ID: 2149
Presenting Author: Fern Stockman
Session: 541 - EsIA and Permitting Improvements for Efficiency and Effectiveness: Lessons Learned
Status: pending
Explore pragmatic strategies and real-world lessons to accelerate project approvals and improve EIA efficiency in Canada’s evolving regulatory landscape.
Recent federal regulatory streamlining initiatives announced in Canada over the past year demonstrate a recognition of the challenges project proponents have seen advancing projects in a timely and predictable manner. Thoughtful and pragmatic changes to regulations and policies can help address the persistent complexity, jurisdictional overlaps, and misaligned processes hampering the efficiency and effectiveness of the regulatory process for proponents, Indigenous communities, and regulators alike. To address these challenges and support the implementation of Canada’s commitments to accelerate approval timelines, several key recommendations are explored.
•Minimizing Jurisdictional Overlap: Achieve “one project, one review” through clearer federal-provincial cooperation agreements, targeted legislative changes and policy reform..
•Strengthening Inter-Agency Coordination: Implement robust policy and legislative frameworks to ensure consistent approaches among authorities, with accountability for timely and transparent decision-making.
•Aligning Timelines and Processes: Establish statutory timelines for all review types and synchronize decision-making across agencies.
•Coordinating Indigenous Consultation: Designate a single Crown agency to lead Indigenous engagement..
•Addressing Cumulative Effects: Promote multi-stakeholder regional initiatives to tackle cumulative impacts that extend beyond individual project assessments.
•Efficient Handling of Project Changes: Ensure regulatory flexibility for normal project evolution, limit amendment requirements.
Fern Stockman, Director at KPMG Canada, specializes in regulatory strategy and collaborative approaches to streamlining regulatory processes for major projects with Indigenous groups.
Coauthor 1: Thanh Nguyen
Coauthor 2: Celesa Horvath