OTTAWA — Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson says he’s “hopeful” that the government will start announcing major infrastructure project approvals in the fall.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Hodgson says the federal government has been busy consulting with stakeholders over the summer and has been quietly getting a new major projects office set up to deal with companies hoping to build large-scale projects.

Parliament’s fall sitting is scheduled to run from Sept. 15 to Dec. 12 — but Hodgson says Prime Minster Mark Carney “doesn’t like sitting around” and that the government intends to move quickly.

He says the federal government “would prefer sooner rather than later” and insists that “it will be in the fall” that announcements will start happening.

It’s been seven weeks since the Liberal government rushed Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, through Parliament in June, which lets Ottawa quickly approve major projects it considers to be in the national interest.

Carney has said the office that will deal with these large-scale industrial projects should be stood up and fully running by Labour Day, though the government has so far made few details about this new office public.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025.

The Canadian Press