By Martha Baldwin, Practice Area Manager, Regulatory Approvals
Next week, members of the Falkirk team will be in Québec City for IAIA26 and the timing couldn’t be better.
Across Canada right now, there’s a growing momentum to get projects built. In the mining and renewable energy sectors, where we’re actively supporting clients through federal and BC impact assessment processes, the appetite to move quickly is genuine and understandable. Canada has critical minerals to develop, clean energy to build, and economic opportunity that can’t wait indefinitely.
But speed is only possible when proponents are ready to build trust, not just projects. The projects that get built are the ones that earned it. Not by gaming the process, but by doing the hard work of genuine engagement, with regulators, with the public, and most importantly, with First Nations whose rights, title, and interests sit at the centre of almost every major project in this country.
Right now, confidence in how regulatory decisions get made is under real strain. Streamlining a process that stakeholders don’t trust doesn’t make projects faster. It makes them more vulnerable. At Falkirk, we work alongside our clients to build those relationships early, mitigate risk, and bring the kind of certainty that lets projects move with confidence.
That’s the conversation we’re taking to Québec City next week for IAIA26. Four sessions are at the top of our list:
- Streamlining IA in an Era of Global Uncertainty
- (Re)building Trust and Transparency to Navigate Complex Energy Transitions
- Accelerating with Integrity: Strengthening SIA in the Face of Urgency and Misinformation
- Engaging Indigenous Nations for Inclusive Impact Assessments and Misinformation Response
For our team, IAIA26 is about more than attending — it’s about staying sharp, connecting with peers and practitioners from around the world, and bringing better thinking back to the work we do for our clients in BC and across Canada.
If you’ll be in Québec City, we’d love to connect. Find us in the sessions or reach out ahead of time.
Event Details
IAIA26 is the conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment. This year’s event will explore themes of misinformation, disinformation, communication, and impact assessment, and will be held in Québec City, Canada from May 19–22.