New fast-track approvals for mines and energy projects only save time if the project picks its track early.
In September 2025, the federal government referred its first five projects to the new Major Projects Office. Two were mines: Foran’s McIlvenna Bay copper project in east-central Saskatchewan and the Red Chris mine expansion in northwest B.C. In November, three more followed: Canada Nickel’s Crawford project near Timmins, Ontario, Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie mine in Quebec and Northcliff’s Sisson project in New Brunswick. Most resource projects will never be on that list. The question for the rest is which of the other tracks applies, and how early to choose.
THE TRACKS:
• Federal national-interest listing. Under the Building Canada Act, a listed project’s federal authorizations are replaced by one conditions document. Pacific Link, listed on October 1, 2026, is the first. Listing requires a Canada Gazette notice and consultation, and is reserved for projects of national scale.
• Major Projects Office referral without listing. The office acts as a single window into the federal process for referred projects, with the aim of federal decisions in two years rather than five or more.
• One project, one review. Co-operation agreements between Ottawa and provinces aim for a single environmental assessment. They are in place with B.C. (2019), New Brunswick (December 2024) and Ontario (December 2025), with others in negotiation.
• Provincial fast tracks. Ontario’s One Project, One Process designation gives a mine a single provincial permitting team, and its Special Economic Zones Act, 2025 allows designated projects to be exempted from some provincial rules and municipal by-laws. B.C. guarantees exploration permit decisions in 40 to 140 days and reports a 50 per cent reduction in its overall mining permit backlog.
HOW TO CHOOSE:
• Start with the federal triggers. Fish-bearing water, listed species, federal lands or a project on the Impact Assessment Act’s designated list each brings in a federal process. If none apply, the provincial track is the one that matters.
• Check the entry conditions. Designation under a provincial fast track usually requires an application and a project at a defined stage, such as advanced exploration or mine development in Ontario. Know what the application needs before the project reaches that stage.
• Map the seasons against each track’s timeline. A 140-day exploration permit applied for on November 1 lands on March 21. That decides whether the program runs this summer, which is worth knowing before the application goes in.
• Build consultation in from the start. Every track keeps the Crown’s duty to consult, and Ontario has paired its mining framework with $70 million for Indigenous community capacity and $3.1 billion in Indigenous financing support.
The fastest track is worth little to a project that joins it with a data gap. The tracks reward the proponent who chose one on the first day and spent the time before applying building the file it requires.
Not sure which approval track your project is on? Contact the PRI Team.
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