Federal Pipeline Assessments: Environmental Groups Decry the Loss of Independent External Oversight

Montréal, September 11, 2026 — The Quebec Environmental Law Centre (CQDE), Nature Québec, CPAWS Quebec, the David Suzuki Foundation, the Regroupement national des conseils régionaux de l’environnement du Québec, Greenpeace Canada, Fondation Rivières, Eau Secours and Équiterre strongly condemn the amendments to the Physical Activities Regulations (the “Project List”) published last Thursday. The amendments allow a range of projects posing significant social, environmental and economic risks—including interprovincial pipelines and oil and gas facilities located in national parks or protected areas—to no longer be subject to the Impact Assessment Act. The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) is now solely responsible for reviewing these projects.

Removing the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) from the process eliminates the independent perspective of an organization that—unlike the CER—does not maintain an ongoing relationship with project proponents and the energy sector. The signatories denounce a decision that significantly weakens the federal impact assessment regime and creates a substantial risk that the environmental, social and economic impacts of these projects will be underestimated.

“Let us be clear: this is not about eliminating duplication. What is being removed is not an administrative redundancy, but safeguards that we collectively established to support informed decision-making and protect the public,” the signatory organizations stated.

What the regulatory amendments change

The amendments remove several categories of activities previously subject to the Impact Assessment Act from the Project List, including:

• international and interprovincial pipelines;
• international and interprovincial electricity transmission lines;
• certain offshore renewable energy projects regulated by the CER;
• oil and gas facilities located in national parks or protected areas and regulated by the CER;
• in situ oil sands extraction facilities;
• fossil fuel-fired power plants.

In practical terms, energy projects governed by the Canadian Energy Regulator Act—including pipelines, electricity transmission lines and certain offshore projects—will now be reviewed solely by the CER. The integrated review panel process, which previously brought together the IAAC and the CER, will no longer apply to these projects.

A narrower assessment

By removing the IAAC from the process and entrusting the review of energy projects to a single sector-specific regulator, the very nature of the exercise risks changing. An integrated assessment examining the overall merits of a project in the public interest could be replaced by a review focused more narrowly on technical regulatory matters, such as routing, technology and operating parameters. Broader questions about whether certain projects should proceed at all—and their cumulative effects on affected communities—risk being relegated to the background.

Weakened public and Indigenous participation

Although the CER has its own hearing and consultation mechanisms, meaningful public participation, respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and environmental protection lie at the very heart of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s mandate and expertise. Removing the Agency from the process raises serious concerns about its accessibility for the public and for Indigenous Peoples who may be affected by these projects.

“The process was revised only a few years ago precisely to create greater distance from the fossil fuel industry and address serious barriers, particularly those affecting public participation,” the signatory organizations emphasized.

An unjustified and unfounded measure

These projects were already subject to a single, integrated impact assessment conducted by a joint IAAC–CER review panel.

The signatory organizations believe that this decision is consistent with a series of measures adopted by the federal government in recent months that weaken protections for the public and pave the way for further environmental, social and economic failures.

Signatory organizations:

• ^{Quebec Environmental Law Centre}
• ^{Eau Secours}
• ^Équiterre
• ^{David Suzuki Foundation}
• ^{Fondation Rivières}
• ^{Greenpeace Canada}
• ^{Nature Québec}
• ^{Regroupement national des conseils régionaux de l’environnement du Québec}
• ^{CPAWS Quebec}