The federal government has doubled down on silencing public review and input.
Sign Our Open Letter By July 22
On June 24, 2026, the federal government announced that they have referred the proposed Deep Geological Repository (“DGR”) to the Major Projects Office for designation as a “Project of National Interest” (“PONI”).
If designated under the Building Canada Act (Bill C-5), the project would move through a fast-tracked approval process that provides project proponents with an early guarantee that federal permits and approvals will be deemed granted. A project that would permanently house Canada’s most long-lived, high-level radioactive waste must not be rushed, pre-approved, or advanced through a process that limits meaningful participation.
Join us in adding your name to our letter to the Major Projects Office below!
Key Things to Know
Background Information
The nuclear industry has advanced its plans to permanently house Canada’s most long-lived, high-level radioactive waste in its proposed DGR. This project would include transporting approximately 5.9 million used nuclear fuel bundles over thousands of kilometres, potentially on a daily basis, for up to 50 years.
Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, passed on June 26, 2025, enacting the Building Canada Act, which gives the federal government broad power to designate certain projects as “Projects of National Interest” (“PONI”). Once listed as a PONI, those projects will move through a fast-track process where key federal permits and authorizations are automatically deemed approved and granted in favour of the project proceeding.
On June 24, 2026, the federal government referred the proposed DGR project to the Major Projects Office, paving the way for the project to be designated as PONI under the Building Canada Act. If designated, the DGR would move through a fast-tracked and pre- approved process – despite the serious and long-term risks nuclear waste poses to lands, waters, communities, Indigenous rights, and future generations.
That’s not all – the federal government has also proposed broader changes to Canada’s impact assessment process that could weaken review of high-risk projects, including by compressing timelines, limiting public participation, and handing nuclear-related assessments to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (“CNSC”). A bill to implement these changes is expected this fall.
LAND’s previous Take Action campaign on the proposed DGR called for a full federal impact assessment of the project because of concerns about transportation risks, impacted communities, Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and future generations. That call is even more urgent now. The federal government’s coordinated actions threaten the very safeguards needed to properly assess the impacts of a project of this nature, scale, and duration.