On June 6, 2024, the federal government tabled Bill C-5: An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility Act and the Building Canada Act (the One Canadian Economy Act) to, among other things,1 accelerate approvals for energy and infrastructure projects that are designated as being in the national interest by enacting the Building Canada Act.2 This legislation aims to address pressing geopolitical, energy security, and economic concerns, while enhancing Canada's national prosperity and protecting the environment, and respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples.3 The One Canadian Economy Act faces a short sitting period in a minority Parliament, but Prime Minister Mark Carney has suggested that the sitting could be extended to ensure the Act is passed.4
The Building Canada Act provides for streamlined regulatory processes through a one decision-maker model and advance certainty of approval, though not of approval conditions, for national interest projects. The Act’s single approval process provides the opportunity to expedite review timelines, but individual regulatory processes remain and how much speed can be achieved depends on how coordination works in practice.
The Building Canada Act joins similar, recently implemented provincial legislation that alters regulatory frameworks to accelerate timelines for development, including Bill 5 in Ontario and Bill 14 and Bill 15 in British Columbia.
The Building Canada Act allows the Governor in Council, on recommendation of the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (the Minister), to designate projects as being in the national interest.5 Such national interest projects are guaranteed most federal approvals and subject to modified and potentially accelerated regulatory processes under a single “Authorization Document” approval regime.6 National interest projects also have the benefit of a unified federal major projects office, with the stated goal of a two year approval timeline.