Canada’s environmental safety net is under attack and we need your help
The federal government is proposing a sweeping attack on our environmental safety net and we must put a stop to it. On May 8th, Canada published a discussion paper on major project deregulation that includes proposals to eviscerate our main tools for making sure that major projects don’t harm the water, nature and climate we rely upon.
The deadline for feedback on the proposals is June 7th, but government has already said it wants to introduce legislation as quickly as one to two weeks after that, meaning it is likely that public comments about the details of the plan will go unheeded.
Update: On June 4, 2026, the government extended the deadline for public input to July 22, 2026 after hearing from "thousands of stakeholders, Indigenous groups and members of the public." Public pressure is working. Please keep the emails, letters and calls coming.
This is not a time for tinkering at the edges. These planned changes must be halted altogether.
If approved, the changes would amount to an unprecedented deregulation of projects like mines, dams and pipelines. Among the proposals are:
- “Pre-approval” of pipelines and other energy projects before any environmental or safety reviews;
- Giving the federal Cabinet authority to allow projects like a pipeline or port expansion to cause species like southern resident killer whales to go extinct;
- Introducing more carve-outs from legal protections for our waterways and fish habitat;
- Exempting the vast majority of major projects from environmental impact assessments;
- Imposing arbitrary timelines for project reviews that will significantly undermine the ability to identify and avoid project harms; and
- Creating special exemption zones where the normal rules won’t apply.
These changes could spell disaster for the environment and our pocketbooks. History tells us that weak environmental oversight seriously increases the chances of environmental disasters with cleanup costs in the tens or hundreds of millions, and taxpayers often end up footing the bill. What is more, these changes would run Canada afoul of international environmental obligations and our duties towards Indigenous peoples.
If you care about clean drinking water, thriving nature, a stable climate and a sustainable economy, tell Prime Minister Carney, his Cabinet and your MP to scrap this foolhardy plan and come up with a system that works for Canadians and the environment we rely on.