• Canada led a 2022 deal to protect the world's nature. Has there been progress since then?

  Source: CBC Politics
  Date: 2026-09-29 08:00:00.0
  Tags: [National, Environment, Climate, Resources, Infrastructure, Governance]

  Following the 2022 UN COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal where Canada helped broker a global agreement to protect 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030, a new assessment reveals current commitments will likely achieve only 27 per cent of terrestrial and 12 per cent of marine protection. International biodiversity financing for developing nations currently stands at $1.1 billion US annually against the agreed $30 billion US target. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney's federal government introduced Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, to fast-track environmental reviews and major resource projects, drawing criticism from environmental groups such as Greenpeace Canada and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society regarding potential conflicts with domestic climate goals.

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• Speed over species? What experts are saying about Ottawa's new major projects bill

  Source: CBC Politics
  Date: 2026-09-28 08:00:00.0
  Tags: [National, Environment, Infrastructure, Energy, Resources, Governance]

  The federal government has tabled Bill C-39, titled the Building Canada Strong Act, containing over 300 clauses designed to expedite major project decisions to one year in response to U.S. economic pressures. The legislation amends more than a dozen federal statutes, including the Species at Risk Act, the Fisheries Act, the Impact Assessment Act, and the Labour Code, while permanently removing sunset clauses from the temporary powers established under Bill C-5. Critics, including the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, World Wildlife Fund Canada, and Ecojustice Canada, warn that the bill weakens environmental safeguards by allowing preliminary construction before impact assessments are completed and granting broad ministerial exemptions for sensitive water bodies and wildlife habitats.

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• Government exempts interprovincial pipelines from review by impact assessment agency

  Source: CBC Politics
  Date: 2026-09-09 21:44:12.0
  Tags: [National, Energy, Environment, Infrastructure, Resources, Governance]

  The federal government published new regulations in the Canada Gazette exempting interprovincial and international pipelines, transmission lines, offshore renewable energy projects, specific oilsands extraction projects, and fossil fuel-fired power generating projects from environmental reviews by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. These projects will instead undergo environmental assessments solely through the Canada Energy Regulator to streamline regulatory approval processes. The changes follow the passage of Bill C-5 after the 2025 federal election and are designed to reduce up-front legal due diligence and regulatory costs for major energy investments.

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