Environment Canterbury is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. The regional council was formed from 33 different bodies with regional and resource management roles in November 1989.

Following a government review of Environment Canterbury in 2009 and early 2010, known as the Creech Report, the government passed new legislation to temporarily replace Environment Canterbury's 14 elected councillors with seven commissioners. The commissioners began work on 1 May, 2010.

The commissioners are required to improve relations with Canterbury's 10 territorial councils, to build on the work of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy and to meet all the statutory obligations of the Resource Management and Local Government Acts to consult with the Canterbury community.

These measures are intended to improve the performance of Environment Canterbury before local council elections are restored in 2013.

The commissioners can be contacted on 0800 266 647 (0800 COMMISSIONERS) or by e-mail at: commissioners@ecan.govt.nz