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Bernie Roth, a lawyer in Dentons’ Calgary office, said the meaning of the new language on gender remains unclear, but he speculated it could be a tool to increase gender diversity in male-dominated trades.

Patrick McDonald, director of climate and innovation at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said his industry is awaiting further clarification from the government on the meaning of the change. “There is going to be some learning and some adaptation,” he said.

The preamble to the bill, the Impact Assessment Act, declares that the government “is committed to assessing how groups of women, men and gender-diverse people may experience policies, programs and projects and to taking actions that contribute to an inclusive and democratic society.”

If you're asking, 'What does that mean?' I'm going to have to say I don't really know

In an emailed statement, Kevin Crombie, a spokesman for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, said the intent is to consider “potential effects of proposed projects on communities including impacts on women, men and gender-diverse individuals.”

He gave the example of an influx of workers to a temporary construction camp. It “may have effects on widening inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and between women and men, which may negatively affect access to food, housing, social services and local labour market opportunities and increase the risk of violence,” he said.

Bill C-69 reflects a broader government initiative to ensure all new legislation is subjected to a gender-based analysis. Bill C-68 amending the Fisheries Act, also tabled in February, says the minister “may consider … the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors” when making a decision. “The primary objective is to ensure that the (Fisheries) department is collecting data in such a way that it can ensure that benefits of any of its decisions are equally distributed amongst various sectors of society,” a government official said at the time.