Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

By The Canadian Press

Government to table bill Monday aimed at speeding up major project approvals

Sep 21, 2026 | 11:09 AM

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government will table a bill Monday to fast-track approvals for major projects.

The Building Canada Strong Act is expected to remove the responsibility for reviewing many big projects, such as pipelines and power transmission lines, from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

The federal government has said it has been told by industry that the level of expertise on energy projects that lived at the Canada Energy Regulator couldn’t be found at the Impact Assessment Agency.

Two discussion papers released in May also said Ottawa was looking to create so-called “economic zones.” Those zones would allow the federal cabinet to decide which activities would be allowed in them and give ministers the power to pre-approve projects.

The government originally intended to introduce the bill in the spring but pumped the brakes after pushback from environmental and Indigenous groups.

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The legislation went through extensive consultations over the summer and Ottawa received more than 21,000 emails about it.

The government said earlier this month it had abandoned plans to exempt certain projects from laws designed to protect species at risk, after receiving an overwhelmingly negative response to the proposal during consultations.

The Building Canada Act — which was passed as part of the controversial Bill C-5 last summer — still gives Ottawa the power to allow projects with a “national interest” designation to skirt a dozen laws, including the Species At Risk Act.

In June, when environmental groups were on Parliament Hill lobbying against the proposals, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the government was “absolutely not” tossing away environmental protections.

Government to table bill Monday aimed at speeding up major project approvals

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