Streamlining Canadian Infrastructure Growth Through the Major Projects Office

Following the passing of the Building Canada Act in June of 2025, the Federal Government recently launched the new Major Projects Office (“MPO”) and announced the first tranche of nation-building projects that will benefit from the support of the MPO. These announcements will create significant opportunities for the infrastructure, construction and energy sectors in Canada by expediting major project approval processes.

Major Projects Office

The MPO was announced on August 29, 2025 and is established under the Building Canada Act (the “Act”). The Act was implemented to expedite the federal review and approval process for nation-building projects in Canada, while protecting the environment and respecting Indigenous rights. The MPO will be headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, with offices in major Canadian cities. The key objectives of the MPO will be: 1. streamlining and accelerating regulatory approval processes; and 2. supporting the structuring and coordination of project financing and partnerships. This underscores the federal government’s policy emphasis on refocusing natural resources as a key economic growth lever in the face of US tariff uncertainty and a broader global energy demand.

Project Selection Mandate

The streamlined regulatory approval process is available to any project that the MPO selects under the Act. In selecting national-building projects, the MPO will consider the following factors:

• strengthening Canada’s autonomy, resilience and security;
• economic or other benefits to Canada;
• having a high likelihood of successful execution;
• advancing the interests of Indigenous peoples; and
• contribute to clean growth and climate change objectives.

  These factors emphasize the balancing exercise the Act and the MPO seeks to undertake, evaluating economic, project-specific and policy objectives.

Streamlining Efforts

Selected projects will undergo a separate review process, adhering to a “one project, one review” philosophy. The selection and approval process will involve:

1. Submission & Initial Review: Proponents submit projects to the MPO, which conducts an initial review for federal approval requirements.
2. Consultation: The MPO oversees consultation with provincial governments, federal ministers and Indigenous Peoples.
3. Minister’s Recommendation & Notice: If selected, the Minister recommends to the GIC that the project be listed under schedule 1 of the Act and a 30-day notice is published in the Canada Gazette.
4. GIC Decision & Order in Council: Following the notice period, an Order in Council is published in the Canada Gazette along with the project description.
5. Regulatory Approvals and Conditions: Federal regulatory approvals are consolidated and upfront approval is provided. The MPO will coordinate with project proponents, government agencies and Indigenous parties to complete the outstanding regulatory review process. Once completed, the Minister will publicly issue a single set of binding conditions for the project.

The approval process is structured to ensure a maximum approval timeline of two years, shortened from a previous timeline of approximately five years.

Indigenous Advisory Council

On September 10, 2025, the federal government announced the formation of an Indigenous Advisory Council which will guide the MPO in ensuring that selected projects create equity ownership opportunities with Indigenous communities and promote responsible resource management. The Indigenous Advisory Council will be comprised of eleven representatives from First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Modern Treaty and Self-Governing communities from across Canada. The Act requires meaningful consultation with Indigenous peoples in determining nation-building projects and the Indigenous Advisory Council will provide expert advice on Indigenous perspectives as it relates to these projects.

Selected Projects

On September 11, 2025, Prime Minister Carney announced the first batch of nation-building projects under the MPO. These projects are:

1. LNG Canada Phase 2 (Kitimat, BC): This project which will double the facilities’ production of liquified natural gas making it the second largest LNG facility in the world.
2. Darlington New Nuclear Project (Clarington, ON): The project involves the development of the first of four operational small modular reactors.
3. Contrecoeur Terminal Container Project (Contrecoeur, QC): This project will expand the container capacity in the Port of Montreal by approximately 60%.
4. McIlvenna Bay Foran Copper Mine Project (East-Central, SK): Large copper mining project in Saskatchewan.
5. Expansion of the Red Chris Mine (Northwest BC): Expansion of a large gold mine in Northwestern BC.

In addition, the federal government also announced certain other areas of focus for the MPO that were not included in the initial project list:

1. Canada’s Critical Mineral Strategy: Getting more critical minerals projects to final investment decision and improving critical mineral value chains.
2. West Wind Atlantic Energy: Advancing offshore wind development and associated transmission infrastructure in Atlantic Canada.
3. Pathways Plus: A large carbon capture, utilization and storage project in Alberta.
4. Arctic Economic and Security Corridor: Development of all-seasons roads, fortified ports and communications systems in the Arctic Region.
5. Port of Churchill Plus: Upgrading the Port of Churchill in Manitoba.
6. Alto-High Speed Rail: Development of a high-speed rail line connecting Toronto to Quebec City.

Conclusion & Takeaways

The MPO is a very exciting initiative and presents a strong opportunity to expedite the development of essential projects in Canada. Streamlining regulatory processes should allow nation-building projects to move quicker through the project lifecycle. The establishment of the Indigenous Advisory Council is also very important to ensure that the interests of Indigenous communities are considered and proponents undertake meaningful consultation.

One other key initiative is the support and coordination of project financing for these nation-building projects. The federal government has released limited information on this initiative; however, the MPO could serve as a very useful tool to coordinate governmental and private sector financing, including from the Canada Infrastructure Bank, provincial and federal Indigenous loan guarantee programs (such as the Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program and the Building Ontario Fund) and the Canada Growth Fund. That being said, these projects will still need to demonstrate bankability to be successful, which may be more difficult with complex or “first of its kind” projects.

While the MPO will provide tools to expedite these nation-building projects, there will also need to be an emphasis on collaboration and teamwork amongst stakeholders for these projects to be successful, given their size, complexity and associated costs.

The author would like to acknowledge the support and assistance of David Gouws, articling student at law.

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