Canada faces serious challenges and crucial decisions when it comes to governing a twenty first century energy system. They are seen in ongoing controversy over siting of wind farms, pipelines, new hydro, and transmission lines; tensions between movement on climate change and other energy objectives like oil sands development, competitiveness and consumer affordability, fracking implementation, and the reform of the National Energy Board, to name but a few[…]

The authors of this article, James M. Coyne, Robert C. Yardley and Jessalyn Pryciak are consultants with Concentric Energy Advisors Inc. This article is based on a longer research report supported by the Canadian Gas Association and the Canadian Electricity Association[…]

On June 20th 2018, Bill C-69 received its introduction and first reading in Canada’s Senate. Bill C-69 aims to enact the Impact Assessment Act (the “IAA”). The IAA repeals the current Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (the “CEAA”), and implements broad changes to the Canadian environmental assessment process. […]

In recent years the timeline to complete Canadian regulatory reviews of proposed major projects – and particularly environmental assessments which are the key part of the project review process – has become a major political issue. Over the last decade or so, project proponents have consistently raised concerns about the speed and unpredictability of project review processes –principally at the federal level[…]

On June 15, 2018, then Premier-designate Doug Ford announced that Ontario would not participate in the quarterly cap and trade allowance auction as part of the linked California-Quebec-Ontario Cap and Trade system (WCI System), and thereby triggered the rapid repeal and demise of Ontario’s cap and trade, carbon pricing system (CT System) 18 months after it began[…]

The Canadian energy regulatory framework continues to develop, increasingly characterized by unpredictability. The articles in this issue of Energy Regulation Quarterly include reviews of several significant recent and current developments at both the federal and provincial levels[…]