Today, Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, received Royal Assent. This legislation is key to building a stronger, more united Canada by supercharging productivity, economic growth, and competitiveness.
- Expedite nation-building projects (the Building Canada Act): Streamlining federal review and approval processes to increase regulatory certainty, helping attract capital, strengthening our industries, and moving towards greater sovereignty and resilience while protecting the environmental and respecting Indigenous rights.
- Remove federal barriers to internal trade and labour mobility (the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act): Accepting comparable provincial or territorial regulations, where they exist, as meeting federal requirements for the movement of goods, services, and labour within Canada. This will allow more goods, services, workers and business to move freely across provinces and territories.
With the Building Canada Act coming into force today, the federal government will immediately move forward on consultations with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples and private sector proponents to identify nation building projects and implement measures to streamline processes for other projects. This includes working with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners to adopt a 'one project, one review' approach to reduce duplication.
This work will be led by the Federal Major Projects Office, a new entity that will be launched in the coming weeks. The Office will include support from an Indigenous Advisory Council with First Nation, Inuit, and Métis representatives.
Indigenous partnership is a vital part of this legislation, and meaningful consultation will be key to the success of future projects. The federal government is committed to respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Over the coming weeks, the Prime Minister will meet with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis rights holders, with the first meeting happening on July 17 with First Nations.
The Government of Canada is fulfilling its promise to build one Canadian economy out of 13 while upholding Indigenous rights and protecting the environment as well as the health and safety of Canadians.
