Ottawa is proposing legislative changes that would cap federal reviews of all major projects, including pipelines, to one year.
The federal government announced on May 8 that it would begin a 30-day consultation process to gather input from the public, other levels of government, and the indigenous people on proposed reforms to streamline the approval process for major projects—not just those of national interest.
The Liberal government released two discussion papers during the announcement outlining a suite of proposals, including limiting federal reviews and decision-making timelines to 12 months once project proponents have submitted all the necessary information. To achieve that, the government is proposing to have federal impact assessments and permit reviews conducted at the same time rather than sequentially….