Carney Unveils Sweeping Major Projects Legislation Aiming for One-Year Approvals

Prime Minister Mark Carney moved on May 12 to overhaul the rules governing how Canada approves major infrastructure, proposing legislation that would cap federal regulatory reviews at one year for projects of every size and category. The announcement, made one day before Parliament resumed substantive debate on the government's spring agenda, marks the most ambitious effort to streamline Canada's approvals regime in more than a decade.

The proposed changes are broader than the Building Canada Act passed last year, which focused on a narrower category of projects flagged through the Major Projects Office. Under the new approach, any pipeline, transmission line, mine, port, or nuclear facility would face the same one-year deadline whether or not Ottawa formally designates it as being in the national interest.

Officials briefed on the file said the legislation reflects what Carney's office describes as a turning point for Canadian competitiveness. With the United States escalating tariff pressure and provinces clamouring for faster federal answers on resource projects, the government is betting that regulatory speed has become a political and economic necessity rather than a technocratic preference.

What Carney announced

The headline measure would shift decision-making authority for pipelines, transmission lines, and offshore energy projects to the Canada Energy Regulator. Those projects would no longer be required to undergo a separate review by the Impact Assessment Agency, ending what industry has long described as duplicative federal scrutiny.

For nuclear and uranium projects, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission would conduct the federal Impact Assessment, but cabinet would retain the authority to override and approve a project deemed in the national interest. The arrangement consolidates regulatory expertise in sector-specific bodies while preserving political accountability for the final yes-or-no decision.

The proposal also introduces the concept of federal economic zones, a Carney signature idea borrowed from his time at the Bank of England and refined during his run for the Liberal leadership. Provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, and the public have 30 days to submit written comments on the consultation paper.

The context for moving fast

Carney has framed the legislation as a response to multiple converging pressures. Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have rattled Canadian exporters, and the Bank of Canada estimated last week that counter-tariffs alone have pushed prices on affected goods up by roughly six per cent. Energy producers in Alberta and Saskatchewan have argued repeatedly that uncertain timelines for pipeline reviews have suppressed billions of dollars in private investment.

The Prime Minister has also faced pressure from premiers who want clearer federal answers on transmission interties and critical-minerals processing. Doug Ford in Ontario, Danielle Smith in Alberta, and Tim Houston in Nova Scotia have all argued in recent weeks that the federal review process moves too slowly to compete with American and European rivals offering subsidies and accelerated permitting.

The Building Canada Act, passed last summer, already cleared committee with bipartisan support, although Indigenous organisations raised concerns about consultation timelines. The new legislation builds on that template while extending its scope across the resource economy.

Reaction from opposition parties

The Conservatives, who lost the April 13 election to a Carney majority, signalled cautious openness to the proposal while warning that the details will matter. Conservative natural resources critic Shannon Stubbs said her caucus has been calling for shorter approval timelines for years and would judge the legislation on whether it produces actual shovels in the ground.

The Bloc Québécois pushed back on the suggestion that Ottawa can set timelines for projects that intersect with provincial jurisdiction. Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, sworn in last month, has signalled that her government will defend provincial authority on environmental assessments even where federal jurisdiction technically applies.

The NDP, reduced to a smaller caucus after the spring election, warned that streamlining cannot come at the expense of climate commitments. New Democrat MPs said any legislation must preserve substantive environmental review rather than reducing it to a procedural exercise.

Indigenous response

The Assembly of First Nations and several regional Indigenous organisations cautioned that streamlining cannot substitute for the duty to consult and accommodate. The proposed 30-day comment window is unusually short for a measure of this scope, and the AFN national chief said First Nations expect direct, project-level engagement that goes beyond a written consultation paper.

The federal government has acknowledged this concern in past statements, with cabinet ministers repeatedly insisting that the Crown's constitutional duty to consult is not changed by any procedural reform. Whether that pledge translates into the kind of upstream engagement Indigenous leaders are seeking will be tested as the bill moves through the House.

The Auditor General's report earlier this month, which concluded that Indigenous Services Canada has fallen short on implementing the New Fiscal Relationship with First Nations, adds to the pressure on Carney's team to demonstrate that the major projects push will not crowd out reconciliation commitments.

What it means for Canadians

If the legislation passes broadly intact, Canadians could see faster federal decisions on the kind of generational infrastructure that has been stuck in regulatory limbo for years. That includes east-west transmission lines to move clean power across provincial boundaries, critical-minerals projects in the Ring of Fire and northern British Columbia, and potential new export pipelines aimed at Atlantic or Pacific markets.

The flip side is that faster decisions are also faster no decisions. Some projects that currently survive years of review by attrition or proponent fatigue could face a definitive federal verdict within twelve months. Industry sources welcome the certainty even when the answer is unfavourable, arguing that prolonged ambiguity is the worst outcome of all.

Households are unlikely to feel direct effects in 2026, but the legislation is designed to unlock private investment that the Carney government argues is essential to growth, inflation control, and the looming USMCA renegotiation.

Economic implications

The Prime Minister has been clear about his belief that Canada cannot defeat the Trump tariff regime without becoming structurally more productive. His Davos address in January set the framing, and the major projects bill is the legislative expression of that argument. Faster permits, in this view, are the supply-side complement to the sovereign wealth fund announced earlier this year.

Investment analysts at major Canadian banks suggested that the announcement, if executed, could lift business investment growth modestly in 2026 and more substantively in 2027 and beyond. The bigger gains depend on whether provinces align their own permitting regimes with federal timelines, an alignment that is far from guaranteed.

For now, capital markets reacted calmly. Equity analysts viewed the proposal as a directional positive without yet pricing in any concrete project list. The detailed legislative text, when tabled, will be the test of whether the announcement turns into measurable change.

Provincial responses

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith publicly welcomed the announcement, saying the federal government was finally acknowledging the urgency she has been pressing for years. Her support, while warm, came with the qualifier that Alberta will continue to push for direct authority over emissions policy and resource decision-making.

British Columbia's David Eby, navigating his own fiscal and political pressures, gave a more measured response. The premier has been balancing demands from industry to accelerate critical-minerals development with commitments under the province's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Eby said his government would review the federal proposal in detail before committing to support.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey signalled support, particularly for the offshore energy components, while Saskatchewan's Scott Moe called for the legislation to be widened further to cover uranium exports.

What's next

The 30-day consultation period closes in mid-June, with the government expected to table formal legislative text shortly thereafter. House leader Steven MacKinnon has indicated the bill is a priority for passage before the summer recess, which would set up implementation in the second half of 2026 ahead of the USMCA review and the next federal budget cycle.

Stakeholders across industry, environmental organisations, and Indigenous governments will use the consultation window to push for amendments. The political question is whether Carney's majority can absorb the inevitable changes without losing the speed-and-certainty narrative that the announcement was designed to project. The early signal from Ottawa is that the Prime Minister sees no political alternative to making the bet that Canadians want decisions faster than they have been getting them.