Canada Implements Building Canada Act and Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act

The Government of Canada has enacted the One Canadian Economy: An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act, which received Royal Assent on June 26, 2025. The Building Canada Act sets the stage for consultations with provinces, territories, and Indigenous rights-holders to determine the initial list of national interest projects. The Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act aims to provide clarity on comparable provincial and territorial requirements to facilitate interprovincial trade and labour mobility.

Key Takeaways:

• The Building Canada Act will guide consultations with provinces, territories, and Indigenous rights-holders to determine national interest projects, considering factors such as strengthening Canada's autonomy, economic benefits, likelihood of successful execution, and Indigenous Peoples' interests.
• The Act will establish a 'one project, one review' approach to reduce project approval duplication between federal and provincial/territorial governments.
• The Government of Canada will provide funding to strengthen Indigenous Peoples' capacity and participation in consultation processes.
• The Prime Minister and Cabinet members will meet with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis leaders to ensure consultation, partnership, engagement, and participation are central to every project of national interest.
• The federal government will expand the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program from $5 billion to $10 billion to promote Indigenous equity participation in major projects.
• The Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act will provide clarity on comparable provincial and territorial requirements, excluding certain federal requirements from the application of the legislation if there are unacceptable risks.
• The Act will not revoke existing regulations but recognize comparable provincial or territorial requirements, removing duplicative burdens on businesses and workers.
• A plain language user guide will be available for Canadian workers and businesses to clarify the application of the Act.

Statistics:

• The Building Canada Act will consider factors such as strengthening Canada's autonomy, resilience, security, economic benefits, and likelihood of successful execution (1).
• Over 5 years, projects can be added to the Building Canada Act Schedule of projects (1).
• The regulatory review process for projects can currently take many years to complete (1).
• The government aims to complete the federal review within 2 years of a project being added to the Schedule (1).
• The Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program will expand from $5 billion to $10 billion (1).

Sources:

• Government of Canada News - "Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy: An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act, received Royal Assent on June 26, 2025"
• Bill C-5, An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act (Government of Canada)