Bill C-5 and the Building Canada Act – Deregulation in a “National-Interest” Costume? – Woodward & Company LLP
July 03, 2025
On June 6, 2025, the Federal Liberal Government tabled Bill C-5 – the One Canadian Act [1] – containing two parts: a free trade framework and the Building Canada Act. As of June 26, 2025, this Bill is now federal law.
Framed as an urgent response to U.S. trade pressure and economic instability, the Building Canada Act introduces what the government touts as a streamlined path for approving major resource and infrastructure projects. But behind this language of urgency and efficiency lies something more profound: a sweeping concentration of power.
Indeed, the Building Canada Act marks a decisive shift in how Canada greenlights such projects — transforming the project approvals landscape while eschewing environmental safeguards and Indigenous rights under the pretense of an ill-defined “national interest.”
