A fork in the road: As bifurcation hits the global uranium industry, the secure path leads to Canada
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has forever changed global commodities markets. The economic sanctions subsequently imposed on Russia exposed multiple risks related to (over)reliance on a single or dominant suppliers of critical materials (Sukhankin 2024a).
Northern corridors: Hype or hope? Heather Exner-Pirot
In the rush to diversify Canada’s trade routes and export destinations, provincial, territorial, and federal politicians of all partisan stripes have heralded new corridors and ports. With major ports already established on the Pacific side, in Vancouver and Prince Rupert; and the Atlantic side, in Montreal, Halifax, and Saint John; attention has turned to the Arctic.
U.K. agency keen to back investments in Canadian nuclear power
The British government is looking to back investments in Canadian projects—including nuclear energy—through its export credit agency, which helps firms secure financing so long as 20 per cent of their procurement comes from the United Kingdom. U.K. Export Finance (UKEF) has been around for more than a century, but set up shop in Canada just last fall. Ozgur Kutay, a...
Canadians show strong support for construction of pipeline between Alberta and Eastern Canada
In the wake of an unpredictable relationship with the Trump Administration in the US, Canadians are quite supportive of a new government funded oil pipeline from Alberta to Eastern Canada. Three of four Canadians favour this project including almost six in ten Quebecers. A majority of Canadians support or somewhat support this potential energy project in every region and demographic...
How Escalating U.S.-China Competition Over Critical Minerals Impacts Canada
Over the last five years, competition over critical minerals has become a focal point of great-power rivalry — particularly between the United States and China. These strategic materials, including rare earth elements, are vital for producing the advanced technologies underpinning the green economy, defence industries, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. Given that the world is rapidly transitioning to cleaner energy...
An allegedly secret foreign deal limiting Canadian propane exports could leave us all poorer
B.C. First Nations claim betrayal, bad-faith bargaining and a propane monopoly that lets a foreign company cap Canada's export potential
The Northwest Territories is key to securing Canada’s critical minerals future
As mining and investment leaders gather in Toronto this week for the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference, the Northwest Territories (NWT) is once again front and centre in the conversation about Canada’s critical minerals future. With global demand soaring and geopolitical tensions heightening the need for secure supply chains, the NWT is uniquely positioned to help...
Trump is coming: quick, build a pipeline!
Donald Trump is an all-purpose distraction, a threat on so many fronts, that concern about climate has been temporarily pushed aside. But people still care. So much for climate change. It is no longer an issue, apparently; hardly an afterthought, in the current political moment. Donald Trump’s threats to our economy have spurred, among other things, a bizarre panic to...
Swimming against the tide: The case for salmon fish farming in British Columbia
Ken S. Coates explains how salmon farming could benefit Canada by providing economic stability to coastal communities, fostering greater co-operation with First Nations, driving technological innovation, and protecting wild salmon
Pipeline Possibilities? In wake of Trump tariff threats, majorities support Energy East, Northern Gateway
Conversations about trade wars with Canada’s historically most trusted ally have forced Canadians to take a long, hard look at the domestic capacity of their economy, from agriculture, to manufacturing, to oil and gas. With respect to the latter, new debates have dredged up old projects as Canadians and their leaders consider how to transport energy across the country. New...
Build more pipelines to tariff-proof our economy
If we want to be economic masters in our own house, then “buying Canadian” to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign to attack our sovereignty through a tariff war, while admirably patriotic, isn’t enough.
TCI Energy Brief: Early TMX Pipeline Expansion Data Reveals China’s Emerging Role as a Significant Buyer of Canadian Crude, Offering Some Diversification From the U.S. Market
Completion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) project in May 2024 marked a transformative moment for Canada’s crude oil industry, increasing the amount of oil that can make it to tidewater, and unlocking significant new export opportunities. Contrary to many analysts’ expectations, early data indicates that a large amount of this new export capacity is finding its way not...
B.C. is experiencing a mining permitting crisis, and local communities will suffer
Across sectors from construction to mineral extraction, permitting timelines are out of control in British Columbia. It can take almost a decade to get a permit to build a large project like a mine, and the delays have a significant negative economic impact. Mineral exploration projects are generally smaller in scale than mines, but delays are exceedingly frequent and painful...
Hundreds of billions at stake as N.L., Quebec draft new Churchill Falls deal
Newfoundland and Labrador has reached a tentative deal with Quebec over power flowing from the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant that could reap hundreds of billions of dollars over the next five decades. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey and Quebec Premier François Legault are announcing the terms of a memorandum of understanding at a news conference in St. John's this...