Vice President's Response – TransCanada Highway Twinning Project

Physical Activities

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation is constructing two new lanes located on a 40-kilometre stretch of the TransCanada Highway (also called Highway 17) between the Manitoba/Ontario border and the Highway 17/17-A Junction in Kenora, Ontario.

Delegation of Powers to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC)

Under subsection 154(1) of the Impact Assessment Act (IAA), the Minister of Environment and Climate Change (the Minister) may, subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister specifies, delegate to IAAC any powers, duties, or functions that the Minister is authorized to exercise or perform under the IAA. On July 26, 2024, the Minister delegated the authority to respond to requests for designation, for which limitations on designation described under subsection 9(7) of the IAA apply, to the President or Vice-President of Operations of IAAC.

Decision

The project has substantially begun and cannot be designated.

Reasons

Pursuant to subsection 9(7) of the IAA, the Minister must not exercise their power to designate a physical activity that is not prescribed in the Physical Activities Regulations if a) the carrying out of the physical activity has substantially begun; or b) a federal authority has exercised a power or performed a duty or function conferred on it under any Act of Parliament other than the IAA that could permit the physical activity to be carried out, in whole or in part. Therefore, the Minister cannot designate the project for the following reason: the project has substantially begun. Project construction commenced in January 2022, prior to the receipt of the original designation request of July 5, 2022.