5 Things You Need To Know About The 2019 Ontario Fall Economic Statement

Effective April 1, 2026, Quebec's Act respecting contracting by municipal bodies fundamentally transforms how municipal contracts are awarded, moving beyond the traditional lowest-price model to embrace qualitative evaluation criteria including environmental practices, life cycle costs, and contractor performance history. Municipal bodies now have eight award procedures to choose from, along with new pre-tender processes that can limit competition to prequalified enterprises. Contractors must adapt their te

On April 28, 2026, the federal government released Canada’s Spring Economic Update 2026 (the “ Update ”), continuing the “Build Canada Strong” agenda first set out in Budget 2025.

For infrastructure sponsors, lenders, contractors, institutional investors and Indigenous partners, the implications are less about the size of the pipeline—already well understood—and more about how projects will be advanced, financed and de-risked in practice.

Canada is experiencing a surge in infrastructure investment driven by streamlined regulatory approvals, enhanced government financing mechanisms, and growing demand for energy and digital infrastructure. This guide examines the evolving legal and regulatory landscape that foreign investors must navigate to successfully structure, finance, and develop major projects across the country.

In Knauff v. Ontario (Human Rights Tribunal), 2026 ONCA 653, a five-judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario revisited the test governing motions for leave to appeal from decisions of the Divisional Court.

The federal government has published notices proposing to add the Mackenzie Valley Highway and Roberts Bank Terminal 2 to Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act as projects of national interest. These potential listings, following a similar notice for the West Coast Oil Pipeline, provide the first practical indications of how the government may use the Act to advance major infrastructure projects through streamlined federal approvals while maintaining Indigenous consultation and environmental assessment requ

Canada has introduced a new national framework setting expectations for data centre infrastructure development, with 42 major industry signatories including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and NVIDIA. The Principles establish five core requirements covering local benefits, electricity cost allocation, environmental impacts, transparency and strategic value, though their practical implementation will depend heavily on provincial and municipal policy decisions.

The Canadian government has introduced Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, proposing to compress federal project approval timelines from five years to one year through consolidated permitting and streamlined processes. The legislation also modernizes transportation infrastructure through National Trade Corridors and reforms labour relations by strengthening collective bargaining while clarifying ministerial powers to intervene in work stoppages.

Under Order in Council 1358-2026, the Québec government authorizes, from September 7, 2026 to January 31, 2027, the Centre d'acquisitions gouvernementales (the “CAG”) to depart from the general principle that public calls for tenders must be open and without discrimination to foreign suppliers from jurisdictions bound by an intergovernmental agreement with Québec.

On September 21, 2026, the federal government introduced Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act. It is the latest and most comprehensive instalment in a series of federal reforms that began in 2025 with the Building Canada Act and the creation of the Major Projects Office.