Execution is everything for major projects

From PPF’s Build Big Things newsletter, Sept. 12, 2025

Let the building begin

We now have an answer to one of the big economic questions of recent months: what will be in the first tranche of nation-building projects considered for fast-tracking under the Building Canada Act? In Edmonton yesterday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced five projects:

-The Phase 2 expansion of LNG Canada in Kitimat, B.C
-The McIlvenna Bay Mine Project (copper and zinc) near Creighton, Sask.
-The Red Chris mine expansion (copper and gold) near Dease Lake, B.C.
-The Contrecoeur Port Terminal Expansion Project in Montreal
-The Darlington New Nuclear Project (small modular reactor) in Clarington, Ont.

Six more not-as-shovel-ready projects were highlighted that “are at an earlier stage and require further development.”

What does it mean? The first list of five will now be handed over to the newly established Major Projects Office (MPO), headed by Dawn Farrell, who was previously the board chair of Trans Mountain. The aim of the MPO is to streamline and speed up regulatory and permitting approvals and help coordinate financing.

What’s notably absent? Pipelines, which have a recent history of being difficult to build and politically fraught. Carney noted there is currently no private sector proponent —  “a necessary condition to unlock those pipelines.”

Also not on the two lists, port expansion in B.C., a key export gateway.

What needs to happen? Fast-tracking approvals is only half the battle. In the past, big projects have run up against numerous challenges: unclear permitting, insufficient infrastructure, misaligned funding, a lack of Indigenous consultation and so on. Execution is everything. And successful execution can be only achieved through disciplined governance and accountability.

As PPF outlined in the Build Big Things report, five key elements will need to come together for projects to succeed (see graphic below).

Recently, Jay Khosla, executive director of economic and energy policy at PPF and Yiota Kokkinos, senior executive adviser for energy at PPF, cautioned in a Globe and Mail op-ed that nation-building projects will not alone build a nation. “Fast-tracking nation-building projects is a long-overdue signal that Canada is serious about breaking the gridlock that has slowed progress on energy, critical minerals and infrastructure development,” they wrote, “but true nation building will also require a national transportation infrastructure strategy and an unprecedented commitment to policy coherence to create investments that drive long-term economic growth.”

In other major projects news: Carney also announced the 11 members of the Indigenous Advisory Council that will help guide the Major Projects Office. Among them, JP Gladu, whose preface to the Build Big Things report is essential reading, and Crystal Smith, winner of PPF’s Testimonial Dinner award earlier this year. In her compelling acceptance speech, Smith — who led the development of Cedar LNG, the world’s first Indigenous majority-owned LNG project — said the project has meant “instead of managing poverty, we are now managing prosperity.” Other members of the advisory council are:

• Kluane Adamek, Kluane First Nation, Yukon

• Chief Darcy Bear, Whitecap Dakota First Nation, Saskatchewan

• Vanessa Doig, Makivvik, Nunavik, Northern Québec

• Victoria LaBillois, Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation, Québec

• Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, Beaver First Nation (Treaty 8), Alberta

• Chief Terry Paul, Membertou First Nation, Nova Scotia

• Lorne Pelletier, Manitoba Métis Federation, Manitoba

• Christy Sinclair, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Nunavut

• Matt Vermette, Métis Nation-Saskatchewan

What’s next? Another major projects announcement is expected in November.

Key commentary: On CTV Your Morning PPF’s Khosla said he was pleased to see the federal government concentrating on projects that can move quickly: “I think that’s a really good marker in terms of all these projects… Let’s just remember, the whole effort is to turbocharge our economy in light of the tariff actions that the U.S. are bringing,” Khosla said. “It’s really important to know that this is a pretty profound and historic day for Canada when these projects come out and it’s an effort for us to actually — some would say grow up — and seek global markets.” Khosla also spoke with Amanda Lang for Taking Stock on CTV News and joined CFRA radio in Ottawa.

More commentary:

Snapshots of all five projects from The Globe and Mail.

David Reevely on the not-new projects in The Logic.

CBC’s Power and Politics panel on what the five projects mean for Carney’s plan to build big.

Feeling the Canadian energy

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “build baby build” mantra is capturing some international attention. An article from AFP outlines the federal government’s efforts to pivot from U.S. dependence and manage the economic threat posed by Donald Trump. The piece includes insights from PPF’s Jay Khosla. (You can also read the article in French via TV5Monde.)

And on this week’s episode of PPF’s WONK podcast, RBC chief economist Frances Donald tells host Amanda Lang that international investors are starting to take notice, too.

“I’ve never in my career traveled around the world and had so much interest in Canada from global investors,” said Donald.  “And what they’re doing is they’re taking a look at the whole landscape, whether they’re sitting in Europe or the United States or Asia, and they’re saying, ‘what is the world going to need on a go-forward basis?’ … What they’ve come to realize is the world is going to need energy, electricity, potash, canola, uranium, critical minerals. And isn’t it so interesting that what the world needs most lives in Canada?”

Watch the episode now on YouTube.

On the road to the Ring of Fire

In a project that could help open up access to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire, Ontario announced a $61.8-million investment in a critical road infrastructure project in the municipality of Greenstone, a three-hour drive northeast of Thunder Bay.

The “Main Street Rehabilitation Project” will upgrade the area of Highway 584 running north from the Trans-Canada, running through the town of Geraldton, beginning this fall.

