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On April 2, 2026, the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta formalized a co-operation agreement on environmental and impact assessments (the Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement), fulfilling a key commitment in the Memorandum of Understanding they signed in November 2025. Canada also has environmental assessment co-operation agreements with five other provinces: Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, New Brunswick, and British Columbia. Collectively, these co-operation agreements provide a means for the accelerated review of major projects in Canada.
The Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement will work in tandem with the Building Canada Act1 and the Government of Canada's Major Projects Office to reduce duplication in regulatory decision-making and provide greater certainty for project proponents. It represents an important step by both Alberta and Canada to enhancing economic prosperity through facilitating investment in major infrastructure projects.
Federal-Provincial Jurisdiction
The Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement does not alter the constitutional division of powers between the federal and provincial government. Instead, Canada and Alberta seek to coordinate the federal Impact Assessment Act2 with the provincial Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act,3 to minimize conflict and duplication. This coordinated approach is significant, and follows Alberta's successful constitutional challenge to the Impact Assessment Act's infringement into matters of provincial jurisdiction.4
Streamlined Assessments and Reliance on Alberta's Processes
The Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement establishes a framework for coordinated federal-provincial assessments, allowing both governments to rely on a single, integrated review process in a number of circumstances. For projects that fall primarily within provincial jurisdiction, the Government of Canada will defer to Alberta's environmental assessment and approval process.5 Specifically, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) will forego a separate review where Alberta confirms that the provincial process will address the adverse effects within federal jurisdiction.6
If a proposed project is a federal work or undertaking or is located on federal lands, the Government of Canada commits to integrating Alberta's environmental assessment process into the federal assessment where requested by Alberta.7
Where both federal and provincial assessments apply to a proposed project, the IAAC and the applicable Alberta ministry or regulator will jointly develop a single assessment process to satisfying both regimes.8 The jointly-developed assessment process will seek to reduce duplication by aligning the project conditions, deadlines, and reporting requirements, to the extent possible.9
The Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement promotes flexibility in environmental assessments, moving away from a rigid allocation of responsibility. This marks a departure from the current parallel environmental assessment processes that often result in overlapping timelines, inconsistent conditions, significant regulatory burden for project proponents, and delays in project approvals.
Fixed Two-Year Timeline
The Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement also sets a maximum two-year timeline for assessment decisions following the receipt of an initial project description.10 This will be achieved, in part, by early notification and information sharing between the IAAC, the applicable Alberta ministry or regulator, and Indigenous groups.11 For project proponents and investors, this represents a potentially meaningful improvement in predictability. A clear timeline should reduce delays that have hindered major projects in the past and will foster a more competitive investment environment in Canada.
Implications for Project Proponents
The Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement has practical implications for developers, investors, and project proponents.
Reduced Regulatory Burden
The move toward a single coordinated assessment process promises to reduce administrative burden and increase efficiency. Proponents may no longer be required to prepare multiple sets of materials for different regulators or navigate parallel timelines that can be unpredictably prolonged. This simplification of regulatory processes should translate into lower costs and a more streamlined path to approval.
Faster Project Timelines
The commitment to a two-year federal decision window, combined with co-ordinated reviews, may significantly reduce the time required to move from project conception to approval. This can have direct implications for project financing and investment decisions, as regulatory delay has been a consistent source of frustration with project proponents and has created uncertainty about whether major projects can successfully be completed in Canada.
Greater Importance on Provincial Engagement
As the Government of Alberta assumes a more prominent role in leading assessments, proponents will need to engage early and strategically with provincial regulators. Provincial processes may effectively set the baseline requirements for project approval, even when federal jurisdiction is engaged.
Conclusion
The Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement stands to recalibrate the balance between efficiency and oversight in Canada's major project approval processes for project within Alberta. By advancing a single, coordinated assessment process, it seeks to address longstanding criticisms of duplication and prolonged delays that have hindered major projects within Alberta.
For proponents, the agreement has the potential to reduce regulatory barriers in Alberta through process simplification, improved timelines, and greater predictability. The flexible, case-by-case framework will allow both Canada and Alberta to deliver efficient assessment processes, grounded in the realities of each project. If collaboration between Canada and Alberta is effective, the Canada-Alberta Co-operation Agreement, and the others of its kind, will reduce the costs and uncertainty of advancing major projects, and help to unlock Alberta's, and Canada's, economic potential.
Footnotes
1 Building Canada Act, SC 2025, c. 2, s. 4.
2 Impact Assessment Act, SC 2019, c 28, s 1.
3 Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, RSA 2000, c E-12.
4 Reference re Impact Assessment Act, 2023 SCC 23.
5 Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, "Co-operation Agreement on Environmental and Impact Assessment" (02 April 2026) at s. 1(1).
6 Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, "Co-operation Agreement on Environmental and Impact Assessment" (02 April 2026) at s. 3(1).
7 Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, "Co-operation Agreement on Environmental and Impact Assessment" (02 April 2026) at s. 1(2).
8 Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, "Co-operation Agreement on Environmental and Impact Assessment" (02 April 2026) at s. 4(1).
9 Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, "Co-operation Agreement on Environmental and Impact Assessment" (02 April 2026) at s. 6(1).
10 Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, "Co-operation Agreement on Environmental and Impact Assessment" (02 April 2026) at s. 5(1).
11 Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, "Co-operation Agreement on Environmental and Impact Assessment" (02 April 2026) at s. 2(1).
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