PDAC Response "One Project, One Review": Co-operation Agreements for the Assessment of Major Projects

PDAC adamantly supports efforts to align provincial and federal approvals processes, enabling proponents to undertake more efficient, clear, and streamlined permitting processes for major projects. 

Whether this alignment is achieved through substitution or harmonization, all levels of agreement processes must be well-defined before application within project approvals. Uniform application of clear processes across all proposed projects will ensure predictability for proponents, rightsholders, and stakeholders, and prevent delays stemming from government-to-government co-operation agreement negotiations. Such processes must also consider: 

• Alignment of community of interest determinations at early project stages
• Consistency of information and formatting requirements, and aligned timelines to allow for one regulatory approval that supplies information for others, where overlaps exist
• Limiting information requirements to those necessary in determining and mitigating significant adverse impacts on areas of federal jurisdiction