Nijnatten & R. Boardman, eds. , Canadian Environmental Policy, 3rd ed.  (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2009) with Jeremy Rayner and Michael Howlett
• “Investor Rights and Sustainable Development” in Handbook on Trade and Environment by K. Gallagher (London, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2009) with W.A.W. Neilson
• Setting the Standard: Certification, Governance and the Forest Stewardship Council (Vancouver: UBC Press, Fall 2008), lead author with Fred Gale and David Haley (404pp)
• “Indigenous Rights and Forest Certification” in J. Kirton and V. MacLaren, eds., Hard Choices and Soft Law: Trade, Environment and Social Cohesion in Global Governance (Ashgate Publishing, 2004)
• “Stormy Weather: a Reflection on the Recent History of the Citizen Submission Process under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation” in Kirton and V. MacLaren, eds., Linking Trade, Environment and Social Cohesion: North American Experiences, Global Challenges (Ashgate Publishing, 2001)
• The Wealth of Forests: Markets, Regulation, and Sustainable Forestry (Vancouver: UBC Press,1998), editor and contributing author

Selected journal publications

Journal publication highlights include:

• “Climate-Proofing Judicial Review after Paris: Judicial Competency, Capacity, and Courage” (2019) 31 Journal of Environmental Law and Practice 245 with Jason MacLean
• “Polyjural and Polycentric Sustainability Assessment: A Once-in-a-Generation Law Reform Opportunity” (2016) 30 Journal of Environmental Law and Practice 35 with Meinhard Doelle and Jason MacLean
• "Symposium Overview: Conceptualizing New Governance Arrangements" (2012) 90 Public Administration3, lead author and symposium editor with T. Zito and F. Gale
• "Costs in Public Interest Litigation Revisited" (2012) 39 The Advocate's Quarterly 197
• "Charting a Course: Shellfish Aquaculture and Indigenous Rights in New Zealand and British Columbia" (2006) 150 B.C. Studies 3 with R.M. Scott
• "Towards a Public Interest Costs Jurisprudence" (2004) 83 Canadian Bar Review, lead author with D. Gilliland and J. DeMarco
• "Games without Frontiers: Investor Claims and Citizen Submissions under the NAFTA Regime" (2002) 27 Yale Journal of International Law 141
• "Metalclad Corporation v. The United Mexican States Revisited: Judicial Oversight of the Investor-State Claim Process under NAFTA" (2002) 11 Minnesota Journal of Global Trade 182
• "Aboriginal Rights and Cumulative Environmental Effects" (1998) 18 Environmental Impact Review 371 with Karen Wipond
• "Contaminated Sites Liability in British Columbia" in Environmental Liability (1997) with Diana Belevsky

Other work

 Court Filings, Discussion Papers, and Presentations

Other court filings, discussion papers, and presentations highlights include:

• Pleadings, written arguments, and motion materials filed in British Columbia Supreme Court in Teal Cedar Products Ltd. v British Columbia, 2025 BCSC 595 (acting for the Haida Gwaii Management Council)
• Pleadings, motion and application materials, and appeal factum in relation to an application under Rule 9(4) “question of law”: 2023 BCSC 18; 2024 BCCA 180; decision on merits pending (acting for the applicants Ken and Norine McDonald)
• Pleadings, motion materials, and appeal factum in Canada’s first youth-led climate case: La Rose v HMTK, 2020 FC 1008; 2023 FCA 241 (co-counsel for the plaintiffs/appellants)
• Application materials and written argument in anti-SLAPP submission to the British Columbia Supreme Court: Todsen v. Morse, 2022 BCSC 1341 (acting for the applicant Ezra Morse)
• “A Lost Opportunity: the saga of Bill C-69” (14 February 2018) Policy Options
• Submission to Federal Court Rules Committee on “Access to Justice and Costs in Public Interest Cases” (October 2016) with Laura Bowman of Ecojustice and Rick Lindgren of  Canadian Environmental Law Association
• Written argument to the Federal Court of Appeal in Gitxaala Nation v. Canada, 2016 FCA 187 (Vancouver, June 2016) regarding judicial review of the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project (acting for BC Nature)
• Petition for judicial review to the Federal Court filed in the matter of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust v. Government of Canada (2016)
• Petition to the Federal Court of Appeal in BC Nature v. AG Canada et al (filed 14 July 2014) regarding challenge to decision of Governor in Council to approve the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project
• External Review of Remediation Liability Provisions: The Waste Management Act Amendment Act, 1993, a report commissioned by the C. Ministry of Environment, Lands & Parks (Ó£»¨Ó°ÊÓ, 31 July 1996) with Diana Belevsky (the “Tollefson-Belevsky Report”)

