Calgary & Alberta Economy

[InfrastructureEnthusiast]

The major projects list has been a bit underwhelming so far, but the LNG port and NB tungsten mine are good adds.

Disappointed there hasn't been any kind of TCH funding announced. Completing the remaining mountain parks is both in the national interest, and would require a regulatory bulldozer.

Oddball of the list has to be the Nunavut hydro dam, thought that was an onion article at first! Cool if it'll work reliably year round, but IMO this is exactly the sort of alternate use a naval nuclear reactor could have, which is what the SMR program should have been developing instead of a buying a foreign fixed plant that's worse than CANDU in almost every way.

 

[Chowda7]

Enbridge spending US$1.4B to send crude to U.S. despite broader ‘elbows up’ sentiment

The country’s largest oil shipper has given the green light to a US$1.4-billion plan to send more oilsands crude south of the border, even as trade tensions drive broader efforts to diversify Canada’s export markets beyond the United States.

www.bnnbloomberg.ca

 

[Surrealplaces]

Calgary claims top spot in Western Canada for quarterly venture capital investment | Calgary Economic

Calgary continues to strengthen its position as one of Canada’s leading innovation hubs. According to new data from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA), the Blue Sky City ranked third among major Canadian cities for venture capital investment — with $341 million...

www.calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com

This kind of stuff is always good to see.

 

[Chowda7]

Done by December? Alberta's Smith optimistic deal with Carney coming soon

"We're very, very close, I think, to having a breakthrough," Smith said Friday of a potential deal with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

edmontonjournal.com

 

[DougB]

The power to smooth over regulatory hurdles is the Build Canada Act and for a project to be designated a National Interest project. So far, NONE of the projects, including the ones from September have had that designation. The only thing the "Major Project Office" does now is consult and for the Infrastructure fund to potentially fund. If a project is designated a national interest project, then it gives the minister more ability to overcome laws and regulations.

Althia Raj: Mark Carney forced through his powerful ‘national interest’ bill. So far, it’s pointless

None of the five projects announced in September and referred to Carney’s newly-created Major Projects Office have been listed under the act as a project of “national interest.”

www.thestar.com

So it is a waste of time and resources

 

[InfrastructureEnthusiast]

So it is a waste of time and resources

Does Ottawa know how to do it any other way?

 

[CalgaryTiger]

I would argue hand holding a project through the different requirements is not the worst thing to do. This office makes government a consultant for navigating bureaucracy (hand holding is a way of eliminating bureaucracy by getting projects directly where they need to go). The office reduces the need for private consultants to help navigate the project, and I would say the office is helpful as naming the projects and making such a show, they're directly accountable to these projects.

And if they're helping to find ways to partially fund these projects through the infrastructure bank and not by a subsidy or writing a cheque then that's a win too.

In my opinion navigating through other businesses bureaucracy can be frustrating and wastes a lot of time. If this helps that along then good.

 

[DougB]

I would argue hand holding a project through the different requirements is not the worst thing to do. This office makes government a consultant for navigating bureaucracy (hand holding is a way of eliminating bureaucracy by getting projects directly where they need to go). The office reduces the need for private consultants to help navigate the project, and I would say the office is helpful as naming the projects and making such a show, they're directly accountable to these projects.

And if they're helping to find ways to partially fund these projects through the infrastructure bank and not by a subsidy or writing a cheque then that's a win too.

In my opinion navigating through other businesses bureaucracy can be frustrating and wastes a lot of time. If this helps that along then good.

That is not what has occurred with the projects identified thus far. None has faced regulatory delay. Again what is 5he purpose of this office or C5?

 

[trtcttc]

That is not what has occurred with the projects identified thus far. None has faced regulatory delay. Again what is 5he purpose of this office or C5?

C5 hasn't been used for any of these. The office has so far been a PR stunt. These projects were not facing delay and I don't see how a new government office is any better than existing consultants at federal/provincial requirements. Mainly that the employees in this office undoubtedly come from these same government agencies or consultants anyways.
The only project I see C5 being useful for is the West coast pipeline, and its unclear if the Feds are willing to push aside the tanker ban to make it happen.

 

[Albertasaurus]

It seems to me that the whole thing is more of an exercise in optics than anything else. And in that sense, I suppose at least the current PM is putting forward a narrative of wanting to remove obstacles and get things done, which is in contrast with his predecessor.

 

[trtcttc]

This was posted in the West District thread, sorry not sure how to cross quote. But CNRL unveiled $15B in new investment. It's weird they didn't include any of this in the projects list as that will help with making it look more regionally balanced.

