Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled the first large developments considered for fast-track approval owing to their perceived national importance. From energy, to port infrastructure, to critical minerals mining, together the projects as currently envisioned will mean investments of tens of billions of dollars across the country.
Here are snapshots of the projects that made the first cut under a process that will be overseen by the new Calgary-based Major Projects Office.
LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion in Kitimat, B.C.
LNG Canada's export facility in Kitimat, B.C., on Aug. 19.Jesse Winter/Reuters
LNG Canada’s five co-owners are considering a proposed Phase 2 expansion in Kitimat, B.C., subject to scrutiny of factors such as greenhouse-gas emissions caps envisaged by the federal and B.C. governments.
Shell PLC-led SHEL-N LNG Canada started shipping liquefied natural gas from Kitimat to Asia in June, when it became the country’s first LNG export terminal.
LNG Canada’s co-owners are expected to make a final investment decision in 2026 on whether to proceed with the Phase 2 expansion.
Shell has the largest stake in LNG Canada at 40 per cent, followed by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas PNAGF (25 per cent), PetroChina PCCYF (15 per cent), Mitsubishi Corp. MSBHF of Japan (15 per cent) and South Korea-based Kogas (5 per cent).
The export terminal has an initial capacity of 14 million tonnes a year. Phase 2 expansion plans would double the export capacity of the project, which is located on the Haisla Nation’s traditional territory.
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“We are supportive of efforts underway to advance natural resource projects and other projects of national importance across British Columbia and Canada,” LNG Canada said in a statement on Thursday. “As with LNG Canada Phase 1, the proposed LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion continues to hold key permits and approvals, including the provincial environmental assessment certificate.”
The cost of building the first phase of LNG Canada has been pegged at $48.3-billion, including the $18-billion Kitimat terminal, the $14.5-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline and other infrastructure, as well as annual budgets for drilling in the North Montney region of northeastern British Columbia.
TC Energy Corp. TRP-T, the operator of Coastal GasLink, owns 35 per cent of the contentious pipeline project that stretches 670 kilometres to Kitimat from northeast B.C.
Coastal GasLink could double the pipeline’s export capacity, “without any new pipe in the ground,” TC Energy chief executive officer François Poirier said in a statement on Thursday. “We are progressing critical development work to support LNG Canada.”
Industry experts say it could cost billions of dollars more to add six compressor stations to double capacity along the existing pipeline.
Brent Jang, Vancouver
Darlington New Nuclear Project in Ontario
Construction underway at the first new reactor at Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.Supplied
The Darlington New Nuclear Project contemplates construction of four 300-megawatt nuclear reactors at the existing Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario’s Clarington municipality, at an expected total cost of $20.9-billion. In his remarks, Mr. Carney spoke of “Phase 1” of the project – apparently a reference to the first reactor only.
It’s unclear what assistance the Major Projects Office can provide for that first reactor, which has already been in development for several years. (The office did not immediately respond to an interview request on Thursday afternoon.) Ontario Power Generation Inc. began preparing the site nearly three years ago, and obtained a crucial construction permit for the reactor from its federal regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, in April after a review that began in late 2022.
Recent drone footage of the site, supplied to The Globe and Mail by OPG, shows cranes and other heavy equipment already on site. Excavation of a large shaft for the reactor, which will be built partly underground, is in progress. Construction is scheduled to wrap up in 2029, one year later than originally planned.
The first reactor is of considerable importance to the nuclear industries of both Canada and the U.S. It would be the first-ever completed BWRX-300, a reactor designed by the American-Japanese partnership GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy; successful completion could help the company attract new orders. It would also be the first new power reactor built in Canada since the early 1990s, and it is considered the first small modular reactor to start construction in a Group of Seven country.
Planning for the other three BWRX-300s began more than two years ago, but OPG has yet to apply to the CNSC for construction licences for those units. The CNSC refused an interview request from The Globe on Thursday to discuss how its licensing process might change in light of the Prime Minister’s efforts to expedite federal regulatory approvals.
Matthew McClearn, Toronto
Port of Montreal Contrecoeur expansion project
The Contrecoeur Marine Terminal in Contrecoeur, Que., on Aug. 26.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Canada’s second-biggest port has for years been planning a major expansion of its cargo operations with a new project in Contrecoeur. Now, the federal government has labelled it a national priority and mandated the Major Projects Office to help speed up final approvals and help piece together the remaining financing over the next few weeks.
