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Summary<\/p>\n
Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s government proposed major changes to the federal assessment process for mining, oil and gas and other infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n
The proposed changes include shifting assessments from an agency under the federal environment minister to regulators that report to the natural resources minister.<\/p>\n
Former ministers, First Nations and environmental advocates are criticizing the proposal, some calling it a more significant rollback of environmental law than was seen under former prime minister Stephen Harper.<\/p>\n
Last year, Prime Minister Mark Carney established an office tasked with fast-tracking handpicked major industrial projects<\/a>. Now, he says that\u2019s not enough. He has a new proposal on the table meant to roll out the red carpet for all projects requiring federal approval, including pipelines, mines, transmission lines and other infrastructure.<\/p>\n The proposal<\/a>, unveiled last week, would create \u201cfederal economic zones\u201d where certain developments can be \u201cpre-approved,\u201d and provide exceptions to several rules governing fossil fuel and nuclear oversight, habitat preservation, species at risk protection and major project reviews.<\/p>\n It would fundamentally change the way the country scrutinizes industrial development and consults with Indigenous Peoples, in some cases shifting reviews at an agency under the purview of the environment minister over to federal bodies that report to the natural resources minister.<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n The government outlined its plan in two discussion papers<\/a>, but it will need to flesh out the details and formally introduce them as part of new legislation, before they can be implemented in law. The Liberals are now able to pass legislation much easier, after they secured a Parliamentary majority following April\u2019s byelections and the addition of five floor-crossing MPs to their caucus.<\/p>\n The House of Commons is on a two-week break, scheduled to return May 25. Meanwhile, the proposal is open for public comment<\/a> through June 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n Who wanted this change? Who didn\u2019t?<\/p>\n The government says the alterations are necessary so Canada can better compete with other countries for investment dollars, and strengthen the Indigenous consultation process. It said the process to build things is \u201coften slow, expensive and confusing\u201d and the government must \u201cgo further to streamline review and approvals processes.\u201d<\/p>\n The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses across the country, also believes<\/a> the government\u2019s fast-tracking regime has \u201cnot gone far enough\u201d and is hoping Carney continues to \u201cpeel back some of the red tape layers that have been holding back business success.\u201d<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s oil and gas industry has consistently advocated<\/a> since Carney took office for his government to overhaul environmental assessments to turbocharge fossil fuel growth. Industry executives have personally pushed<\/a> this position despite the industry enjoying big profits<\/a> off the war in Iran, and despite the scientific conclusion that carbon pollution, of which the oil and gas industry is the largest contributor in Canada, is furthering destructive climate change that is leading to myriad health problems and premature death<\/a> for Canadians.<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n Two former Liberal environment ministers have harshly criticized Carney\u2019s proposal. Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault, who was the federal environment minister from 2021 to 2025, told the Toronto Star Carney\u2019s plan is \u201cworse<\/a>\u201d than the changes under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, which resulted in some high-profile legal challenges. Former Liberal MP Catherine McKenna, who held the same post from 2015 to 2019, told the Canadian Press Carney\u2019s proposal will lead to a \u201clack of trust<\/a>\u201d and lawsuits, ultimately making the project approval process slower, not faster.<\/p>\n Ecojustice, an environmental law charity, has described<\/a> the changes as potentially ushering in \u201cthe biggest rollback of environmental protections in a generation.\u201d The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, which represents 63 First Nations in that province, said it raises \u201cserious concerns<\/a> that Canada is moving toward a system where speed takes precedence over Treaty obligations, environmental stewardship and First Nations consent.\u201d<\/p>\n The government wants to create \u2018federal economic zones\u2019 where developments are \u2018pre-approved\u2019<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s government wants to legalize \u201cfederal economic zones\u201d which it\u00a0says could include areas designated for energy production and transmission, industrial regions, transportation and telecommunications.\u00a0<\/p>\n Inside these zones, the government would \u201cpre-approve\u201d certain developments, subject to conditions, and exempt projects from requiring individual environmental reviews \u2014 instead just requiring one overarching assessment.<\/p>\n It said the zones, and the activities allowed in them, would be \u201cclearly defined.