Getting Major Projects Built in Canada - Discussion Paper on Proposed Legislative, Regulatory, and Policy Reforms

Context

In the 2025 Speech from the Throne, the Government of Canada promised to make decisions on major projects within two years. Canada must build new infrastructure to strengthen trade, grow the economy, and compete globally.

Impact assessments and regulations are important because they protect the environment and ensure major projects are developed sustainably. To achieve the Government’s objectives, changes to laws, regulations, and policies are being reviewed. The federal government has been working together and with provinces and territories, project proponents, and Indigenous communities to find ways to make the decision process more efficient and predictable.

The Government has also heard from Indigenous Peoples about the need to improve the major project assessment process. During discussions led by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs (CIRNA) as well as federal departments and agencies, Indigenous Peoples have consistently raised concerns about gaps in consultation. They’ve highlighted the need to engage with them early, respect their cultures, and align with their governance and decision-making systems.

The Government of Canada is committed to including Indigenous perspectives and priorities in shaping the changes to laws, regulations, and policies. This process will involve meaningful engagement to follow Canada’s commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA), ensuring Canadian laws respect the principles of the Declaration.

Rationale

Major projects in Canada can sometimes face a complicated and time-consuming decision process. There are issues like duplication, poor coordination between government departments, and consultation processes that can be difficult for Indigenous Peoples and project proponents to navigate. 

As a result, building major projects like mines, ports, airports, pipelines, nuclear facilities, and transportation infrastructure is often slow, expensive, and confusing. In the past, it has often taken more than five years for a project to receive the federal decisions necessary to begin construction. 

Canada is competing with other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, to attract investments in large-scale projects. These countries are already working on ways to speed up their decision processes by simplifying steps, reducing repetitive consultations, combining decision-making authorities, and allowing quicker decision-making. 

This proposal would create a simpler, more coordinated process in Canada, where federal decisions for major projects could be completed in shorter timelines. It would help project proponents successfully build projects that boost Canada’s economy while ensuring environmental protection, respecting Indigenous rights, and supporting meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples. 

Overview of proposals

The Government of Canada plans to make changes to laws, regulations, and policies to meet its commitment to ensure project decisions are made in a timely manner. The goal is to make it clear that major projects can be built efficiently in Canada while maintaining strong environmental protections and respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

1. Federal review and decision-making in no more than one year: The Government of Canada is proposing legislative changes to ensure that federal impact assessments and permit reviews happen at the same time instead of one after the other. This process would begin at the Notice of Commencement, if an impact assessment is required, or when a permit plan is issued, if no impact assessment is required. Proponents will have one year to submit their finalized studies and information. However, if proponents need more time for a specific permit, they will have the option for more time for the decision. For its part, the federal government’s review and decision-making timeline would take no more than one year. It is proposed that legislation be amended to formalize these targets.

   The Federal Review Coordinator at the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) would be responsible for ensuring that impact assessments and federal permits stay on track to meet the timelines. Federal permit applications would be reviewed concurrently with environmental assessments, subject to the option for a proponent to extend or delay timelines. For projects requiring a review from the Canadian Energy Regulator, they will be responsible for coordination.

   While deadlines will not change Canada’s duty to consult Indigenous communities or fulfill obligations under modern treaties, we are creating a process that will lead to earlier and more coordinated consultation, and accordingly better and more efficient outcomes for Indigenous Peoples and proponents alike.

2. One crown consultation process: The Government of Canada has heard from Indigenous Peoples that the consultation processes for major projects need to be improved to avoid consultation fatigue. To address this, the Government is proposing changes to create a Crown Consultation Hub within the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC).

   This new Consultation Hub will work with federal departments and agencies to ensure that each Indigenous group affected by a major project goes through one clear and coordinated consultation process for each project. This will replace having multiple, overlapping, or redundant processes. The new consultation approach will apply only to major projects.

   The Consultation Hub will:

   • Help departments and agencies identify, resolve, mitigate or support accommodation of Indigenous issues of concerns early, where possible.
   • Better coordinate with provincial consultation efforts.
   • Provide guidance to federal officials and project proponents about how to engage with Indigenous communities in a meaningful way, with the goal of ensuring free, prior, and informed consent from Indigenous Peoples.

   In the territories, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency will continue coordinating federal and Crown consultation efforts. As for transportation projects, Transport Canada will set up a Transportation Project Office. This office will improve federal coordination and consultation on transportation projects not subject to an impact assessment, listed under the Building Canada Act or those supported by the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.

3. One project decision: To improve faster and clearer project decisions, the Government of Canada is proposing legislative changes for certain projects listed under the Physical Activities Regulations of the IAA. These changes would allow one federal decision document to be issued by the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, and Nature (ECCN). This document would include all federal decisions required for a project to move forward.

   Experts in different departments would continue to review the project and provide advice and recommendations for the decision. Permits would still be issued under the applicable laws, and enforcement would still be handled by the responsible departments. Throughout the process, the Federal Review Coordinator would make sure everything stays organized and on track.

   The Minister of ECCN would still determine whether any negative federal effects of a project are considered significant. If they are, a joint decision would be made with another Minister responsible for the relevant sector. For instance, for a transportation project, the Minister of Transport would make the final decision together with the Minister of ECCN. Or the two Ministers could decide to refer the determination to the Governor in Council. This approach ensures that decisions balance environmental, economic, and other important considerations while continuing to follow existing rules about what is in the public interest.

   Permits not included in the proposed one-year federal review and decision timeline will not be part of the single decision, but will proceed through the assessment and permitting processes one after the other.

