OTTAWA—A proposed Ontario nickel mine is among the projects under consideration by the federal government as Prime Minister Mark Carney gets set to announce the next round of projects designed to boost Canada’s economic prospects, the Star has learned.
The Crawford Nickel Project is a proposed mine located north of Timmins, Ont. and is expected to operate for more than four decades, produce 240,000 tonnes of raw ore per day at peak capacity and create 1,000 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. According to a senior government source, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the issue, it is under serious consideration for the next list of projects the Liberals will seek to advance to the Major Projects office, the agency overseeing approvals.
At a press conference in New Brunswick, Carney said the list will be announced Thursday in Prince Rupert B.C. When Carney announced a first round of projects in September, he promised there would be another announcement before Sunday’s Grey Cup game in Winnipeg.
Carney said Monday the list will constantly be evolving.
“This is not a one and done. It’s not one round of projects and then we move forward with those. This is a living list,” he said.
Dawn Farrell, the Major Projects Office’s CEO, told MPs last month that hundreds of projects have been submitted to her office. So far, her team hasn’t designated any of them, including the projects Carney pitched in September, as a “project in the national interest.”
Under the government’s legislation C-5, when a project is deemed in the national interest, it is eligible to move more swiftly through regulatory approval with a guaranteed review within two years. Last week’s budget also opened up more potential funding for those projects, with the Canada Infrastructure Bank able to invest in any project that has been referred to the office. Other Crown corporations like the Canada Growth Fund and the Indigenous Loan Guarantee program are also going to help finance potential projects.
The Crawford project has been in federal reviews for nearly three years and still has at least another year under the Impact Assessment Act before it could be approved.
The five projects Carney put forward in September included two copper mines, a liquified natural gas project in B.C., small modular nuclear reactors in Ontario and an expansion of the Port of Montreal. Those projects had all cleared many regulatory hurdles, but Carney also put forward six other proposals that are not as advanced.
Those included Alto, the high-speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City, a critical minerals strategy, the Wind West power proposal in Nova Scotia, an expanded Port of Churchill, an Arctic economic and security corridor and the Pathways Plus carbon capture proposal in Alberta.
The senior government source confirmed the new list of projects will cover similar themes as the first, with projects in transportation infrastructure, electricity, critical minerals and energy.
Carney said Monday that his government wants to make Canada a global leader in many fields.
“If you’re a superpower you’re able to do more than one thing, and Canada can do many things in energy,” he said. “We have our electricity grid, which is 85 per cent clean. That’s because of hydro, it is because of nuclear, other renewable power, we have an enormous opportunity to scale up that clean grid.”
Carney highlighted Canada’s liquid natural gas industry (LNG) as one area set for growth
“Back in June, this country shipped our first LNG shipment to Asia. We will shift 50 million tonnes to Asia by the end of this decade, and potentially double that again and part of what’s happening with the major projects is we are making that possible,” he said.
There are several major projects around Prince Rupert, including a proposed expansion of the northern B.C. port and the Ksi Lisims LNG plant, which the federal government recently approved. It is also one of two proposed west coast destinations for an oil pipeline Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is advocating for.
