Environmental, Indigenous and Natural Resources Blog

Bill C-69 received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019 but did not come into force at that time. The Governor in Council has now ordered that the federal Impact Assessment Act (“IAA”) and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act (“CERA”) will come into force on August 28, 2019, concurrent with the repeal of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 and the National Energy Board Act. Most of the amendments to the Navigation Protection Act (now to be called the Canadian Navigable Waters Act) will also come into force on August 28, 2019.

As a result, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency will transition to the Impact Assessment Agency, and the National Energy Board will transition to the Canadian Energy Regulator.

Certain related regulations will also come into effect on August 28, 2019, including the Physical Activities Regulations (the new Project List) and the Information and Management of Time Limits Regulations, both under the Impact Assessment Act. These regulations are scheduled to be published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on August 21, 2019, but in the meantime unofficial copies may be found at the following links:

• Physical Activities Regulations (unofficial)
• Information and Management of Time Limits Regulations (unofficial)

Stay tuned or subscribe to our Project Law Blog for more information on the regulations and the implementation of these changes.

On June 21, 2019 Bill C-69 received Royal Assent. However the federal Impact Assessment Act (“IAA”), which will replace the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, is not yet in force. It will be brought into force on a date to be set by order of the Governor in Council.  Similarly, a replacement of British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Act (“BC EAA” ...

Bill C-69, which includes the proposed Impact Assessment Act (the “Act”) is currently in the second reading of the Senate. In February, 2018, the Government of Canada released the Consultation Paper on Information Requirements and Time Management Regulations and sought comments from the public on the proposed components of the Regulations. Based on the comments and ...

While the proposed Impact Assessment Act (the “IAA”) in Bill C-69 is under review and possible amendment by the Senate, the federal government is seeking public comments this month on a new Discussion Paper on the proposed Project List regulation. The Project List sets out criteria that, if met, make a project subject to the federal assessment process. This post ...

Among the extensive changes to the Canadian environmental legislation introduced through Bill C-69, the Federal Government will also amend the current Navigation Protection Act and rename it the Canadian Navigable Waters Act ("CNWA"). Key changes to the navigable waters regime include:

• A comprehensive statutory definition of 'navigable water' that broadens the ...

As described in our recent previous blog posts[1], on February 8, 2018 the federal government introduced Bill C-69, An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. Bill C-69 overhauls the federal environmental assessment process for major projects.

On February 8, 2018, Bill C-69 was introduced for first reading, Part 1 of which is the draft Impact Assessment Act ( the “IAA”) to repeal and replace the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (“CEAA 2012”).

This post explores the triggers for project Impact Assessment (“IA”), as well as the transition provisions for existing projects, and provisions to ...

Over the past 14 months, the Federal Government has been working to review environmental and regulatory processes and to rebuild public trust in these systems. Our posts of June 26, 2016 and April 7, 2017 discuss the Federal Government’s proposed scope of the review and highlight the recommendations provided by an expert panel with respect to the review. The review ...