Media

Media highlights include:

Interviews and profiles

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Recognition and awards

•  2017 Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Award
• 2014 Nature Canada Conservation Partner Award (one awarded per year; in recognition of his leadership of Nature Canada’s legal team in Northern Gateway hearing process)

Grants

Grants highlights include:

• 2014 Co-Investigator, Social Sciences and Humanities Research funding granted to Adapting Canadian Work and Workplaces to Respond to Climate Change: Canada in International Perspective to support 7-year work program with Principal Investigator Dr. Carla Lipsig-Mumme ($2.5 million)
• 2010-11 Assisted Dean of Law in negotiation and finalization of renewal and enhancement of Tula Foundation funding for additional five-year period ($2.75 million)
• 2009-11 Principal Investigator for a SSHRC grant under the Research Development Initiative (RDI) leading a ten-member international research team to investigate “New Governance Arrangements for Sustainable Resource Management” ($80,000)
• 2009 Secured renewal of Tula Foundation funding to the Environmental Law Centre in collaboration with the Faculty of Law ($430,000 over two years)
• 2009 Principal Investigator “Environmental Tribunal Law Reform Project” and the “BC Environmental Assessment Law Reform Project” (funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia $150,000 over two years)
• 2007 Applicant to the Law Foundation Public Interest Articling Fellowship program ($100,000 over two years)
• 2006 Principal Investigator/Applicant “Building the Capacity of the ELC to serve a Province-wide Clientele” (submitted to the Law Foundation of BC by invitation) ($250,000)
• 2006 Co-investigator, “Designing and implementing integrated strategies: risks and opportunities of an integrated landscape management strategy in western Canada” submitted to the Sustainable Forest Management Network January 2006 (Principal Investigator: Dr. J. Rayner) (approx. $250,000 [personal share $85,000])
• 2006 Applicant, Core Funding for the Environmental Law Centre Clinical Program (funded by the Tula Foundation for 3 yrs, renewable for further 2 yrs) total funding approx. $1.2 million)
• 2001 Co-investigator, SSHRC “Strengthening Canada’s Environmental Community through International Regime Reform: Exploring Social Cohesion in a Globalizing Era” – one of ten research team members (the "EnviReform Project") with Principal Investigator: Dr. John Kirton, U of Toronto ($300,000 over 3 years)

Special projects

•  Chris has spent much of his career building and running legal organizations that give students and junior lawyers opportunities to gain hands-on legal experience while helping to ensure deserving clients secure access to justice. His latest project is the  (“CELL”).
• For many years, he has been an ally of and legal counsel to Indigenous Nations.  For over a decade, he has worked with the Heiltsuk Nation to secure the remediation, repatriation and renewal of an ancient Heiltsuk village site known as Namu. In January 2025, he organized and chaired an event  to the public, media and leading BC government representatives.
• Chris is passionate about defending the interests of youth and future generations in the fight against climate change. Chris is co-counsel on Canada’s first youth-led climate case, filed in Federal Court in 2019, which is slated for an eight-week trial in the late 2026:  La Rose v HMTK 2023 FCA 241.
• For the past four years, Chris and his team at Tollefson Law have represented one of Canada’s first true joint Indigenous-Crown regulatory bodies -- Haida Gwaii Management Council (“HGMC”) – in a lawsuit brought against it by Teal Cedar Products.  Teal claimed that regulatory measures taken by the HGMC on Haida Gwaii to conserve forest resources entitled it to damages. After a sixty-four day long trial, : 2025 BCSC 595.

Courses

Graduate supervision