# I run a company in Alberta planning a major project that may fall under federal environmental assessment, and I am confused by the latest court ruling?

- Jurisdiction: Canada
- Practice area: Consumer Law
- Published: 2026-11-05
- Last updated: 2026-11-05
- Canonical: https://lawasked.com/ca/consumer-law/i-run-company-alberta-planning-major-project-may

## Question

I run a company in Alberta planning a major project that may fall under federal environmental assessment, and I am confused by the latest court ruling. I understand the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled 4-1 that the federal Impact Assessment Act, as amended, is unconstitutional except as applied to federal undertakings, following earlier rulings in [REDACTED_ADDRESS] decision in 2023. What does this ruling change for my project now, does it apply immediately, and how do I tell whether my project is a federal undertaking?

## Summary

It depends on whether your specific project falls under the definition of a federal undertaking. The provided statutes do not contain information regarding the Impact Assessment Act or the recent court ruling on its constitutionality.

## Analysis

Based on the legal documents provided, I cannot explain how the recent court ruling affects your project or how to determine if your project is a federal undertaking. The statutes provided are exclusively from the Competition Act, which deals with commercial competition, foreign directives, and market arrangements [2] [1]. 

The Competition Act governs how corporations behave in the marketplace to prevent unfair advantages or conspiracies [1]. For example, it states that a corporation is "guilty of an indictable offence" if it implements a foreign directive to further a conspiracy that would break Canadian law [1]. However, these rules regarding competition and trade do not define what constitutes a "federal undertaking" for the purposes of environmental impact assessments.

Because the provided text does not include the Impact Assessment Act or the specific details of the Alberta Court of Appeal decision, the law regarding your project's status is unsettled within this context. To determine if your project is a federal undertaking, you would typically need to look at the Impact Assessment Act itself or consult the list of federal jurisdictions such as fisheries, shipping, or interprovincial pipelines.

State, provincial, or local law may add further rules, and you should check Alberta's specific environmental protection statutes.

## Statutory citations

- Competition Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-34, s. 46 - Foreign directives [in force] (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-34/index.html#s-46)
  > Any corporation... that implements... a directive... from a person in a country other than Canada... for the purpose of giving effect to a conspiracy... is... guilty of an indictable offence
- Competition Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-34, s. 2.1 - Binding on agents of Her Majesty in certain cases [in force] (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-34/index.html#s-2.1)
  > This Act is binding on and applies to an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province that is a corporation, in respect of commercial activities

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