Canada introduces infrastructure review overhaul to speed project approvals

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Canada infrastructure review overhaul

Highlights

Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, aims to complete federal infrastructure project reviews within one year of comprehensive application submission.
The proposed law seeks to accelerate major project approvals, strengthen trade corridors and ports, and modernize labour protections in federally regulated sectors.
Ottawa asserts the measures will boost investor confidence, speed up supply chain and resource investment, and maintain environmental and Indigenous rights protections.

Legislation targets faster reviews and labour changes

As reported by Canada.ca, citing the Government of Canada, Bill C-39, called the Building Canada Strong Act, is introduced to bring more speed, certainty and predictability to infrastructure project reviews while supporting workers involved in building them. Ottawa says the measure is designed to give businesses more confidence to invest in Canada, accelerate large projects and support long-term growth while maintaining environmental standards and Indigenous rights.

The proposed law includes three main elements. It aims to complete federal reviews and decisions within one year of a proponent submitting a comprehensive application, strengthen trade corridors and ports to move goods more quickly and open new markets, and modernize the federal labour framework to reinforce protections for workers in federally regulated sectors.

The government says the measures are shaped by consultations with workers, unions, employers, Indigenous Peoples, provinces and territories, industry and other partners across the country. It is also issuing a Cabinet Directive in parallel with the legislation to complete federal reviews and make project decisions within no more than one year.

Economic and sector impact across Canada

The legislation is part of a broader federal push to build a more independent and sustainable economy by speeding up project development, strengthening supply chains and unlocking natural resource investment. The government says the changes are meant to help Canada respond to shifting global conditions by improving access to markets and increasing confidence among domestic and foreign investors.

For transport, energy and other infrastructure-linked sectors, the proposal signals a faster regulatory path for major projects and a stronger focus on trade-enabling assets such as ports and corridors. At the same time, Ottawa says the review system will continue to uphold environmental protection and Indigenous rights, including through the application of a mitigation hierarchy policy aligned with Canada’s Nature Strategy.

Officials also frame the bill as a labour measure, saying it is intended to support safer workplaces, preserve the right to strike and require unions and employers to negotiate in good faith. That combination of regulatory streamlining and worker protections is central to the government’s argument that faster project approvals can coexist with social and environmental safeguards.

Our earlier report on Canada’s July 2026 building construction investment highlighted a continued rise in overall spending, driven mainly by non-residential activity. It noted that institutional projects—especially Ontario hospital construction—were the key source of momentum, while residential growth remained modest as single-family gains were partly offset by weaker multi-unit building.

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