opinion

Building fast is not the same as building well

Ottawa is treating approval speed as the measure of success. Durability will be judged by what the process gets right.

The Canadian

Opinion

September 29, 2026

5 min read

An export terminal at a coastal harbour at blue hour

Twelve months from referral to a final investment decision is now the government's preferred statistic, cited alongside a $33-billion expansion in northwestern British Columbia as proof that Canada can move at pace again. The pride is understandable after years of projects stalling in review.

Speed is a legitimate goal. Capital does leave when timelines are indefinite, and a country that cannot say yes or no within a reasonable period ends up saying neither. The one-project, one-review approach is a serious attempt to fix a real failure.

“Speed is a measure of process, not a guarantee that the decision underneath it was right.”

But speed is a measure of process, not of outcome. The questions that decide whether a project holds up over decades—consent from the communities it crosses, emissions accounting, and who carries the cost when forecasts are wrong—are not resolved faster simply because the file moves faster.

The fair test is whether the accelerated track produces approvals that survive contact with courts, markets, and the communities involved. If it does, the speed will be vindicated. If it does not, the delays will simply arrive later, and cost more.

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