Alberta Court of Appeal rules Impact Assessment Act unconstitutional in 4-1 decision
The ruling marks the second time Alberta has successfully challenged the federal law, which governs reviews of major projects like pipelines, mines and ports.
Why it matters
The ruling affects how major energy and resource projects in Alberta, including new pipelines, are reviewed and could face federal oversight.
The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled Friday, in a 4-1 decision, that Ottawa's Impact Assessment Act remains unconstitutional even after the federal government revised the law following a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that struck down much of it. The court found the updated version still gives Ottawa power to halt provincial projects over even minor impacts on federal jurisdiction, and allows regulators to impose conditions or indefinite prohibitions reaching beyond federal effects.
This was the second time Alberta has challenged the act, known as C-69, which sets out a process for assessing the environmental, economic, health and social effects of proposed projects such as ports, mines and pipelines. Ontario and Saskatchewan both backed Alberta's legal challenge. The law has long been opposed by oil and gas industry players and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, while former Alberta premier Jason Kenney previously called it the "no more pipelines act."
The decision comes as Ottawa and Alberta work together on the Pacific Link pipeline project, which this month became the first to receive a national interest designation under the federal Building Canada Act. Separately, Ottawa has tabled Bill C-39 to shift pipeline and energy transmission assessments from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to the Canada Energy Regulator, though the federal government says that regulator would still be bound by provisions of the act the court has now ruled unconstitutional.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.