The federal government has introduced legislation aimed at shortening approval timelines for major infrastructure projects while changing federal labour rules and strengthening protections for workers.<\/p>\n
Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, would require federal reviews and decisions on qualifying infrastructure projects to be completed within one year after a proponent submits a comprehensive application.<\/p>\n
The government says the legislation is intended to provide more certainty for investors and project proponents while maintaining environmental standards and Indigenous rights.<\/p>\n
One-year timeline for project reviews<\/p>\n
Under the proposed legislation, federal departments would be expected to complete project reviews and reach decisions within one year.<\/p>\n
The government says the changes would create clearer and more predictable processes for companies and Indigenous groups involved in consultations.<\/p>\n
A separate cabinet directive has also been issued directing federal reviews and project decisions to be completed within the one-year timeline.<\/p>\n
The government says environmental protections and its obligations to consult Indigenous Peoples would remain in place.<\/p>\n
Trade corridors and ports targeted<\/p>\n
Bill C-39 would also make changes aimed at speeding up transportation and trade infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n
The legislation would allow the federal government to formally designate strategic trade corridors and establish a transportation project office to co-ordinate federal permitting for priority projects.<\/p>\n
Changes are also proposed for port governance, trade digitalization and administrative requirements.<\/p>\n
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said the measures are intended to move Canadian goods more efficiently and strengthen supply chains.<\/p>\n
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Changes proposed for federal labour rules<\/p>\n
The legislation would also amend the Canada Labour Code.<\/p>\n
The government says the changes are intended to encourage employers and unions to address disputes earlier and reach negotiated agreements while maintaining the right to strike.<\/p>\n
Ottawa also plans to add 100 federal health and safety officers, which it says would increase inspection capacity by about 70 per cent.<\/p>\n
Another 26 employees would be added to the Canada Industrial Relations Board to help address a backlog of worker complaints.<\/p>\n
The government also says additional inspectors would be used to target cases where workers may be improperly classified.<\/p>\n
Government says consultation shaped bill<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the legislation is intended to provide greater certainty around major projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada is a country of high standards, but high standards do not require slow decisions,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n
Dominic LeBlanc, minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, intergovernmental affairs and one Canadian economy, said the government\u2019s goal is \u201cone project, one review, one year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government says the legislation follows consultations with workers, unions, employers, Indigenous Peoples, provincial and territorial governments, industry and other organizations.<\/p>\n
Bill C-39 must still proceed through the parliamentary process before becoming law.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government has introduced legislation aimed at shortening approval timelines for major infrastructure projects while changing federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-930380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}