Canada can’t meet climate goals without faster approvals for major projects: report

A new report says says Canada's current regulatory system for large-scale infrastructure projects is 'complex, fractured and frustrating.'

Canada has no hope of reaching its 2050 climate goals unless it can find a way to speed up the approvals process for major projects in this country, a new report states.

The report, from the Business Council of Alberta, says Canada’s current regulatory system for large-scale infrastructure projects is “complex, fractured and frustrating.”

It warns that massive investments in everything from mines for critical minerals to renewable power generation to hydrogen technology will be required in the coming years if Canada is to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

But the report’s authors say that Canada already has a reputation as a place where major projects can’t get built _ and unless that changes, the country’s environmental ambitions will be out of reach.

Mike Holden, chief economist for the Business Council of Alberta, said Canada’s regulatory systems were set up to ensure corporations don’t run roughshod over local communities, Indigenous people and the environment.

While that’s a good thing, he said, the processes involved have become so cumbersome – with the odds of a final green light far from certain – that many investors would rather not take the chance.

“A lot of projects end up not coming forward at all because companies aren’t willing to go through the uncertainty of the process,” Holden said.

“So there are a lot of cases where investment passes Canada by, or it gets downscaled.”