QUEBEC — In an effort to spur development and reduce bureaucratic headaches, Quebec’s environment minister announced Monday that he would cut the maximum duration of an environmental assessment down from 18 months to nine.

“We need to be more efficient to stay competitive,” Bernard Drainville told reporters, unveiling what he said was the first shakeup to the environmental assessment process since it was introduced in 1972.

The current framework “produces a process which is too heavy, too bureaucratic, too lengthy,” Drainville said.

Though the limit is now defined at 18 months, he estimated that a typical environmental assessment currently lasts between 18 and 20 months.

“Accelerating (the process) doesn’t mean lowering our standards,” Drainville said. “The rigour remains, and it will

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