Ottawa hasn’t defined “national interest” under major projects law

By Canadian Press on October 20, 2025.

OTTAWA — The federal government has not issued specific criteria to define the “national interest” under its new major projects law, despite calls from MPs to do so.

The Building Canada Act intends to select projects that are in the “national interest” for special treatment to get faster approvals, including being exempted from adhering to certain environmental laws.

As the government rushed the bill through the House of Commons in June, MPs studying it at the committee stage amended it to suggest the government provide such criteria, and required it to issue a timeline for when that would happen.

In response, Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc tabled a report in the House in September saying the government was not defining “national interest” and did not say when, or even if, it would.

The Bloc Québécois is concerned about the lack of clarity and is evaluating whether the government is in breach of the act by not giving the required timeline.

The law does have five criteria the government can consider in deciding which projects get such treatment, but the government isn’t bound to it.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2025.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press