Prime Minister Mark Carney has laid out the details of what he says are the first series of major projects in the “national interest” aimed at boosting Canada’s economy, creating jobs and reducing reliance on the United States.
This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war, brought on by his administration’s tariff policies, has led to higher costs for Canadian businesses to operate and sent ripple effects across the economy. This includes a recent drop in Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) and impacts on the labour force, with unemployment rising above seven per cent in August.
These projects are aimed at various sectors, identified as energy, materials, and shipping and logistics.
“To strengthen Canada’s independence, our resilience, our security, we will build with Canadian steel, Canadian lumber, Canadian aluminum, and by Canadian tradespeople and engineers,” Carney said. “We will be our own best customer. So today, Canada’s new government is announcing the first set of projects that we believe are both in Canada’s national interest and are feasible to be built.”
Here’s what we know so far.
LNG expansion in northern B.C.
Carney says his government will work to expand LNG production in northern British Columbia to make Canada an “energy superpower,” and added that the emissions from the project will be lower compared with other global facilities.
“This project will double LNG Canada’s production capacity and make it the second largest liquefied natural gas facility of its kind in the world,” Carney said.
“It will diversify our trading partners, help meet global demand for secure, low-carbon energy and support tens of thousands of new high-paying careers. And leveraging Canada’s sustainable advantage, its emissions are projected to be 35 per cent lower than the world’s best-performing LNG facilities and 60 per cent lower than the global average.” Darlington nuclear plant
The second project Carney outlined in his announcement Thursday is expanding the current Darlington nuclear power plant in southern Ontario to make Canada the first G7 country with an operational small modular reactor (SMR).
