Feds won’t appeal Alberta court ruling that Impact Assessment Act is unconstitutional

OTTAWA – The federal government says it won’t appeal a recent court decision which declared some of the Impact Assessment Act unconstitutional.

In October, the Alberta Court of Appeal said parts of the federal law still infringe on provincial jurisdiction, despite modifications made by Ottawa after the Supreme Court struck down much of the law in 2023.

The Court of Appeal found, among other things, the act still gives Ottawa the power to stop a project in provincial jurisdiction if it has even the smallest impact on federal jurisdiction.

“While Parliament may have the power to create an impact assessment scheme that complements existing regulation in environmental matters, the (Impact Assessment Act) creates great uncertainty due to the potential for previously unpronounced standards to apply to designated projects,” the court wrote.

“This merely exacerbates the concern that a federal assessment scheme might enable the federal government, on the pretext of some narrow ground of federal jurisdiction, to conduct a far-ranging inquiry into matters that are exclusively within provincial jurisdiction.”

A spokesperson for Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin told The Canadian Press on Thursday Ottawa will instead amend the act to account for the court ruling last month.

“The details of these amendments will be confirmed in due course. Canada will move quickly to provide certainty to investors, industry and Indigenous Peoples, so together we can advance major projects and create shared prosperity for all Canadians,” press secretary Amy Falkner said in a media statement.

“In the interim, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada will work with proponents to determine the best path forward for their specific project assessments as we finalize amendments to the (act).”

Falkner did not say when the government will share details of the proposed changes but said they will work in conjunction with Ottawa’s Bill C-39, which is before Parliament.

The bill seeks to — among many things — cut review times for projects and strip the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada of its responsibility to review pipelines and power transmission lines, and nuclear and uranium projects. Ottawa wants those projects reviewed by the Canada Energy Regulator and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, respectively.

Ottawa has said the Canada Energy Regulator would be bound by the Impact Assessment Act in carrying out its reviews — which has now been deemed unconstitutional.

The federal government has said it was told by industry representatives during consultations on the bill that the level of expertise on energy projects that existed at the Canada Energy Regulator couldn’t be found at the Impact Assessment Agency.

The Impact Assessment Act — also known as Bill C-69 — has been staunchly opposed by oil and gas industry players and has been labelled the “no more pipelines act” by federal Conservatives and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

In October, Smith called on Ottawa to accept the ruling and not launch another appeal, and for the government to “work with Alberta and the other provinces to clean up this flawed Trudeau-era legislation once and for all so it no longer inhibits economic development in our country.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has long called for the bill to be repealed altogether.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2026.