Prime Minister Mark Carney, seeking to reduce Canada’s economic ties to the United States, on Monday met the heads of the 10 provinces as part of a push to slash the time needed to approve mining and energy projects.
It can take a decade or more for a mine or a pipeline to get the green light and Carney says streamlining the process will boost GDP and help offset the damage done by U.S. tariffs.
Carney says Ottawa will declare a certain number of projects to be in the national interest in an effort to get them built faster and has asked the provinces for a list of potential candidates. Approvals will be cut to two years, down from five.
“We’re in the process of redefining our relationship with the United States… the coming weeks and months will be critical,” Carney said at the start of the meeting in Saskatoon, in the western province of Saskatchewan.
Progress though may be slow. The energy-producing province of Alberta is insisting that a pipeline carrying bitumen to the west coast be a priority, even though no company is currently proposing to build one, and the Pacific province of British Columbia opposes the idea.
Several Indigenous groups – who have a major say over natural resource development on their lands – say they will oppose any attempt to trim the approval process if it infringes on their rights.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Nia Williams)