Another quantum leap: CNRL unveils over $15B in oil sands expansions | Oil Sands Magazine

As part of their Investor Open House last Friday, Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL) announced plans to kick-off front-end engineering on four oil sands expansion projects in 2026.

www.oilsandsmagazine.com

 

[CBBarnett]

Another possibility is that all the red tape wasn't actually the critical path for investment decisions as much as critics/proponents claimed - market demand and price factors overwhelm the relative burden of regulation in many cases.

Or it's only been 6 months in of a minority government, in globally slowing economy fraught with risks. The government's tone is all that's measurable 6 months in, and it seems like the right tone to set to see some action on the big stuff. Time will tell how much of this actually bears fruit (but realistically, it's on the scale of 5 to 10 years, not 6 months).

Overall though, it's great we are focusing on "getting stuff done" by collapsing process steps and driving for faster decisions and more certainty. All net good things, heading in the right direction. But bureaucracy isn't the only thing that prevents major projects from happening. Expectations that any reforms would instantaneous unlock a capital project boom should be managed.

This was posted in the West District thread, sorry not sure how to cross quote. But CNRL unveiled $15B in new investment. It's weird they didn't include any of this in the projects list as that will help with making it look more regionally balanced.

Another quantum leap: CNRL unveils over $15B in oil sands expansions | Oil Sands Magazine

As part of their Investor Open House last Friday, Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL) announced plans to kick-off front-end engineering on four oil sands expansion projects in 2026.

www.oilsandsmagazine.com

I see this differently, the fact that there isn't just a straight regional distribution suggests they are actually interested in highlighting something that isn't just about votes and government investment. Perhaps it's true they are interested in things like feasibility, readiness and over-arching national objectives, as opposed to a list that's more directly linked to local vote chasing or adding every big project that exists to a list.

The fact the map is not covered in dots everywhere is notable because they could have easily done that if they wanted to - every city and region has a ton of "major" projects going on, many with big federal involvement or funding.

 

[trtcttc]

Another possibility is that all the red tape wasn't actually the critical path for investment decisions as much as critics/proponents claimed - market demand and price factors overwhelm the relative burden of regulation in many cases.

Or it's only been 6 months in of a minority government, in globally slowing economy fraught with risks. The government's tone is all that's measurable 6 months in, and it seems like the right tone to set to see some action on the big stuff. Time will tell how much of this actually bears fruit (but realistically, it's on the scale of 5 to 10 years, not 6 months).

Overall though, it's great we are focusing on "getting stuff done" by collapsing process steps and driving for faster decisions and more certainty. All net good things, heading in the right direction. But bureaucracy isn't the only thing that prevents major projects from happening. Expectations that any reforms would instantaneous unlock a capital project boom should be managed.


I see this differently, the fact that there isn't just a straight regional distribution suggests they are actually interested in highlighting something that isn't just about votes and government investment. Perhaps it's true they are interested in things like feasibility, readiness and over-arching national objectives, as opposed to a list that's more directly linked to local vote chasing or adding every big project that exists to a list.

The fact the map is not covered in dots everywhere is notable because they could have easily done that if they wanted to - every city and region has a ton of "major" projects going on, many with big federal involvement or funding.

View attachment 696295

The projects seem a bit random, almost all of them are existing (not surprising as a proposal doesn't get made in 6 months), but some like the Nunavut project is more of a concept. And it's unclear if there's really any regulatory hurdles as the office is very light on specifics. Meanwhile, there's $15B of fully funded projects that the feds don't care at all about.

 

[darwink]

Isn't the point of the Major Projects Office to find ways to smooth over regulatory hurdles? Instead it seems to have morphed into yet another avenue for government financing. The last thing the economy needs is more stimulus on top of the hyper-stimulted mega stimulus.

One way to do its work is before a project could access money from 5 pots, it had to navigate 5 pots, now the office can help pathfinder for which pots are best.

And yeah, one reason projects took so long is regulatory processes cost money, and are industry funded, and investors chose (whether knowingly or not) to do slower, cheaper, sequential processes instead of faster, expensive, simultaneous processes.

 

[darwink]

Another possibility is that all the red tape wasn't actually the critical path for investment decisions as much as critics/proponents claimed - market demand and price factors overwhelm the relative burden of regulation in many cases.

It was, but it was also vibes. and once the vibes were off, anyone could be part of the in crowd by parroting the same line.

The oil patch, especially small explorers ands producers, are so deep into the vibes are off feeling, that there doesn't seem to be a way to recover.