Carney Says Next Round of Major Projects to Be Announced Thursday

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Ottawa will announce the second set of projects recommended for approval under the Major Projects Office (MPO) this week.

Carney told reporters in New Brunswick on Nov. 10 that the province, which did not have any projects approved under the first announcement of five projects in September, is “very much part of this.”

“It’s not one round of projects, and then we move forward with those. This is a living list,” Carney said, noting that the next round of projects will be made public on Nov. 13.

Carney announced the first five major projects that were being submitted to the MPO for evaluation on Sept. 11, along with several “strategies for projects” that are in preliminary stages and need further development.

The first five major projects to be recommended for approval include the second phase of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Canada in Kitimat, B.C, the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Clarington, Ont., to create small modular reactors, the Contrecœur Terminal Container Project, which would expand the Port of Montreal’s capacity, the expansion of the Red Chris Mine in northwestern B.C. to mine copper and gold, and the expansion of the McIlvenna Bay Foran Copper Mine Project in Saskatchewan to mine copper and zinc.

The government also announced six “strategies for projects” that are at earlier stages and require more development. These included fast-tracking critical minerals projects in areas such as Ontario’s Ring of Fire, emissions reduction via the Pathways Plus carbon capture and storage project in Alberta, the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor infrastructure project, the Port of Churchill Plus project to expand trade corridors in Manitoba, and a high-speed railway from Toronto to Quebec City.

Ottawa has also unveiled the Wind West Atlantic Energy “strategy,” aimed at harnessing wind power in Nova Scotia and linking it to eastern and Atlantic Canada. The government indicated that this initiative may include interconnections between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, transmission cables between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, and further development of Churchill Falls and Gull Island in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The two provinces have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to expand and upgrade the Churchill Falls facility and build a new, large-scale power plant at Gull Island, a project that will be carried out by Hydro-Quebec.

Budget 2025, released on Nov. 4, stated that the first major projects referred to the MPO collectively represent $60 billion in total capital investment. With additional projects set to be announced “this month,” it is anticipated that these will generate at least $150 billion in total capital investment.

The Conservatives have criticized the government’s first set of announced projects that were referred to the MPO, saying the selected projects have already cleared advanced approval stages. They have also accused the MPO of moving too slowly to approve projects.

“Carney’s solution to too much government blocking our resource projects is to create another government department … my answer would be that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line,” Poilievre said on Nov. 7. “Get rid of the bureaucracy that’s blocking the projects in the first place.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has submitted a pipeline project to the MPO to transport the province’s oil and gas to the B.C. coast for export to international markets. Smith has said she wants the project to meet initial regulatory requirements through the MPO to make it more attractive for private investors to support later.

Energy CEOs’ Suggestions

Carney was asked during the Nov. 10 press conference about Budget 2025 not including any of the five relief measures that Canada’s top energy CEOs asked for in an open letter penned in April. The leaders of 38 companies said that the country’s oil and gas sector would create jobs and increase tax revenue for government, but it must be allowed to grow.

Their suggested policies included revising the Impact Assessment Act and the West Coast tanker ban, committing to six-month deadlines for project approvals, getting rid of the emissions cap for the energy sector, scrapping the industrial carbon tax, and expanding indigenous loan guarantees so first nations can benefit from oil and gas development.

Carney told reporters that for Canada to become an “energy superpower,” it would need to produce and export multiple forms of energy, such as hydro, oil and gas, nuclear, and other forms of renewable energy. The prime minister also said the budget includes “enormous incentives” for energy companies, such as a “productivity super-deduction” that will allow businesses to write off the cost of new capital investments more quickly.

Carney also noted that Canada exported LNG to Asia for the first time in June, and it will ship 50 million tons of oil to the continent by 2030.

“Part of what’s happening with the major projects is we are making that possible,” he said. “We’re making the speed with which we can do that possible.”

The Conservative Party and Alberta have criticized the Liberal government for not appealing the Impact Assessment Act, which adds regulatory requirements to energy projects, or the oil tanker ban on B.C.’s north coast.