\u201d Consultation with Indigenous Peoples would be a \u201ckey part\u201d of the process, it added, including on determining the conditions for development inside the zones. The agreement of provinces is also \u201cessential,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis co-operation between federal and provincial governments would allow projects to be fast-tracked under both federal and provincial regimes,\u201d reads the discussion paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sound familiar? Ontario passed similar legislation last year<\/p>\n A provincial regime is already in place in Ontario, after Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government passed Bill 5<\/a> last year. The bill established the similar-sounding Special Economic Zones Act. Inside Ontario\u2019s economic zones, the government can select certain proponents and projects, and exempt them from some municipal by-laws and provincial laws, including environmental protections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Critics have said Ontario\u2019s law threatens wetlands<\/a>, watersheds, peatlands and endangered species, and the Indigenous communities who rely on them. It\u2019s subject to a court challenge<\/a> from First Nations, asking for the law to be found unconstitutional.<\/p>\n The federal economic zones would be enabled through regional assessments<\/a>, which are already an approach used by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to examine the cumulative effects of development in a given area.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is currently an ongoing federal regional assessment<\/a> in the Ring of Fire, the mineral-rich area in the James Bay Lowlands known as Bakitanaamowin Aki, or \u201cthe Breathing Lands,\u201d and Mammamattawa, or \u201cmany rivers coming together,\u201d by the First Nations that call it home.\u00a0<\/p>\n Days after passing Bill 5, Ford said he would designate the Ring of Fire a special economic zone under Ontario law \u201cas quickly as possible.\u201d But in March this year, in a sudden shift in tone, Ford said he didn\u2019t \u201cneed\u201d to use these powers anymore<\/a> to develop the area due to partnerships with several, but not all, First Nations communities in the region.<\/p>\n The Ontario government has long spoken about the region becoming a major mining hub. But an interim Ring of Fire regional assessment report has pointed<\/a> to the need for environmental monitoring in the area\u2019s boreal forest and peatlands, and the need for communities to urgently access health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n The provincial government, meanwhile, has been withholding scientific data<\/a> and funding as part of the assessment process, and is not at the table with the First Nations and federal government representatives seeing it through, The Narwhal has reported.<\/p>\n New rules would change the role of the federal environmental review agency<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s proposal would remove the ability of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to examine any pipeline projects that cross provincial or national borders, as well as any transmission lines or \u201coffshore renewable energy projects.\u201d<\/p>\n The agency, accountable to Environment, Climate Change and Nature Minister Julie Dabrusin, examines projects for sustainability, environmental protection and Indigenous Rights. It carries out its assessments \u201cgrounded in sound science<\/a>, rigorous process and due diligence,\u201d according to its website.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes Canada need to weaken its environmental laws to allow projects to proceed? No,\u201d the agency declares on a frequently asked questions page<\/a>. \u201cDo federal policies prevent LNG, oil or pipeline projects from moving forward in Canada? No.\u201d<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s government is now of the opinion<\/a> that issues like \u201cpoor coordination between government departments\u201d are slowing down projects like pipelines. The government is proposing to shift assessments of certain projects away from the agency and over to two regulators that report to Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.\u00a0<\/p>\n The job of reviewing all cross-border pipelines, transmission lines and offshore renewables would go to the Canada Energy Regulator, while the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission would handle project reviews related to nuclear and uranium projects.<\/p>\n The government would also have the power to declare major pipelines \u201cin the public interest,\u201d before the energy regulator is required to complete its review of the project\u2019s conditions or where the pipe would actually be laid.<\/p>\n At the same time, the government is proposing that the Impact Assessment Agency become the home of a new \u201cCrown consultation hub\u201d that would \u201censure that each Indigenous group affected by a major project goes through one clear and coordinated consultation process for each project.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It is also proposing to assign the federal review coordinator at the agency the job of ensuring project assessments and federal permits \u201cstay on track.\u201d The government said it would change the law to ensure project reviews and permit reviews \u201chappen at the same time\u201d and that a federal decision would take no longer than one year.