On April 11, 2022, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, and the Honourable Tory Rushton, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables, issued a joint release saying: “Canada and Nova Scotia Announce Intent to Expand the Mandate of Offshore Energy Regime to Support the Transition to a Clean Economy and Create Sustainable Jobs”. This announcement includes the two governments agreement “to work toward modernizing the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) that would expand its mandate to include the regulation of offshore renewable energy development in the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore areas. Modernizing the CNSOPB is consistent with both governments’ commitments to diversify their economies and includes an intention to move forward by renaming the board to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Board (CNSOEB) to reflect its new mandate.”
The Board and our staff welcome this expansion to our mandate. We have the technical and regulatory experience and expertise necessary to regulate offshore renewable energy and look forward to these regulatory changes. Transitioning to become the offshore energy regulator is in line with what other Canadian and international regulators are doing.
This webpage will provide updates on the future expansion of the CNSOPB’s mandate and renaming to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator.
- February 5, 2024 – CNSOPB CEO, Christine Bonnell-Eisnor, appeared as a witness before the House committee on Natural Resources on Bill C-49. Click here to read her opening statement.
To watch or listen to testimony from February 5, click here: https://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20240205/-1/40957 - May 31, 2023 - The Accord Acts and the Joint Management Regimes in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador
- May 30, 2023 - Status of Bill C-49- An Act to amend the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
- May 30, 2023 - Building Offshore Renewables in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia
- April 11, 2022 - Canada and Nova Scotia announce intent to expand the mandate of offshore energy regime to support the transition to a clean economy and create sustainable jobs
- April 5, 2022 - Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P., Minister of Environment and Climate Change - Canadian Impact Assessment Registry - Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia
- Here is the link to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s Canadian Impact Assessment Registry for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia