Government Of Canada Makes Significant Changes To Energy Project Approvals Process

On September 3, the Government of Canada published amendments removing seven types of energy projects from the Physical Activities Regulations (the Project List) under the Impact Assessment Act (IAA). As a result, these types of projects will no longer be subject to the IAA but will continue to be regulated by the Canada Energy Regulator Act (CER Act) or applicable provincial environmental assessment regimes.

These changes were proposed in the spring as part of a suite of major reforms to the project approvals regime with the release of a discussion paper entitled Getting Major Projects Built in Canada¹. A public consultation took place from May 8 to July 22, 2026, and a “what we heard” report was published on September 9². The Government has indicated it intends to introduce legislation further consolidating federal project permitting processes this fall, and that it will propose more amendments to the Project List at a later date.