Agenda
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Pre-Conference Workshops
November 18, 2026
Day 1 – Main Conference
November 19, 2026
Start the event with an exclusive meet and greet – where you can connect face-to-face with key speakers and fellow attendees. Seize this unique opportunity to meet some of our faculty of experts and make meaningful connections before the conference begins!
Traditional Welcome, Land Acknowledgement, and Blessing
Opening Remarks from Canadian Institute
Brandon FoxPartnerDillon Consulting Limited
With the creation of the Major Project Federal Office, Ottawa aims to cut major project approvals from five years to two. But what does that mean for your timelines, Indigenous engagement, and environmental integrity? Join this timely discussion on what’s coming, and how to prepare now.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Assessing how shorter timelines and faster approvals may increase cumulative effects, consultation, litigation, and implementation risk
- Protecting Indigenous rights and environmental safeguards in a faster process
- Reforming legislation to unlock quicker, more predictable project decisions
- Reviewing success stories of proponents who were well prepared during the approval process
- Clarifying the ambiguity on how projects will be assessed
Networking Break and Refreshments
Merissa ReidEnvironmental Analyst, Energy AdjudicationsCanada Energy Regulator
As the oil and gas industry in Canada matures, a growing portion of pipeline infrastructure is approaching the end of its expected life span and will need to be abandoned safely. Companies seeking to abandon a federally regulated pipeline in Canada must apply to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Canada’s federal regulator of energy infrastructure for authorization, while at the same time complying with applicable legislation and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z662 standards for oil and gas pipeline systems. The CER sets out the requirements for applications to abandon pipelines in its Filing Manual and reviews the applications to ensure that the requirements are met. The CER retains oversight of all abandoned pipelines that remain in place or until the pipeline has been completely removed, and the project area has been remediated and restored.
As the number of applications to abandon pipelines increases, the potential challenges associated with pipeline abandonments come more clearly into focus.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Providing context for the unique and emerging regulatory and environmental considerations and challenges around pipeline abandonment
- Prioritizing Indigenous engagement and involvement
- Examining land use and stakeholder considerations
- Sensitive wildlife habitat restoration
Networking Lunch
Sonja KosutaSenior Director, Impact Assessment and Science CapacityNatural Resources Canada
The lack of available and transparent data is a challenge identified by many environmental management practitioners, and magnified when undergoing impact assessments for major project submissions. Part of the Government of Canada’s Open Government Partnership, the Open Science and Data Platform (OSDP) is a single-window digital tool designed to share authoritative and location-based science, data and regulatory information. This presentation will discuss the platform’s dual role: in information dissemination as a tool to improve transparency, build trust in regulatory processes, and enable meaningful Indigenous and public participation in project impact assessment, and in advancing major projects in Canada.
Gary PritchardChief Executive Officer4 Directions of Conservation Consulting Services
Emily JanzenSenior Policy Officer, Indigenous Consultation and Engagement DivisionCanadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Sharon G. K. SinghPartnerMcMillan LLP
Meagan Kakwirayéntha HamiltonAssistant Professor of Indigenous Health and Ecology, Centre for Indigenous StudiesUniversity of Toronto
Suzy PurserIndigenous Procurement SpecialistMakwa Development - Bruce Power
This session will provide greater clarity of what the expectations are from Indigenous communities and industry in the project development process. Through real-world examples and guided discussion, you’ll be better equipped with how to approach consultation, stewardship, and development with cultural awareness and legal clarity.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Establishing and maintaining positive and mutually beneficial relationships with communities and regulators
- Addressing development plans and issues as they arise
- Examining funding opportunities available to assist with capacity building and economic development
- Providing greater clarity to proponents and government on Indigenous expectations and cultural practices
Networking Break and Refreshments
Dawn HoogeveenDirector of Cumulative Effects and Technical AdvisoryIndigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects (ICCE)
Christine HutchinsonIndigenous Cumulative Effects AdvisorIndigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects (ICCE)
Churchill Falls Megaproject: Insights from the Largest Clean Energy Investment in North American History
In August, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador announced a new hydroelectric agreement expected to triple the current generation capacity of Churchill Falls and create an estimated 23,000 jobs combined. The federal government will provide $10 billion in financing to upgrade and expand the Churchill Falls generating station, develop the Gull Island hydroelectric project, build transmission lines and implement a 2,000 MW onshore wind energy project in Labrador at a location to be determined later. The combined projects are valued at a historic $70 billion, with the new agreement replacing both the 1969 Churchill Falls Power Contract and the December 2024 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, Hydro-Quebec and Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Limited.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Creating energy security and affordability through shared interests
- Providing a federal loan guarantee for construction costs related to Gull Island to de-risk the project and reduce overall capital costs.
