Canada has enacted new legislation to facilitate offshore wind investments along its East Coast. Last week, Bill C-49 established a framework for developing offshore wind energy in the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The bill amends the existing Accord Acts, enabling collaboration between the federal and provincial governments in managing offshore wind resources. Since the 1980s, the Atlantic Accord Acts have allowed Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland to jointly oversee offshore petroleum resources. The recent changes broaden this authority to encompass offshore wind energy.
As part of this restructuring, the Canada-Nova Scotia Petroleum Board has been renamed the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (CNSER), and the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Petroleum Board is now the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Energy Regulator (C-NLOER).
