The crisp spring wind rattled the windows of the Nova Scotia legislature as Energy Minister Tory Rushton announced what many in the province’s growing renewable energy sector had long been waiting for: a complete overhaul of the environmental assessment process for clean energy projects.
“We’ve heard loud and clear that our current system is creating bottlenecks,” Rushton told the small gathering of reporters and industry representatives. “Projects that could help us meet our climate goals are waiting years for approvals. That ends today.”
Standing in the back of the room, I watched as faces lit up among the solar and wind developers present. For many of them, this announcement represented the difference between viable projects and ones that would die on the vine while waiting for regulatory approval.
The reforms, unveiled yesterday, will create a separate fast-tracked environmental review process specifically for renewable energy projects, aiming to cut approval times from an average of 3-5 years down to just 18 months. The change comes as Nova Scotia pushes toward its ambitious target of 80% renewable electricity by 2030, one of the most aggressive timelines in Canada.
Lisa Bower, who has spent the last decade developing community-owned wind projects along Nova Scotia’s rugged coastline, told me after the announcement that the current system nearly bankrupted her latest venture.
“We had investors ready, community support, even the utility on board—but we spent so long in regulatory limbo that our original cost projections became obsolete,” she said, describing how her 75-megawatt wind project in Inverness County has been awaiting final approval for nearly four years. “Every month of delay raised our costs by about $50,000.”
According to data from Nova Scotia Environment, the backlog of renewable energy projects awaiting review currently stands at 37, representing a potential 1.2 gigawatts of clean electricity capacity. Environment Canada’s most recent provincial emissions data shows Nova Scotia still derives approximately 40% of its electricity from coal-fired generation, making it one of the most carbon-intensive provincial electricity systems in the country.
The proposed reforms will establish a dedicated clean energy assessment office with specialized staff and clear timelines for each stage of review. Projects must still meet environmental standards, but the process will be “right-sized” to reflect their generally lower environmental risk profile compared to fossil fuel developments.
However, not everyone at the announcement shared the enthusiasm. Just outside the legislative building, a small group of Mi’kmaq elders and environmental activists gathered with signs reading “Fast-tracked doesn’t mean well-planned” and “Consultation cannot be rushed.”
Bernadette Julian, an elder from Millbrook First Nation and frequent advocate for Indigenous consultation in resource decisions, invited me to sit with her on a bench overlooking the harbor after the protest.
“We support clean energy—we need it—but the land still matters,” Julian explained, the afternoon sun highlighting the deep lines of concern on her face. “When they rush these things, it’s usually our voices that get left behind. Our communities have seen too many projects where ‘streamlined’ meant ‘silenced.'”
The department has committed that the new process will maintain all existing requirements for Indigenous consultation as outlined in the provincial duty to consult policy framework. But Julian remained skeptical.
“Those consultations already felt rushed before,” she said. “I worry what happens when they try to do them even faster.”
Energy attorney Michael Davies with the Halifax-based firm Coastal Law has reviewed the proposed changes and sees both promise and concern in the details.
“The legislation appears to maintain core environmental protections while removing duplicative requirements,” Davies explained in a phone interview. “But there are legitimate questions about whether staffing levels will be sufficient to maintain rigorous reviews under compressed timelines.”
The reforms come against a backdrop of increasing urgency in Canada’s energy transition. Recent modeling from the Canadian Climate Institute suggests that provinces will need to roughly double their current pace of clean energy deployment to meet federal emissions targets by 2030.
