Project
Build Big Things
What will it take for Canada to become a global superpower in energy, mining and infrastructure to turbocharge economic growth, productivity and competitiveness?
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About the project
Geopolitical disruptions are forcing countries to rethink supply chains, creating an immense window of opportunity for Canada to become a preferred supplier of energy, critical minerals, and the infrastructure that moves them.
Canada has transitioned from a production-driven economy to one increasingly reliant on consumption, resulting in weak GDP growth, declining capital investment and falling productivity.
To thrive in a rapidly evolving global trading environment, Canada has started to undertake bold structural reforms to unlock its vast potential. Yet Canada continues to face a persistent execution gap despite a strong natural resource asset base and sustained efforts to position the country as a trusted, reliable supplier with sound financial, regulatory, and talent environments.
PPF’s Build Big Things project provides an actionable framework to unlock investment in major projects, leveraging Canada’s comparative advantages to drive economic growth, resilience and sovereignty in an increasingly tumultuous geopolitical environment.
The initial phase of the initiative culminated in the release in 2025 of Build Big Things: A playbook to turbocharge investment in major energy, critical minerals and infrastructure projects. The landmark report has become a widely referenced blueprint across government and industry and now serves as the foundation for a new phase of work.
The project’s core objectives are to:
- Identify and assess actionable policy solutions that provide greater certainty for proponents, investors, financiers, regulators and the public in advancing major energy, critical minerals and infrastructure projects. The goal is to enable these projects to reach FID and proceed to construction in the fastest, most cost-effective and least disruptive way possible;
- Foster a policy environment that strengthens investor trust and confidence in Canada, with a focus on attracting and maximizing investment, including Foreign Direct Investment, to help address the country’s productivity and income challenges, to stimulate economic growth and build a foundation for Canada’s long-term prosperity; and
- Promote Indigenous reconciliation by ensuring that the economic benefits of development are broadly shared, with particular attention to advancing the rights, aspirations and sovereignty of Indigenous rights-holders.
History
The Energy Future Forum (EFF) was launched in 2019 as a multi-year, pan-Canadian initiative working to address climate action and our energy future. In 2026, EFF was renamed Build Big Things to better capture the scope of the project’s ongoing focus areas (that includes energy, mining and infrastructure) and to seize the scale and urgency of the work ahead.
Active initiatives (2026-2027)
Areas of focus include liquified natural gas, small modular reactors, mining and critical minerals, trade enabling infrastructure and internal trade.
Subscribe to PPF’s Build Big Things newsletter, a weekly look at all things energy, mining and infrastructure.
Reports
Unlocking an Energy Superpower
How to harness Canada’s LNG and natural gas advantage
Build Big Things
For too long, Canada has been content to muddle in the slow lane when what is needed — now more than ever — is a breathtaking build out. Here’s how to do it.
A Hurry-up Offense for Energy Transition and Clean Growth Projects
Energy Future Forum Policy Memo
How to Have it All
Federal and provincial governments, Indigenous communities and industry can leverage LNG development for a clean energy future. Here’s how
The Missing Article
Since 2021, 65 bilateral agreements involving 45 countries have been reached under Article 6 of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. Canada is not among them.
Project of the Century
Electricity demand is forecast to double by 2050. To meet it, supply will have to grow an astounding two to three times today’s volume. Here’s a roadmap for how to meet this urgent nation-building goal.
The $100 Billion Difference
Relative costs of two net zero approaches
The Strength of Green Steel
Boosting competitiveness, decarbonizing supply chains, seizing geopolitical advantage
A Leadership Blueprint for Canada’s High-ESG Gas
Serving the public and global good
Do We Really Want to Make Canadians Poorer?
What shutting down its oil and gas sector would cost Canada
Capturing a Carbon Opportunity
If the climate challenge confronting Canada is evident, so too is the economic opportunity out there to be captured. The twin objectives are clear and measurable: We must meet our 2030 GHG emission reduction targets on the way to a net-zero future by 2050, and we must do it in a manner that ensures jobs, growth and a strong economy. The good news is that a sightline to that future – one where a national carbon management strategy is critical to meeting our objectives – is coming into clear focus.
