Think tank says federal fast-track bill confirms Ottawa’s assessment process is broken
A Montreal-based think tank with offices in Calgary, says a new federal law that allows Ottawa to fast-track certain projects is an admission that Canada’s project approval process is failing.
In a report released Thursday, the Montreal Economic Institute says Bill C-5, which includes the Building Canada Act, allows the federal government to bypass existing legislation to approve projects it deems in the national interest. MEI researcher Krystle Wittevrongel argues this kind of political discretion will not fix what she calls a slow, opaque and unreliable system.
“Bill C-5 is a clear admission that the current project approval process is broken,” Wittevrongel said in a statement. “Plagued by a lack of predictability, investors have found the process unreliable, and creating a bypass for a few projects favoured by politicians does not fix that.”
Since the Impact Assessment Act came into force in 2019, only one project — Cedar LNG — has completed the full federal review process. Another 20 projects are currently undergoing assessments, with an average review time of 2.8 years. None have reached the final stage of the process.
The MEI report links the slow pace to a steep drop in resource investment. In 2015, the value of major natural resource projects stood at $711 billion. That figure dropped to $572 billion by 2023. When adjusted for inflation, the gap between actual and expected investment widens to more than $300 billion.
The report also notes that global interest in Canadian energy remains strong. Leaders from Japan, South Korea, Germany, Poland and Greece have all expressed interest in Canadian energy since 2022. Meanwhile, upstream oil and gas investment is expected to rise by seven per cent worldwide in 2024.
“If this government wants to get things built, it should overhaul the process to benefit all projects and sectors, rather than having everything hinge on its discretion,” said Wittevrongel.
The MEI recommends setting a firm 18-month cap on reviews, restricting federal assessments to areas of clear federal jurisdiction, limiting subjective criteria, and automatically accepting provincial assessments that meet high standards.
“Ministerial meddling is no fix for Canada’s protracted and opaque approval process,” Wittevrongel said. “Only a system that is swift by default will draw the investment Canada desperately needs to unlock its full potential.”
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