On Friday, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said the federal government accepts the ruling and acknowledged the bill needs to be "tightened."

"We will now take this back and work quickly to improve the legislation through Parliament," Guilbeault said in a virtual press conference with reporters. "We will continue to build on 50 years of federal leadership in impact assessment."

In the drafting of new legislation of the IAA, Guilbeault said the federal government will follow the guidance from the court and collaborate with provincial and Indigenous leadership.

In Vancouver, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also reacted to the ruling.

"Today we learned that the Supreme Court of Canada has found Justin Trudeau's no new pipeline anti-resource law unconstitutional," he said. "A Poilievre government will repeal this law entirely and replace it with one that consults First Nations, protects our pristine environment, but gets jobs approved."