N.B. first province to sign environmental impact assessment agreement with Ottawa

New Brunswick is the first province to sign a major project agreement with Ottawa.

New Brunswick is the first province in the country to sign an agreement with the federal government that will see just one environmental impact assessment process, known as “One Project, One Review.”

When a major project requires an environmental impact assessment, it won’t have to undergo both a federal and provincial one – a single process will cover both.

Premier Susan Holt says this will get rid of redundancies, while also maintaining a “robust” environmental process.

“This is expected to result in faster project approvals and improved efficiency by reducing duplication,” states a release on the agreement.

Federal Internal Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said this partnership has been in the works since June of 2024.

When answering questions, both LeBlanc and Holt said this won’t result in a lack of oversight, it just allows the province to take the lead, while still looking to the federal government for its expertise - but under one timeline.

Premier hopes this will move future projects along

There were several questions to Holt and LeBlanc surrounding the Sisson Mine.

The proposed tungsten mine located north of Fredericton received provincial and federal EIA approvals in 2015 and 2017. The provincial EIA included 20 conditions. The company behind the mine, Northcliff Resources, recently received a five-year extension of the provincial EIA.

It was listed as a possible nation-building project by Prime Minister Mark Carney in November.

Holt said there was some duplication during those EIA processes, but that the markets have delayed the project.

LeBlanc said, right now, that project’s future comes down to the economics.

“The challenge is, and this is where our major projects office is working directly with the proponent, with Northcliff Resources and the Todd Group from New Zealand who own Northcliffe, to figure out the right series of financial instruments necessary to allow an investment decision of hundreds of millions of dollars of private capital to begin, as the premier said, putting the mine into construction,” he said. “Understandably, the shareholders of these companies want the right series of assurances, reliable assurances that China is not simply going to cut the price once the mine goes into production to make sure that it then is no longer viable.”

The company is completing a new feasibility study after receiving funding from the United States and Canada in May and August 2025.

The company’s CEO told CTV News in November he hopes the results of the feasibility study – including an updated project cost – will be complete in spring 2026.

Holt says Tuesday’s move is about making the path clearer for future projects.

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