The planned one-stop review system faces scrutiny from environmental advocates, who warn the 21-day summer consultation may weaken democratic oversight of major project approvals.

Quebec and Canada’s federal government announced an agreement in principle on Monday aimed at accelerating environmental assessments for major infrastructure and resource development projects, including mines, ports and pipelines.

Quebec Environment Minister Pascale Déry and Joël Lightbound, Quebec Lieutenant and federal minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, unveiled the agreement jointly.

Under the proposed arrangement, projects within Quebec’s jurisdiction would undergo only the province’s environmental evaluation, removing the need for duplicate assessments by the two governments.

“We need to strengthen our economy, diversify our markets, and that means developing our projects more efficiently and quickly,” Déry said.

Residents and organisations will have 21 days to submit concerns about the agreement to the federal government. Lightbound said the governments aim to finalise the arrangement within a month.

The Quebec branch of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, an organisation that works to protect ecosystems inhabited by endangered species, said it was “perplexed” by the announcement.

Its director, Alain Branchaud, said he supported establishing a one-stop process for environmental assessments but questioned the governments’ intentions because of their recent attempts to bypass established environmental standards.

Branchaud cited Quebec’s Bill 5, which was inspired by Ottawa’s Bill C-5 and sought to allow the provincial government to modify environmental laws to fast-track major projects. The provincial bill was dropped after failing to pass before the end of Quebec’s parliamentary session.

Déry has said the new agreement would not weaken high environmental standards but would instead make the assessment system more efficient.

Branchaud also raised concerns about the timing and duration of the public consultation.

“It isn’t a good idea to hold a consultation in the middle of summer and it isn’t a good idea to do it in only 21 days,” Branchaud said, adding that it “circumvents the democratic spirit of building an environmental regulatory and legislative framework.”

Asked whether the summertime consultation period might be too short for public participation, Lightbound said “upstream work” had already been completed and Indigenous groups had already been consulted.

Following a change to Canada’s Impact Assessment Act, the federal government has reached similar agreements with seven other provinces over the past year to reduce overlap in environmental assessments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2026.