Dozens of projects have been referred to the Major Projects Office, and a national interest designation process has been launched for five of them — but none have yet been officially listed under the Building Canada Act.

That could soon change. Over the long weekend, the Carney government published a notice in the Gazette, kicking off a 30-day waiting period before Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc can officially issue an order officially adding the proposed West Coast Pipeline project to Schedule 1 of the Act. 

The federal government previously said it would decide by October 1 if it plans on listing the project.

If officially listed, the pipeline would be the first project to benefit from the regulatory shortcuts outlined in the Building Canada Act. The listing means federal approval decisions under a wide range of laws, including the Impact Assessment Act and the Species at Risk Act, are automatically granted, with conditions to be set out in a single document rather than through separate reviews.

The development of the conditions document would be a year-long process.

The other three projects Carney singled out for designation on June 24 — Nunavut’s Grays Bay road and port, the Mackenzie Valley highway in the Northwest Territories, and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s deep geological repository in northwestern Ontario — have not yet made it to the Gazette, even though their designation process was publicly launched a week before the pipeline’s.

Asked why the pipeline seemingly jumped the queue, a federal source with knowledge of the matter pointed to the timing of Alberta’s independence referendum, scheduled for October 19.

Under the November memorandum of understanding with Alberta, Ottawa committed to declaring a bitumen pipeline to Asian markets a project of national interest that could be referred to the Major Projects Office for designation under the Building Canada Act, and to working with the province on a “clear and efficient approval process” under the law.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly cast her proposed pipeline as a test of whether Canada can work as a country. 

Her province and Ottawa have partnered to build, finance and operate the new proposed pipeline, which is estimated to cost between $35.2 billion and $43.7 billion. 

Pembina Pipeline Corporation is coming in as the sole partner from the private sector with an initial 10 per cent stake. 

First Nations have repeatedly voiced concerns that the Building Canada Act could be used to bypass inherent rights such as the duty to consult and accommodate, with rushed approval timelines creating pressure to skip parts of the assessment process.

The Major Projects Office is currently conducting a “phase 1” consultation, in which Indigenous nations submit written comments on how the project would affect their Section 35 rights if it is listed under the Act. A second phase, expected after listing, would focus on developing the conditions document.

In a statement, Environmental Defence director Julia Levin suggests Prime Minister Mark Carney hoped to avoid scrutiny on an “environmentally and economically risky project” by listing in the Gazette on the first day of the August long weekend.

“While Canadians across the country are dealing with raging wildfires and the aftermath of severe flooding and heatwaves, PM Carney quietly moved forward with his oil pipeline plans,” she wrote. “In the words of the UN Secretary General last week, “[e]very new fossil fuel project approved today makes tomorrow’s heat waves more dangerous and our world less secure.”