   These changes will not apply to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), which will be making decisions for pipelines, transmission lines and offshore energy projects, or the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), which will be making decisions for nuclear and uranium projects.

4. Single project authority: To give investors more confidence in the project decision process, the Government of Canada is proposing to assign responsibility for certain projects to the federal organization with the most expertise, namely:

   • CER would handle reviews for international and interprovincial pipelines, transmission lines, and offshore renewable energy projects.
   • CNSC would handle reviews for nuclear and uranium projects.

   Projects overseen by the CER would no longer require a separate impact assessment under the IAA. The Governor in Council (GIC) would make the decision about whether the project is in the public interest for pipelines with lengthy routes. To reduce risks and costs for investors, this decision would be made at the beginning of the decision process, before the CER completes its review of conditions and routing details. For smaller projects, the CER Commission would make the final decision and timelines for those decisions would be reduced.

   For nuclear and uranium projects, CNSC would be responsible for conducting the impact assessment under the IAA. The CNSC would also determine whether the project would cause significant negative federal effects. If the effects are considered significant, the project would be referred to the GIC through the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources to decide if it is in the public interest to go ahead.

   For nuclear projects already in progress:

   • If a project is still in the planning phase (notices have been issued, but full studies haven’t been submitted), the decision process will shift to CNSC.
   • If a project is already in the more advanced impact assessment phase (all the necessary information and studies have been submitted), or if the project proponent prefers to continue with the existing process, it will continue under the current impact assessment process coordinated by IAAC.

   IAAC and CNSC will work together to ensure a smooth transition for projects. Extra care will be taken to meet the Government’s Duty to Consult with Indigenous Peoples during this process.

   The Government will also direct Natural Resources Canada to review Canada’s regulatory and legislative framework for nuclear projects to identify areas for improvement, including streamlining processes and reducing decision timelines.

   Further assessment will be undertaken with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador to determine how to achieve a single regulator model for projects under the responsibility of the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator and the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Energy Regulator.

5. Enable economic zones through regional impact assessments: The Government of Canada is proposing legislation to create Federal Economic Zones. These zones would cover areas like transportation corridors, telecommunications networks, energy production and transmission, and industrial regions. Setting up these zones ahead of major developments would remove the need for separate project reviews, make the permitting process simpler, and reduce risks for investors.

   Under this proposal:

   • The Governor in Council would have the authority to decide that certain developments within specific zones are pre-approved, subject to conditions for the projects themselves.
   • The zones and the types of activities allowed in them would be clearly defined.

   Consultation with Indigenous Peoples would be a key part of this process to identify both impacts and opportunities. Additional collaboration would take place to determine the specific conditions for development within these zones.

   Coordination with provinces and their agreement will also be essential to make these zones work effectively. This cooperation between federal and provincial governments would allow projects to be fast-tracked under both federal and provincial regimes.

6. Streamlined and efficient regulatory environment: Some federal laws have rules that can make regulatory processes slow, repetitive, and less flexible. To improve this, the Government of Canada is proposing changes to streamline these processes, including for example:

   1. Narrowing the types of activities that require navigation permits.
   2. Making permits for fish and fish habitat more flexible for offsetting (replacing or compensating for environmental impacts) and for permits related to Disposal at Sea.
   3. Transferring certain decision powers from the Governor in Council (Cabinet) to the relevant Minister to speed up decision-making.
   4. Ensuring project requirements are technically and economically feasible; to avoid inflating construction costs and the time it takes to build a project.
   5. Allowing some early construction activities to start before an impact decision is made, if necessary permits are approved.
   6. Authorizing the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Nature to adjust impact assessment conditions, in exceptional circumstances.
   7. Authorizing the Minister of One Canadian Economy to adjust environmental conditions for projects of national interest, when needed.
   8. Giving the GIC limited power, with a high threshold to be met, to exempt specific projects from the application of the jeopardy test for species at risk, but only if it’s in the public interest and if the proponent has made all reasonable efforts to avoid or reduce impacts on at-risk species.

   These decisions are often needed for projects to begin construction. However, the Government understands that project proponents may also need federal decisions during the multi-year construction period. The Government will continue to support a “one project, one Crown consultation process” throughout construction to ensure that consultations are simplified for any regulatory needs arising during construction.

   These proposals will not change environmental approval processes set out in modern treaties protected by the Constitution. In certain regions, responsibilities are shared between the federal, territorial, and Indigenous governments. Many of these processes already align with the Government’s broader goals, such as “one project decision” and better Crown consultation. The Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and the Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency will continue working with partners to identify ways to improve the northern regulatory system for major projects.

Guiding questions

Indigenous engagement questions

1. From your perspective, how could these legislative, regulatory, and related policy amendments be adjusted or expanded to better align with the rights and interests described in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration)?
2. Are you aware of any intersections between the proposal and the rights and interests of First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis as set out in the UN Declaration?
3. From your perspective, how can the Government of Canada best work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to ensure that Indigenous perspectives, knowledge, and priorities meaningfully inform the implementation of these proposals?
4. What lessons have you learned from previous experience with proponents and governments – what have they done well and not well for Indigenous communities?
5. What are your views, if any, on proposal No. 2 (One Crown Consultation Process)?

Public and Indigenous engagement questions

1. What opportunities do you see emerging from these proposals to improve the assessments and permitting processes related to building major projects?
2. What are your views/general impressions on these proposals to improve regulatory efficiency related to building major projects faster in Canada?
3. What do businesses and Indigenous Peoples require to advance major projects within a shorter timeframe under these proposals?

Next steps

• The Government will be moving quickly to introduce legislation following the engagement period.