After a summer that saw wildfires rage and smoke blanket communities across the country, the effects of climate change continue to impact the daily lives of Canadians more and more. Meanwhile, the federal government has continued to prioritize its response to climate change through energy transition. Having stated their intent to develop a competitive, world-class clean energy sector in Canada, the Liberals have introduced legislative and financial commitments that will play a critical role in the path for future projects.
What is Bill C-49?
In May, Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, introduced Bill C-49: An Act to amend the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act.
The historic Atlantic Accords first established the federal-provincial legislative and regulatory framework for offshore oil production in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. The proposed amendments to the Accord Acts aim to expand the existing joint management regimes to include offshore renewable energy, with the government expecting the proposed amendments to ‘single-handedly create the offshore wind industry’ the same way it did the offshore oil industry thirty years ago.
Why amend the Accords Act now?
Released in May 2023, the Nova Scotia Offshore Wind Roadmap outlines the province’s path to becoming a key player in the clean energy industry. The federal government hopes to capitalize on the potential of offshore wind as a contributor to net-zero targets and support Nova Scotia’s target of offering 5 GW of offshore wind leases by 2030. To assist with this goal, Minister Wilkinson announced the mandates of the Offshore Boards would be expanded to include regulation of offshore renewable energy projects. The federal government also announced a commitment by the provinces to introduce legislation that will mirror that of Bill C-49. This provides legislative certainty that will set the stage for new clean energy projects.
The bigger picture – Canada’s clean energy plans
This summer, the government released its vision for Canada’s clean electricity strategy and the proposed Clean Electricity Regulations (CERs). These measures, alongside targeted financing for clean energy projects via the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Investment Tax Credits, arrive as part of a suite of recent initiatives that are aimed at preparing Canada for the eventual elimination of emissions on route to reaching its net-zero by 2050 targets.
In addition to these clean energy efforts, offshore renewable energy offers a low-carbon economic opportunity that Minister Wilkinson has stated is “forecast to increase 15-fold and attract $1 trillion in global investment by 2040”.
Among other things, Bill C-49 establishes the Offshore Petroleum Boards as regulators of offshore clean energy projects. If you have a regulator, you can enable development. If developed, that’s a lot of megawatts of offshore renewable energy for Atlantic Canadians. All of this comes at a time when the Liberals are trending in the wrong direction in Atlantic Canada. This week’s numbers from our partners at Abacus Data have the Conservatives polling strongly on the East Coast. With a focus on legislative commitments aimed at mobilizing the Atlantic clean energy sector, we’ll see if success with C-49 offers a much-needed ‘win’ for the Liberals after a tough start to the fall sitting. Perhaps it will be too little, too late to put the wind back in the Liberal sails.
