Water is a precious resource and must be managed to meet the province's many growing needs. In recent years, many Albertans have expressed frustration about unnecessarily long delays in getting regulatory approvals and decisions under the Water Act. These wait times delay projects, reduce economic development and limit water users' ability to adapt to changing conditions on the ground.

Alberta's government has worked to cut the red tape, bureaucratic delays and outdated processes that slow down good work. As a result of that work, timelines for Water Act licences approvals have now declined by 57 per cent over the past four years, including a 25 per cent improvement since June 2023, and this government is just getting started.

"As environment minister, I've made improving our regulatory process a priority. We can protect the environment and make timely decisions at the same time. We are seeing real improvements that help communities grow and businesses succeed, but this is just the start. We are going to keep finding ways to increase transparency, and speed up and improve all of our regulatory processes."

Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas

Reducing wait times by weeks and months

Since 2021, the average wait time for licences under the Water Act has fallen by 57 per cent. On average, approvals are now being delivered 253 days sooner.  

At the same time, the average wait time for approvals under the Water Act has fallen by 31 per cent. On average, approvals are now being delivered 70 days sooner.

The backlog of Water Act applications that are open longer than six months has now declined by 68 per cent, helping industry, businesses and communities get decisions faster and keep projects moving.

Establishing targets and improving processes

In addition to reducing licence wait times, for the first time, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas has established mandatory service targets to speed up reviews and stop unnecessary delays.

Water Act decisions must now be made within a specific time frame, unless extenuating circumstances arise. Staff are now required to assess each application and make a decision based on its deemed risk:

• Low-risk decisions must be made within 60 days.
• Medium-risk decisions must be made within 90 days.
• High-risk decisions must be made within 120 days.

These targets include the time required for public consultation, where necessary. The department will work to continue lowering these targets in the future, where possible.

Other changes have also helped speed up the system. Previously, users would also have to submit information by paper or email. Now, a new digital system is in place that makes it quicker and easier to submit and review applications. The department also streamlined its internal processes, updated the guidelines on the 10 per cent holdback and fast-tracked applications related to drought this summer.

Just getting started

Progress is being made, but there is more work to do. Moving forward, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas will focus on speeding up Water Act decisions that have not yet seen as much improvement, including complex or high-risk requests such as wetlands.

The government has also instructed the department to find ways to similarly streamline regulatory decisions under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, while looking at other ways to speed up all of Alberta's regulatory processes.

Quick facts:

• For service targets, application risk is assessed based on a number of factors, including application complexity, type, location and potential environmental or local impacts, among others.
• No change has been made to Alberta's robust environmental standards. All applications must comply with regulations to be approved.

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