People Mentioned
Partner, Regulatory, Indigenous and Environmental, Calgary
A new agreement between Alberta and Canada concerning how major projects are reviewed will reduce duplication without compromising environmental protection, says Brad Gilmour, partner, Regulatory, Indigenous and Environmental and Co-Chair of Osler’s Environmental Disputes and Enforcement practice, in an interview with the Canadian Energy Centre newsletter.
“The intent is to make Alberta projects more attractive to investors,” says Brad. “The more the province and the federal government can work together to avoid duplication, create a higher degree of certainty and reduce timelines, the more that’s going to incentivize investors to look at doing projects in Alberta.”
Projects impacted by the agreement include oil sands, electrical generation, carbon capture and storage, and mining. “It’s pretty much everything we do in the natural resources and energy sectors in Alberta, with the exception of things like pipelines that cross provincial boundaries or international boundaries, which are areas of federal jurisdiction,” says Brad. “In those cases, the federal government will also cooperate with the province.”
The agreement creates a single environmental assessment process, following the one-project, one-assessment model that both levels of government have been discussing for some time now. “It makes Alberta the lead on environmental assessments for projects that are primarily regulated by the province,” says Brad. “It places the responsibility primarily in the appropriate jurisdiction, and with the regulators that have the greatest degree of expertise over those activities.”
“The regulation of environmental assessment between the two jurisdictions has been contentious over the last several years, including ongoing litigation with respect to the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act. The agreement signals greater cooperation between the province and the federal government in terms of environmental assessment, which is ultimately a good thing.”
Read the full article by Deborah Jaremko posted on May 11, 2026.
People Mentioned
Partner, Regulatory, Indigenous and Environmental, Calgary
