<p>This paper provides a longitudinal social network analysis of lobbying on climate and energy policy in Canada, comparing the Harper Conservative (2009–2015) and Trudeau Liberal (2015–2023) governments. We examine the sectoral composition of Canada’s climate lobby and provide a novel analysis of the differentiated access lobbying actors have to state institutions and officials. Over the full period, we find that fossil fuel firms and other high-emitting sectors are central to climate-related lobbying, sustaining repeated, high-volume contacts with a small set of state institutions and actors, particularly those responsible for resource and economic development. Following the shift to the Trudeau government, however, lobbying by environmental NGOs (ENGOs) surged, alongside growing activity by firms with stakes in low-carbon transition. Unlike fossil fuel firms, ENGOs interact primarily with core institutions of the ‘environmental state’ and engage different officials. This shift from fossil dominance to a more contested yet selectively open lobbying field underscores the state’s ‘strategic selectivity’—its uneven and shifting bias toward particular actors and interests. Our findings help explain both the Harper government’s prioritization of fossil fuel expansion and limited federal climate action, and the Trudeau government’s contradictory commitments to advancing climate policy while continuing to support the fossil fuel economy. </p>