Located about 40 kilometres downstream from Montreal, Contrecoeur would boost the port’s annual container handling capacity by 60 per cent. Plans call for a 675-metre-wide docking platform with berths for two ships, eight loading cranes and a container storage yard linked to a rail line.
Proponents have said the project will give Eastern Canada the trading infrastructure it needs to keep goods moving, meet growing demand and provide logistics for Canadian companies that are diversifying their markets while generating lasting economic benefits.
“Contrecoeur is the key,” Port of Montreal CEO Julie Gascon told The Globe recently. “It was an important project. It’s now a critical and urgent project to do. And it’s the best answer to rising U.S. tariffs. It’s 8,000 jobs during construction, using Canadian steel. It’s 1,500 ongoing jobs after that.”
Ottawa and Quebec have already pledged $150-million and $130-million, respectively, toward the project cost, now estimated at $2.3-billion. The Canada Infrastructure Bank has also committed a $300-million loan. This week, the port authority tapped global logistics giant DP World Ltd. to build Contrecoeur’s land-based operations and run the cargo facility for the next 40 years.
A final financing package for Contrecoeur has yet to be hammered out. It could include private equity money as well as additional federal government investment, according to Dominic LeBlanc, Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade.
Environmental approval is also not completed. One issue identified is that the project area overlaps at least partially with the habitat of the copper redhorse fish, an endangered species.
Critics have expressed worry that the Major Projects Office will override the normal approvals process. There are also questions about handing control of such a key project to Dubai-based DP World, which is a state-owned enterprise in a country that has a traditionally conservative and authoritarian government.
Nicolas Van Praet, Montreal
The McIlvenna Bay Foran Copper Mine Project in Saskatchewan
Foran Mining Corp.’s FOM-T McIlvenna Bay Project will tap copper and zinc, which are among critical minerals key to electrifying the economy and building a range of products from green infrastructure to electric-vehicle batteries.
In his announcement on Thursday, Mr. Carney said the development, located 375 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, will create 400 jobs and bolster economies in Saskatchewan and Quebec, where the copper will be smelted. In addition, he touted the company’s plans to design McIlvenna Bay as the country’s first net-zero-emission copper project. That includes the use of EVs as part of its underground mining fleet.
Foran says the project is more than 50 per cent complete and on track to meet its production startup target of mid-2026, though it recently increased the cost estimate by 22 per cent to more than $1-billion.
The company aims to extract 4,900 tonnes of ore a day in a first phase of the underground mining operation.
McIlvenna Bay adheres to one of the criteria Ottawa insists upon for being shortlisted among the list of nation-building projects: advancing the interests of Indigenous peoples. In 2023, the company struck an agreement with the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation to employ its members and consult in a meaningful capacity to make sure Aboriginal and treaty rights are respected on the 140,000-hectare site.
Jeffrey Jones, Calgary
Red Chris Mine expansion in northwest B.C.
The entrance to the Red Chris Mine near Iskut, B.C., on July 23.Dave Middleton/The Canadian Press
The expansion will see Red Chris move from an open pit to an underground block cave operation, and add more than a decade to the life of the mine. An engineering study released in 2021 pegged the cost of the mine expansion at $2.6-billion.
Newmont Corp. NGT-T is in talks with the Tahltan Nation about the expansion, and a final investment decision is expected by the end of the year.
“Being among a select group of projects to receive dedicated attention from the Government of Canada underscores the importance of the Red Chris Block Cave project and northwest B.C.,” Shannon Brushe, spokesperson with Newmont, said in an e-mail to The Globe.
“We are honoured to be advancing this project through the final stages of a consent-based approval process jointly managed by the Tahltan Nation and the Province of British Columbia.”
The federal government in a release said the expansion will strengthen Canada’s role as a reliable supplier of copper for manufacturing and clean-energy technologies, and it is an important step in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
The expansion is expected to employ up to 1,500 workers during construction and 800 when it goes into operation.
The B.C. government in February put Red Chris on a list of resource projects it singled out for fast tracking around permitting. The province made the move to try to invigorate the economy at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump was threatening to impose tariffs on Canada. Mr. Trump followed through the next month imposing duties on Canadian imports of steel and aluminum.
In July, three workers were trapped underground during early development work of the Red Chris mine expansion after a series of rock collapses prevented them from exiting. After more than two days, rescue crews succeeded in clearing debris that blocked access to the affected access tunnel, and the workers were brought to the surface safely.
Niall McGee, Toronto