Leading Canadian organizations are concerned the proposed regulations will deliver only a 3% improvement towards meeting Canada's 2020 emissions target.

Proposed regulations include a loophole that would allow the construction of a new Alberta coal plant by Maxim Power Corp. that then would not be subject to federal regulations until 2060. These regulations also allow coal power to play a role in Canada's electricity mix, which is inconsistent with the global need for emissions to peak between 2015 and 2020.

"New dirty coal is unacceptable today, not after 2025," said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada. "These regulations do very little to cut emissions, and keep coal powering electricity for the next 45 years."

"If amended, these regulations have the potential to get us off coal and cut one tenth of Canada's emissions," said Graham Saul of Climate Action Network Canada. "Ontario phased out coal in under ten years - if they can do it, the rest of Canada can."

"Coal powered England in the 1800s. It has no place in today's more enlightened world," said Dale Marshall, Climate Change Policy Analyst, David Suzuki Foundation. "It's time to move beyond coal. Canada can lead the world, but these regulations fall far short of what's needed."