Alberta’s premier said she sees promising signs in the first batch of projects announced under Ottawa’s new fast-tracked approval process.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has named the first five proposals to be referred to the new Major Projects Office based in Calgary, which aims to speed development of projects deemed in the national interest.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said when she looked at the list, she thought leaders in Ottawa finally “get it” and that it shows a shift in government from the Trudeau era.
Topping the list is the second phase of LNG Canada in Kitimat, B.C., where natural gas piped from Alberta is chilled into a liquid state and loaded onto specialized tankers for export to Asia.
Carney also announced projects that may be added to the fast-track list after some further development, including Pathways carbon capture project proposed by Alberta’s biggest oilsands companies.
Carney’s major project list includes LNG development, nuclear power, mining
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the projects are “in the national interest” and “feasible to be built.”
“The proponents behind each of these projects have already done much of the hard work. They’ve undertaken already extensive consultations with Indigenous peoples, consultations that meet the standards of existing legislation,” Carney said at a new conference in Edmonton on Thursday.
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The prime minister said the timeline for granting final approval to the fast-tracked projects will be no longer than two years.
The first major projects list includes five projects that will be considered for speedy approval by the government’s major projects office, and five additional projects that require further development.
The five projects up for fast-track approval also include a first-of-its kind small modular reactor in Clarington, Ont., a new copper and zinc mine in Saskatchewan and an expansion of the Red Chris Mine copper operation in northwestern B.C.
These projects represent more than $60 billion in investment, said Carney.
The prime minister said the projects are “very advanced” and the major projects office will help shepherd them past the final regulatory hurdles.
Carney said it is “no accident” that these mining and LNG projects are on the list because they meet environmental goals set out in law.
In a media release, the government says the LNG Canada Phase 2 project in Kitimat, B.C. — which Ottawa says would double Canada’s liquefied natural gas production — would open a pathway for approval of other liquefied natural gas projects.
Environmentalists say the inclusion of liquefied natural gas locks Canada into a high-carbon future.
“Nation building should secure Canada’s future, not tie us to the polluting past,” said Aly Hyder Ali, oil and gas program manager at Environmental Defence.
“Expanding LNG in a climate crisis is a dangerous mistake.”
Some of the projects identified for future development include enhancements to the Port of Churchill in Manitoba, a proposed high-speed rail line between Toronto and Québec City, a 50-gigawatt wind energy project in Nova Scotia and an Alberta-based carbon capture and storage project.
Carney said that, once complete, the carbon capture facility could lead to a decarbonized pipeline project. At this point there is no private-sector proponent for a new oil pipeline.
The projects listed for future development — which also include plans for all-weather road projects in Northern Canada to support potential critical mineral development — hit all of Canada’s main regions.
The major projects office is also tasked with finding ways to help grow the critical minerals sector and secure more investment in critical minerals projects within the next two years — including the Ring of Fire in Ontario.
Bill C-5, which moved through Parliament at lightning speed in the spring, is meant to streamline and speed up approvals for large infrastructure projects as the federal government looks to shore up an economy under heavy pressure from U.S. tariffs.
— with files from David Baxter, The Canadian Press
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