Move forward with One Project, One Review. • YouBetcha

Current Status

Status: Broken The explicit six-month deadline for signing Cooperation and Substitution Agreements has passed without any evidence of such agreements being finalized.

Background

The promise of "One Project, One Review" emerged as a cornerstone of the federal government’s strategy to streamline major project approvals while maintaining environmental and Indigenous consultation standards. Announced as a means to enhance investor confidence through regulatory certainty, the commitment aimed to harmonize federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous-led assessment processes. Fulfilling this promise would require the signing of formal Cooperation and Substitution Agreements within a tight six-month window, ensuring that a single, unified review process could replace overlapping assessments. This was positioned as a competitive advantage for Canada, particularly against the backdrop of regulatory uncertainty in the United States. [1]

Evidence

Since the current government under Prime Minister Mark Carney was sworn in, actions related to the "One Project, One Review" initiative have been limited to announcements and structural developments, with no concrete progress on the specific commitment to sign Cooperation and Substitution Agreements within six months. On August 29, 2025, the government launched the Major Projects Office (MPO), headquartered in Calgary, with a mandate to fast-track nation-building projects by streamlining federal approval processes. The MPO was presented as a single point of contact to accelerate project development, but no mention was made of specific agreements with provinces, territories, or Indigenous governing bodies to recognize their assessments as substitutes for federal reviews. [1]

On September 11, 2025, Prime Minister Carney announced the first series of projects to be reviewed by the MPO, including LNG Canada Phase 2 in Kitimat, British Columbia. The announcement reiterated the goal of working with provinces and territories to achieve a "one project, one review" approach and reducing approval timelines to a maximum of two years. However, there was no indication of finalized agreements or specific steps taken to formalize substitution arrangements with willing premiers or Indigenous governing bodies. [2]

As of March 9, 2026, the six-month deadline explicitly stated in the promise has passed. No public record or government statement has confirmed the signing of any Cooperation and Substitution Agreements with provinces, territories, or Indigenous groups. Other sources reviewed, including materials from Justice Canada and Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, contain no relevant updates or evidence of progress on this specific commitment. [3][5]

Assessment

The federal government’s promise to sign Cooperation and Substitution Agreements within six months as part of the "One Project, One Review" initiative has not been met. The deadline, which passed in early 2026, came and went without any documented evidence of agreements being finalized with willing premiers or Indigenous governing bodies. While the establishment of the Major Projects Office and the referral of initial projects for review signal intent to streamline processes, these steps fall short of the specific commitment to formalize substitution arrangements that would allow the recognition of provincial, territorial, and Indigenous-led assessments.

This failure to deliver on a clear and time-bound pledge undermines the government’s stated goal of providing long-term certainty for investors through a unified review system. The absence of tangible agreements means that the promise of harmonized assessments remains unfulfilled, leaving the regulatory landscape fragmented despite the rhetoric of progress. As it stands, the government has missed its own deadline, and without evidence of signed agreements, this commitment cannot be considered anything other than unfulfilled.

Current Status

Background

Evidence

Assessment

Sources