Carney Launches "One Canadian Economy" Act

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled sweeping legislation on Friday aimed at expediting the approval of infrastructure projects and removing long-standing internal trade barriers, as part of a broader effort to boost Canada's economic potential amid growing global uncertainty.

The One Canada Economy Act, a cornerstone of the Carney government's economic growth agenda, aims to standardize regulatory processes and create a single domestic market across the nation, according to CBC Canada.

"Canada has been a country that used to build big things," Carney said at a press conference. "But in recent decades, it's become much harder to build in this country." To address these concerns, the bill would reduce federal project approval times from five years to two by creating a single permitting office and applying a "one project, one review" standard to infrastructure proposals.

Projects labeled "nation-building" by the federal cabinet, such as railways, ports, pipelines, and transit lines, would undergo streamlined evaluations that focus not on justification, but on implementation.

Under the bill, these proposals must meet at least some of five criteria, including economic benefit, Indigenous participation, and contributions to climate goals, although officials emphasize that these are considerations, not strict thresholds.

The new approach was prompted in part by concerns about regulatory paralysis that has slowed Canada's ability to bring natural resources to global markets.

"When federal agencies considered a new project, their immediate question was: Why?" Carney said Friday. "With this bill, we'll instead ask ourselves: How?"

The new legislation also addresses internal trade barriers, which economists estimate cost tens of billions of dollars in lost productivity and economic output annually.

A key provision of the bill is the recognition of provincial standards for goods, services, and labor certifications as meeting the federal standard, although actual interprovincial movement would require the cooperation of provincial governments.