Out of the first ministers’ meeting in Saskatoon, expectations were high that Prime Minister Mark Carney would release a list of nation-building projects that his government would prioritize.
He didn’t.
However, Carney and Canada’s premiers gave examples that could qualify for federal support and potentially be expedited for completion.
The Carney government intends to introduce legislation aimed to help identify and fast-track projects deemed in the national interest. The Liberals campaigned on making final decisions on projects within a two-year timeline, rather than the five years previously used.
Here’s a look at some projects that could be sped up.
Wind West and Atlantic interties
You’ve likely heard of Energy East, the planned but never built bitumen pipeline from Alberta to New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia’s Wind West aims to send renewable electricity from the East Coast westward.
With the help of offshore wind turbines, Premier Tim Houston is pitching a project that he says could generate enough electricity to power 27 per cent of the country’s needs.
“I support the prime minister’s vision in making Canada an energy superpower,” Houston said in a video posted to social media. “Wind West could fuel battery plants, AI data centres, industries of the future. And it would transform our economy.”
Nova Scotia proudly supports the Eastern Energy Partnership, an ambitious move to get our natural resources to market and drive regional economic growth.
Our contribution, Wind West, is a bold step forward in clean energy that would create jobs, attract investment, and… pic.twitter.com/2flRJovHfs
Houston told CBC’s Power and Politics that he’s looking to the federal government to support “an investment in transmission” to connect Atlantic Canada’s grids to the rest of the country.
“We’d be looking for the federal government to support us on a pathway. [That] could be a national energy corridor with those transmission lines,” Houston told host David Cochrane. “And these are mostly cables for our wind energy.”
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said her province could become a hub that connects electricity from Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia to the rest of Canada and the United States.
Through new transmission connections known as interties, Holt said Atlantic provinces could sell their power across North America.
Grays Bay port and road
This project has been described as a “subway line” that could offer Nunavut easier access to its resource-rich areas and offer western provinces a direct link to the Northwest Passage.
A subsidiary of the region’s Kitikmeot Inuit Association is proposing to build a deepwater port on Nunavut’s mainland in the Coronation Gulf.
To access that port, a 230-kilometre all-weather road would need to be constructed across tundra, muskeg and waterways without interfering with the sensitive permafrost. The thick layer of frozen soil is prone to melt when disturbed through road construction.
A potential road would connect to Jericho Station, home to a defunct diamond mine, before continuing to a 600-kilometre winter road to Yellowknife. An all-season road could also eventually replace that ice road, which is closed most of the year.
The Grays Bay port could handle large cargo ships capable of loading and transporting materials from future critical mineral mines, both in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Local hunters and others, though, have raised concerns about the massive project’s impact on the endangered Dolphin and Union caribou herd.
Port of Churchill
Another potential hub for critical minerals and fossil fuel exports could be through the expansion of the Port of Churchill.
The existing port, via the Arctic Gateway railway system, promotes itself as the shortest link from the Prairies to the Atlantic Ocean. It offers access to the Arctic, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America.
In August 2024, the port announced it had shipped its first critical mineral shipment — zinc concentrate — to Belgium.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew stated in a letter to Carney that the province is seeking investments in icebreakers to expand the shipping season through Hudson Bay and for new “energy generation and transmission to power the project.”
Northwest coast bitumen pipeline
At the closing news conference in Saskatoon, Carney said he was open to the idea of a second pipeline from the oilsands to Canada’s West Coast, something that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants.
“There is an ability to build that energy infrastructure, that oil pipeline,” Carney said. “I agree with [Smith]. And so the opportunity is there, the market is there in Asia.”
Canada has only one pipeline to tidewater that doesn’t go to or through the U.S. — through B.C.’s Lower Mainland to Burnaby.
It’s unclear what route a northwest coast pipeline would take, as no company is pitching one yet. But Enbridge’s planned, but never built, Northern Gateway would have gone through northern B.C., destined for the Port of Kitimat.
The Trans Mountain Expansion to Burnaby was completed in 2024, and from conception to delivery, the government-owned pipeline faced fierce opposition due to its $34-billion cost and concerns over its environmental impact.
Canada purchased the project from American pipeline firm Kinder Morgan in 2018 when it was unclear it would be completed otherwise.
A new northern pipeline is already meeting resistance from B.C.’s premier, who said he doesn’t support lifting the tanker ban along the north coast.
The province’s deputy premier Niki Sharma said Monday that B.C. has “differences of opinion” on a pipeline through the north of the province.
Giant carbon capture pipeline
Canada’s largest oilsands companies are proposing to build what could be one of the world’s largest carbon capture and storage networks.
The 400-kilometre Pathways Alliance pipeline project would transport captured carbon dioxide from the oilsands in the Fort McMurray region and other sites to Cold Lake, Alta., for storage.
“The project proceeding is contingent upon obtaining sufficient fiscal and policy support and regulatory approval,” according to its website.
The pipeline project is expected to cost $16.5 billion and is supposed to be operational by 2030.
Six companies are collaborating on the project: Suncor Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Cenovus Energy Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd., MEG Energy Corp. and ConocoPhillips Canada.
Pathways has stated that the project could help its member companies achieve a 32 per cent reduction from 2019 emissions levels by 2030 and is the centrepiece of the industry’s pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario has been a topic of discussion and controversy for years.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford views the crescent-shaped mineral deposit as a treasure trove for the province’s electric vehicle supply chain.
But Ford also sees potential for the Ring of Fire to meet global demand for materials used in computer chips and high-tech military weapons.
There are no all-season roads, railways or energy infrastructure connecting the isolated area that is mostly muskeg, swamps and rivers.
The province and mining developers also face pushback from some First Nations and environmentalists. Members of Ojibway and Cree communities in the area worry its development represents a threat to their traditional way of life.
The Ring of Fire’s location in the James Bay Lowlands places it in the Hudson Bay Lowlands. Together they form one of the world’s largest wetlands. It’s a massive carbon store and habitat for migratory birds.