Greenstone Mayor Jamie McPherson told Superior North News that the project will include “digging right down to the water and wastewater lines under the street, redoing those, putting in proper fill, putting in good drainage, and then repaving and re-curbing the boulevards so that the road can stand up to all the heavy traffic that’s going to be coming over the next five to 10 years during construction and then ongoing.”

The future expansion would enable fly-in communities like the Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations to be connected to the provincial highway system — as well, of course, as mining activities. According to a ministry statement the project will “lay the groundwork for future growth in the Greenstone region.”

Webequie First Nation Chief Cornelius Wabasse appeared at the ministry press conference, telling reporters that he is supportive of the project if it ensures opportunities for local prosperity. “I’m hoping that we can continue to be a partner in any development that happens in the area and we are open for working together,” he said.

Chief Gary Quisses of Neskantaga First Nation took a different approach, telling CBC Thunder Bay this week that he would much rather the province deal with boil-water advisories and the state of health and education in his community. In a July interview with APTN, he said, “Both levels of government campaigned [in 2025] that Canada is not for sale. And here, they turn around and eat their words — they want to sell the resources.” That said, he added, “We’re not opposed to development. We want to be part of it where we can have some wealth from these developments.”

More Ontario?

One person who was not overly pleased with the list of major projects is Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who argued his province isn’t well represented in the initial draft list of 32 projects. Most of the energy and mining projects on the longer list are in the Western provinces. Ontario projects on the table include a Timmins nickel mine, Ring of Fire development and a high-speed rail line from Quebec City to Toronto.

On Thursday Ford said he was glad to see the Darlington nuclear project on the first list of five announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney.

But that’s not enough. Ford pushed Carney for help building a tunnel underneath the Toronto portion of the 401 provincial highway, a project that comes with an estimated $120 billion price tag and no guarantee of relieving congestion in the city. He was also hoping that a James Bay port project would be considered, as well as an expansion of the GO Transit system.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was also not happy that a pipeline was not among the first five projects, but had a more sanguine approach. “The list is going to be an evergreening list,” she told the Canadian Press. “It’s not, ‘Oh my gosh, this is it, nothing else can be added.’ And so we’ve got a little bit of work to do to be able to get to an environment where oil companies want to expand their production.”

Big Teck

Vancouver-based Teck Resources, a major miner of critical minerals, is being acquired by U.K. giant Anglo American, becoming the world’s fifth-largest copper producer. The deal is worth around $50 billion.

“What Anglo American brings is further world class copper assets, as well as some very high quality iron ore, in combination with the zinc that we have in the portfolio,” Teck CEO Jonathan Price told The Globe and Mail. “What we’re creating here is a very large and very high quality copper-focused mining company.”

B.C. Premier David Eby welcomed the news, especially because the head office will be in Vancouver — making it “the largest company to set up its global headquarters in B.C.,” said Eby on social media. Teck operates two large operations in B.C.: a copper mine near Kamloops, and a rare-mineral smelting plant near Trail.

Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad will be moving to Vancouver from London. Eby added that this is a vote of confidence in B.C.’s “role as the engine of the new Canadian economy.”

The feds might be more recalcitrant. At a time when Canada is focusing on economic sovereignty in an uncertain trading environment, particularly with critical minerals, it would challenge the government’s current policies around foreign ownership, which in 2023 specified that acquisitions of large Canadian critical mineral companies by foreign-state-owned companies would only be approved under “exceptional” circumstances.

However, that was largely meant to target China: Anglo is not a state-owned company. “Without a doubt, you know, this is absolutely going to be a Canadian company,” Teck CEO Jonathan Price told the Canadian Press. “We will be creating the largest head office in Vancouver, and it really is unprecedented to see a company of the size of Anglo American moving its global headquarters.”

The newly merged company will be called Anglo Teck.

Ports in a storm

As we reported this week in our Atlantic Momentum newsletter, a new report has analyzed 10 ports in Atlantic Canada to gauge their readiness to become hubs for offshore wind development, and found a lot of work to be done. The report by U.S. consulting firm Moffatt & Nichol, undertaken for the research group Net Zero Atlantic, looked at five ports in Nova Scotia, three in Newfoundland and Labrador and two in New Brunswick. The region is well-positioned to take advantage of a potential boom in offshore wind, but significant investment is needed for everything from wharf upgrades to land-based infrastructure to dredging harbours.

Overall, Argentia, NL, and the Atlantic Canada Bulk Terminal in Sydney, N.S. were deemed to have the most potential to support the industry. Both of those, along with Sheet Harbour near Halifax, have already provided services to U.S. offshore wind projects.

Of course, much depends on how much offshore wind development actually takes place. The report offered three development scenarios, from a low of 1.5 Gigawatts installed by 2050 (and requiring one primary port to serve as a marshalling yard and three more for operations and maintenance) to a high of 11.5 GW by 2050, requiring three primary ports and 12 supporting facilities. Those scenarios were developed before Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston pitched his “Wind West” plan that would generate more than 40 gigawatts of electricity from offshore wind off the province’s coast. That would require considerable scaling up, Net Zero Atlantic’s research director, Sven Scholtysik, told the CBC.

Wind West is on the secondary list of six potential major projects announced by the PMO yesterday.

Last week, the U.S. Transportation Secretary withdrew  $679 million in federal funding for marine terminals and port facilities designed to support the industry, calling them “wasteful wind projects.”