- Analyzing economic development opportunities and environmental impacts for Indigenous nations impacted by the projects
- Unlocking critical mineral development through additional power generation
Day One Closing Remarks and Conference Adjourns until Day 2
Day 2 – Main Conference
November 20, 2026
Registration and Breakfast
These interactive roundtables offer attendees the chance to dive deep into key topics, gain valuable insights, and exchange ideas with peers. With expert-led discussions, participants will uncover actionable strategies and best practices critical to environmental assessment and cumulative effects.
KEYNOTE
Is Ottawa’s Impact Assessment Act Really Still Unconstitutional?
Networking Break and Refreshments
Tara HowseSocial Scientist & ConsultantEquitable Resource Impacts
Dr. Elikem TsamenyiPolitical Scientist – Comparative Politics & Institutional Design
Cumulative effects are a sophisticated science, with the missing link often being how to govern cumulative effects across different knowledge systems and longer-term cycles. As Canada aims to accelerate major project development, shortened timelines may cause challenges as the timelines indicated in the Building Canada Act do not often align with common Indigenous Council election cycles.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Determining who is responsible for overseeing cumulative effects once a regional assessment has been completed
- Creating governance models for the long-term that are applicable across multiple jurisdictions and election cycles
- Including process for changes with structures that can be followed irrespective of governance
- Examining the advantages of incorporating a more holistic approach instead of a project-by-project perspective
- Reviewing co-governance models that are consistent with UNDRIP legislation
Dr. Effah AntwiResearch Scientist, Ecosystems Ecology, Great Lakes Forestry CentreNatural Resources Canada
Dr. Akua DarkoInterdisciplinary Research AnalystNatural Resources Canada
As project development in Canada increases, understanding environmental changes, and the impacts to prioritize can be challenging. To add to the challenge, commonly agreed upon frameworks or methods to conduct a regional assessment are not prevalent in Canada.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Creating a roadmap for more inclusive assessments that empower Indigenous communities
- Identifying which cumulative effects to prioritize
- Utilizing capacity building software to prioritize environmental assessments
- Demonstrating how regional cumulative effects issues can be addressed in response to disturbance resulting from the development of natural resources
Networking Luncheon
TBA
Hugh ClarkExecutive Director, Housing Development OfficeCity of Toronto
Maintaining critical infrastructure during population growth has been challenging for municipal leaders as evidenced by Calgary’s Bearspaw South Feeder Main replacement project. However, environmental impacts from wildfires, flooding, and droughts have also posed great challenges as municipal leaders seek to maintain environmental standards while their municipalities increase population.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Utilizing nature-based solutions to reduce emissions and capital expenditures
- Incorporating Indigenous inclusion in city planning, development, and procurement
- Creating Natural Asset Inventories (NAI) to inform planning decisions and provide best practices to consultants and practitioners
- Balancing growth and investment with ageing infrastructure
Networking Break and Refreshments
Regional and strategic assessments (RAs/SAs) can facilitate a planning approach for addressing complex issues that are difficult to assess and manage through project-scale assessments alone. Coastal and marine environments can be especially challenging to create cumulative effects decisions due to the multiple activities and natural processes that have occurred over time.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Assessing the limits of project-scale cumulative effects assessment methodologies
- Developing methodologies to track major changes to impacts and determine where mitigation, monitoring, or planning be prioritized
- Determining how multiple activities interact across a whole region and what that means for environmental management
