Minister of Energy, Hon. Tim Hodgson signs pipeline in Prince George B.C.
OTTAWA — The federal government tabled Bill C-39 on Monday, legislation aimed at speeding up major project approvals and making the federal review process more predictable for companies looking to build in Canada.
The Building Canada Strong Act would set a one-year target for federal reviews and decisions once a proponent submits a complete application, with Ottawa promoting the approach as “one project, one review, one year to decision.”
For Alberta’s energy sector, the federal energy minister says the changes would apply to oilsands developments requiring federal approval and could shorten the path from application to decision.
“The key thing to understand about the recent initiatives of this government, this new bill takes everything that we’ve done in the major projects office for projects that are listed as major projects and takes those learnings and applies it to all projects,” he said.
“So going forward from a federal perspective, one project, one review, one decision within one year.”
For the oilsands, the minister says the impact will depend on the type of development being proposed.
In-situ developments fall under Alberta’s jurisdiction, while oilsands mining projects require federal review.
“My understanding here is that in-situ projects are not subject to federal jurisdiction,” he said. “So that is up to Alberta to review and approve.”
“Mining assets are subject to federal jurisdiction. And again, under this new bill, we have one project, one review, one decision within one year.”
“That’s the way we will be looking at mining opportunities going forward.”
That distinction could be significant around Fort McMurray as producers consider potential expansions of existing oilsands operations.
Asked whether the new approval process could keep pace if companies expand production to fill additional pipeline capacity, the minister said mining developments remain within federal scope.
“Mining assets are completely in scope for the federal government,” he said.
The push for faster approvals is also tied to work underway on a proposed new West Coast oil pipeline.
Under a Canada-Alberta memorandum of understanding, the two governments are working toward a decision on whether the proposed project should be listed by Oct. 1.
“Under the Canada-Alberta MOU, the goal is to do the work and be in a position to have a listing decision by October 1st,” the minister said. “That work is ongoing.”
If the project is listed, Ottawa and Alberta have set a target of reaching a decision or conditions document by September 2027.
“Assuming that that work ends up with a listing, we have set a target between Alberta and the federal government to get to a decision or a conditions document by September of 2027,” he said.
The minister said that could put construction on a relatively short timeline.
“With a conditions document, that means the proponent is free to build,” he said. “So I think you could see shovels in the ground potentially as soon as September 2027.” minister of energy 2
The minister says faster approvals are one part of Ottawa’s effort to attract additional investment into the energy sector.
He also pointed to the federal government’s productivity mega deduction, which includes oil and gas investment.
“This means that new investment in Canada has the lowest effective tax rate of any major country in the world,” he said. “The effective tax rate is just over six per cent. It’s less than half the tax rate in the U.S. and that’s gonna attract a lot of capital to the oil sands.”
The minister said the federal measures, along with anticipated Alberta royalty initiatives, could combine to drive further development in the province.
“When you combine what Alberta is doing on royalties with what we’re doing on one project, one review, one decision, and you combine that with the productivity mega deduction, I believe you are going to see massive new investment in the oil and gas sector in Alberta.”
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