Saskatchewan Joins Alberta’s Legal Challenge Over Ottawa’s Impact Assessment Act

Saskatchewan is backing Alberta as the two western provinces seek to oppose the federal Impact Assessment Act in court.

The province says it is “intervening” to support Alberta’s legal action aimed at challenging the act that governs approval of major initiatives such as energy projects, power plants, and mines.

Justice Minister Tim McLeod said Saskatchewan’s decision to join Alberta in its lawsuit is about protecting the province from federal “overreach.”

The act’s reform was included in a list of 10 policy changes proposed by Premier Scott Moe in his Strong Saskatchewan, Strong Canada plan, which he submitted to Prime Minister Mark Carney in mid-May, McLeod noted in a June 30 press release.

He said the current Impact Assessment Act is a major roadblock in achieving those policy changes.

“We remain committed to standing up for resource development across Canada, particularly in resource-rich western provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta,” McLeod said.

Ottawa introduced the Impact Assessment Act in 2019. It allows the federal government to demand environmental assessments for resource and infrastructure projects. The act was deemed “largely unconstitutional” in a 2023 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Ottawa amended the act in June 2024, but Alberta has said the changes don’t go far enough to protect provincial jurisdiction.

The province gave the federal government four weeks last fall to make adjustments or face a legal challenge. Alberta said Ottawa failed to respond within that timeline and the province filed a constitutional challenge in November 2024, saying the act puts an unnecessary burden on projects and infringes on provincial jurisdiction.

McLeod said his province wants to see Ottawa make changes to the act that hinder the policy changes Saskatchewan is seeking. The province is calling for  “fundamental reform” of the act to streamline the approval process and eliminate duplication.

McLeod said Carney had an “incredible opportunity” to build the “strongest economy in the G7” by amending the act to respect provincial jurisdiction.

Some of the amendments Alberta proposed to Ottawa include setting concrete timelines for approvals, and recognizing provincial environment assessments as equal to federal ones.

Ottawa said that its amendments last year responded “meaningfully” to the Supreme Court decision and addressed decision-making over areas of federal jurisdiction and offered flexibility to cooperate with other jurisdictions in support of “cooperative federalism.”

Former environment minister Steve Guilbeault said the legislation would help assess projects in a timely manner while protecting the ecosystem and indigenous rights.

Alberta’s Court of Appeal has yet to set a date for the hearing of the most recent challenge, but Carney’s government has recently passed legislation that says his government would speed up approval for projects deemed to be in the national interest.

The One Canadian Economy Act introduced on June 6 as Bill C-5, aims to remove trade barriers between provinces, and improve the application process for major projects. The legislation has since been approved by the Senate and received royal assent to become law.

Ottawa said it would “immediately” move forward on identifying nation building projects in collaboration with the provinces, territories and indigenous communities. One of the changes is what the federal government has called the “one project, one review approach” to streamline the approval process.

Carney’s government has not yet indicated what nation building projects may be approved.  He said there would be further discussions over the summer to narrow down a list following a meeting with the premiers on June 2.

The Canadian Press and Matthew Horwood contributed to this article.