Federal Government Introduces Building Canada Strong Act

On September 21, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, intended to accelerate infrastructure and major project approvals, streamline federal permitting, and strengthen Canada’s trade and transportation infrastructure.

Under the proposed legislation, federal reviews and decisions would be completed within a maximum of one year once a project has been submitted with a comprehensive application and all required studies and information. Rather than moving through multiple federal departments and permitting processes sequentially, departments would be required to better coordinate their reviews.

Several proposed changes could affect the delivery of infrastructure projects, including:

• One-year federal review timeline: federal project reviews and decisions would be completed within one year once a complete application is submitted.
• Earlier construction preparation: the federal government would have authority to permit certain project work to proceed before a final impact-assessment decision, where doing so is determined to be in the public interest.
• Changes to Fisheries Act approvals: the proposal would allow third-party habitat credits to be used to satisfy certain fish-habitat offsetting requirements. For projects determined by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to have minor impacts, certain proponents could also be permitted to make payments to the Environmental Damages Fund in lieu of undertaking their own offsetting project.
• More practical permit conditions: establishing conditions under the Fisheries Act, Species at Risk Act, and Canadian Navigable Waters Act, would now require consideration of their technical, economic, and practical feasibility.
• Regional approvals: the legislation would establish a framework for identifying “Regions of National Interest.” Following a regional assessment, certain activities within these areas could proceed under predetermined conditions and mitigation measures, reducing the need to repeat similar assessments for individual projects.

The legislation also contains plans for a new Transportation Projects Office, which would coordinate federal approvals for transportation projects, while National Trade Corridors could be formally designated to support long-term infrastructure planning and investment.

The government has stated that the legislation would not eliminate environmental assessments, federal permitting requirements, or Indigenous consultation obligations. Rather, the objective is to coordinate these processes and establish clearer timelines for reaching decisions.

Bill C-39 has only been introduced in Parliament and the proposed changes are not yet law. OSWCA will continue to monitor the legislation as it proceeds through Parliament, with particular attention to changes affecting infrastructure approvals, Fisheries Act authorizations and the practical implementation of the government’s proposed one-year approval framework.

If you have any questions, please contact Patrick McManus (905-629-7766 or patrick.mcmanus@oswca.org).