<\/p>\n Sound familiar again? Carney isn\u2019t the first leader to try to fast-track industrial projects<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s proposal is reminiscent of a shift that happened under Harper\u2019s government, which tried to accelerate environmental assessments by moving more oil and gas oversight to the energy regulator\u2019s predecessor, the National Energy Board, in 2012.<\/p>\n Years later, the National Energy Board came under scrutiny after the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the government\u2019s approval of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project, saying the board\u2019s review of the project was flawed. The former Northern Gateway pipeline proposal also had its federal permits overturned by the Federal Court.<\/p>\n Former prime minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s government passed the Impact Assessment Act and Canadian Energy Regulator Act, collectively through Bill C-69, allowing the government to consider the impact of natural resource projects on issues like climate change. But a Supreme Court of Canada decision<\/a> in 2023 found the assessment scheme \u201clargely unconstitutional,\u201d forcing Trudeau\u2019s government to introduce a revised version of the law in 2024.<\/p>\n There will be new exemptions to Canada\u2019s species at risk law and fish permits<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s government wants to change \u201csome federal laws\u201d that it argued can make the regulatory process \u201cslow, repetitive and less flexible.\u201d One of these appears to be the Species At Risk Act, a federal law passed in 2002 that is meant to prevent species extinction and help with population recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n The law has a clause known as the \u201cjeopardy test,\u201d that restricts permits for an activity affecting a species or its critical habitat, unless the government believes the activity \u201cwill not jeopardize the survival or recovery of the species.\u201d<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s proposal would give the government the power to exempt projects from the application of this test. It said the power would be \u201climited\u201d and have a \u201chigh threshold to be met,\u201d would have to be in the \u201cpublic interest\u201d and would have to come after the proponent has made \u201call reasonable efforts\u201d to avoid impacts.<\/p>\n The government also wants to offer more flexibility for permits that impact fish and fish habitat, when it comes to compensating for environmental harm. And it would allow \u201csome early construction activities to start\u201d before the government decides on the merits of a project, \u201cif necessary permits are approved.\u201d<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s proposal also allows ministers to adjust certain conditions of a project assessment \u201cin exceptional circumstances\u201d and \u201cadjust environmental conditions for projects of national interest, when needed.\u201d<\/p>\n And it would hand the environment minister the power to issue a single federal document for certain projects that would include all federal decisions \u201crequired for a project to move forward.\u201d It said experts in different departments would still review the project and provide advice, and enforcement would still be handled by the departments responsible.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Steven-Guilbeault-sworn-in-rideau-hall-kamara-morozuk-The-Narwhal-250314-scaled.jpg\"\/)
Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault, former environment minister under the Trudeau government, has criticized Carney\u2019s proposal as \u201dworse\u201c than the environmental changes made under Stephen Harper\u2019s Conservative government, which resulted in significant legal challenges. Photo: Kamara Morozuk \/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"Ontario](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/05-26-25-TN-LAO-Bill5-SN-20-scaled-e1754602749476.jpg\"\/)
Ontario\u2019s Special Economic Zones Act, passed last year, allows major infrastructure projects to bypass certain provincial and municipal regulations, including environmental regulations, to speed up development. The act is similar to what the federal government has proposed. Photo: Sid Naidu \/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ON-Conservation-Areas-Proctor-21.jpg\"\/)
Wetlands could be put in jeopardy if the federal legislation passes and major projects are pushed through without proper environmental oversight. Photo: Laura Proctor \/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CP-Trans-Mountain-Construciton-Abbotsford-.jpg\"\/)
The proposed legislation would remove the power of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to assess cross-border provincial or national pipeline projects\u2019 sustainability, as well as their environmental impacts. Photo: Darryl Dyck \/ The Canadian Press<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/geothermal-bc-west-moberly-char-istock.jpg\"\/)
Changes to the Species At Risk Act under the new legislation would make it easier for the federal government to exempt development projects from the act\u2019s environmental protections. More flexibility for permits that impact threatened environments for fish could pose a threat to vulnerable species. Photo: iStock<\/p>\n