Abstract
This Policy assessment is a deliverable of the Atlantic Canada Offshore Wind Integration and Transmission Study. The initial Policy Assessment was completed by Stantec and submitted to Net Zero Atlantic on July 8, 2024. It included an assessment of current federal and provincial policy and regulatory frameworks driving offshore wind development on Canada’s Atlantic coast. The report also defined potential challenges and risks within the current policy environment that might hinder or inhibit offshore wind development and highlighted opportunities for policy evolution that continue to facilitate the industry’s advancement.
The first addendum to the Policy Assessment was completed on August 15, 2024, outlining recently announced initiatives that further enable offshore wind development for Canada’s Atlantic provinces. It discussed the creation of a new collaboration framework between the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia to accelerate clean economic growth and job creation through six key areas. The addendum also provided a summary of the newly released Nova Scotia Regional Energy and Resource Table Framework for Collaboration on the Path to Net Zero.
The second addendum was completed on December 11, 2024 and included further discussion of Canada’s policy environment with respect to its enablement of offshore wind development. It detailed Canada’s Offshore Renewable Energy Regulations, the Canadian Energy Regulatory Act, the 2023 Accord Acts, as well as Nova Scotia’s recently introduced Advancing Nova Scotia Opportunities Act (Bill 471) and the introduction of mirror legislation in Newfoundland and Labrador.
A third and final addendum was completed on March 13, 2025. It consists of a summary of the Final Report on the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind in Nova Scotia as well as the Final Report on the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador. The addendum also highlighted the newly announced Framework for Collaboration on the Path to Net Zero between the Governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island and details the 2019 Impact Assessment Act and discusses Canada’s membership in the Global Offshore Wind Alliance. Finally, it discusses the recently announced moratorium on offshore wind development in Georges Bank, Nova Scotia.