We Want Real Partnership
In April 2020, the Energy Future Forum convened a plenary session on the critical importance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and full Indigenous participation and ownership in Canada’s energy development. The following is a blended transcript edited for clarity and conciseness of Indigenous economic leaders Alicia Dubois, Tabatha Bull, Mark Podlasly, J.P. Gladu and Kim Baird. These leaders spoke about their vision for economic reconciliation, the challenge of access to capital and the opportunity UNDRIP presents to catalyze economic development by making real partnership a prerequisite for any project to move forward in Canada.
A Keystone of Carbon Could be Our 21st-century Auto Pact
Canada desperately needs to matter more in the United States. After a run-up in the decade after NAFTA, our share of U.S. imports has fallen from roughly 16 per cent to 12 per cent since the Great Recession, leaving us behind both China and Mexico. Auto production, which for decades held fast well above the level guaranteed in the 1965 Auto Pact, was part of the descent.
Nature-based Solutions: Some of the Answers to Climate Change Come Naturally
There is a broadly based consensus in Canada that includes governments, Indigenous peoples, environmental groups, industry and other stakeholders that nature-based solutions will play a crucial role as Canada works to meet its climate change objectives. The Energy Future Forum (EFF) believes the agreement presents a rare and unique opportunity – one that Canada must seize as part of its climate change suite of policies.
The Solution Set: Carbon Capture & Direct Air Capture
Carbon capture has a powerful allure. If there's too much CO2 in the atmosphere, why not remove the excess, and store it deep underground or use it in manufacturing other products? It sounds like a considerable solution on the way to a net zero carbon economy by 2050.
Articles
Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage — The Time is Now
This paper reflects a strong consensus within the Energy Future Forum that any achievable pathway to national climate and economic objectives must include a significant contribution from carbon capture technologies and from utilization and storage. In any post-COVID, “green stimulus” planning, support for CCUS expansion is even more pivotal than before.
Opinion: How Canada could strike a grand bargain on climate and energy
OPINION: Needed: A grand bargain on climate and energy. How: The Energy Future Forum brings together the players — from oil and gas producers to environmentalists, governments, bankers, utilities, academics and Indigenous leaders. The Mission: To find ways Canada can meet or exceed its targets under the Paris climate agreement on the way to a net-zero future, while strengthening the economy and enhancing national unity. When: Now.
Groups from Across Canada Join Initiative to Get Climate and Energy Policy Working Together
The Energy Future Forum (EFF), a new pan-Canadian initiative to develop policy answers that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen the economy, was officially launched on Dec. 16 at a meeting in Toronto. It's an "unprecedented effort to find common cause in addressing Canada’s climate and energy challenges,” said PPF's Edward Greenspon.
Podcasts
How to make a nation of ‘supertraders’
On this episode of PPF’s WONK podcast, host Amanda Lang talks to Alison Nankivell, CEO of Export Development Canada, about free trade, diversification and export bottlenecks
Canada’s place in the global energy race
On WONK this week, host Amanda Lang talks to TC Energy CEO Francois Poirier about building faster, LNG demand and the future of electrification
How to deal with oil shocks and the inflation problem
On WONK this week, host Amanda Lang talks to economist Jim Stanford about oil prices, another round of inflation and leaning into Canada’s strengths
A problem-solver’s guide to economic growth
On this episode of WONK, host Amanda Lang talks to Tom Chi, former head of product experience at Google X, about innovation, confronting climate change and how a few people can change the world
David Eby on building a new economy
On this episode of PPF’s WONK podcast, host Amanda Lang talks to the B.C. premier about global trade, LNG and the need to ‘grin and bear it.’
Danielle Smith on pipeline optimism and provincial relations
On this episode of WONK, host Amanda Lang talks to the Alberta premier about her hopes for a pipeline deal with Ottawa, dealing with separatist sentiment and working with B.C.
The biggest issues in the upcoming federal budget
On this episode of WONK, host Amanda Lang talks to Armine Yalnizyan and Sean Speer about huge budget pressures, tariff fallout and how to fortify the economy
What does major projects success look like?
On PPF’s podcast WONK, host Amanda Lang talks to Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson about Canada’s new energy ambitions and the challenges ahead.
