The Canadian government’s discussion paper, Getting Major Projects Built in Canada, represents a significant and long overdue shift in how it approaches major infrastructure and energy development.

After years of slow, fragmented and unpredictable project approvals, the recognition that Canada’s regulatory system has undermined competitiveness and discouraged investment is both accurate and welcome.

Investor surveys in Canada’s resource sector consistently identify regulatory uncertainty and approval delays as major deterrents to investment.

If implemented effectively, the proposed reforms — particularly efforts to reduce duplication, co-ordinate consultations, establish clearer timelines and move toward a “one project, one review” framework — could enhance Canada’s appeal to energy investors and move the country closer to its ambition of becoming an “energy superpower.”

But regulatory reform alone won’t solve Canada’s deeper problem.

Read more: Mark Carney wants to make Canada an energy superpower — but what will be sacrificed for that goal?

The discussion paper assumes that major project delays are primarily due to inefficient processes that can be corrected through administrative streamlining. That’s only partially correct.

Many of the barriers facing Canadian energy development are structural, deeply embedded in the country’s constitution, federal system, legal environment and institutional culture. These obstacles cannot simply be resolved through compressed timelines and updated procedures.

Constitutional constraints

The first challenge is constitutional and legal. Indigenous rights and the duty to consult are entrenched in Canada’s Constitution, Supreme Court rulings, modern treaties and commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Landmark Supreme Court decisions such as the 2004 Haida Nation v. British Columbia and the 2005........

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