In Canada, the government will have to approve all of the applications by Dec. 31, 2019.
The process will take six months.
Once that’s done, the province will have two years to decide on the projects and a further two years for final approval.
The new rules for provincial governments to plan for major infrastructure projects say that in the event of a major disaster, a government must consider all of its options before issuing an order for a project.
There is a time limit on the issuance of such an order, but the rules also say that the province should not delay a decision unless there is a good reason.