Neither half of Call 49 has been implemented as written, however, substantive responsive activity does exist through several adjacent mechanisms. The CER’s Indigenous Advisory Committee (IAC), established in August 2020 under section 57 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, advises the CER Board on the integration of Indigenous perspectives, knowledge, and values throughout the regulatory lifecycle, but the IAC “is not a decision-making body, nor does it engage in CER operational matters or provide advice on any particular decision, order or recommendation made by the CER Commission or other CER adjudicative decision-makers.” The CER Act also requires that at least one of the CER’s Board of Directors and at least one of seven Commissioners be an Indigenous person.
The Impact Assessment Act (IAA), enacted in 2019, included Indigenous knowledge and consultation provisions and mandated establishment of an Indigenous Advisory Committee at the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada’s October 2023 opinion in Reference re Impact Assessment Act (2023 SCC 23) found the federal designated projects scheme largely unconstitutional, and the federal government enacted amendments through Bill C-69 (royal assent June 20, 2024) to narrow the IAA to non-negligible adverse changes to listed components within federal jurisdiction. Project-specific Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committees (IAMCs) operate alongside the CER for the Trans Mountain Existing Pipeline and Expansion and the Line 3 Replacement Program. Modern treaty co-management boards exercise environmental oversight powers within their respective treaty areas, and Indigenous-led Impact Assessment (ILIA) processes have been developed by individual Indigenous Nations (covered in assessment of Call 47). None of these mechanisms is an Indigenous environmental oversight body with CER-equal regulatory powers, and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada has not initiated co-development of such a body as of late 2025.