441-00520 (Natural resources and energy)

Canada’s natural resource sectors have played a major role in Canada’s economic success and its prosperity. The traditional resource industries – oil and gas, mining and forestry— have been and continue to be extremely important to Canada’s economy. These industries support a significant portion of economic activities and directly and indirectly employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians.

The Government of Canada recognizes that a secure and prosperous future depends on a sustainable energy sector, one that provides affordable, reliable, and clean energy to Canadian families, businesses, and industries, and export products and technologies around the world.  The Government of Canada also recognizes that a real and effective transition to a more sustainable energy future must be one that ensures a cleaner environment and significant opportunities to Canadian workers.

Canada’s oil and gas sector has made its own net-zero commitments. At COP26, the government announced that Canada will cap and cut emissions from the sector in line with Canada’s climate targets. Companies are actively investing in the development and deployment of emissions reduction technologies, services and products. These efforts will help lead to a cleaner energy future and a stronger economy, poised to seize low-carbon opportunities. The Government will continue to work with carbon-intensive industries to achieve our net-zero targets, and will remain a strong advocate for a clean energy transition built on Canada’s non-emitting power advantage.

The Government of Canada is also committed to moving forward with comprehensive action – including legislation – to support workers and communities in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Natural Resources Canada is supporting job growth through ambitious projects and programs in energy, forestry and mining, in every region of Canada. Natural Resources Canada is also working with Employment and Social Development Canada to look at areas of growth in natural resources sectors, and how to retrain workers to address labour market shortages in emerging clean growth areas.

In July 2021, public consultations were launched on proposed just transition legislation with a broad range of stakeholders; this has largely been completed. The proposed legislation will be guided by the feedback received from the consultations and a “What we Heard” report will be published to inform Canadians of the views that were shared.

The Government of Canada understands the importance of the country’s natural resources to Canadians, providing jobs and opportunities that contribute to local communities, and the national economy. Canada will continue to play a key role in supplying the world’s future energy needs, as Canadians work towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The Government of Canada recognizes that the energy sector has a significant role to play and a strong energy sector will help to ensure that the environment is protected as it drives economic growth. Canada is well positioned to provide the world with the cleanest, cutting-edge innovations, while creating good jobs for Canadians, not just now but for decades to come.

Ongoing and proposed federal support to Canada’s energy sector includes:

• Investing $1.5 billion in the Clean Fuels Fund, to support the build out of new domestic production capacity for clean fuels (e.g. renewable natural gas, hydrogen, advanced ethanol, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuels), the establishment of sustainable biomass supply chains, and the development of essential binational codes and standards.
• Developing a carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) strategy to cut industrial emissions, including the introduction of a refundable investment tax credit for businesses that incur eligible CCUS expenses (starting in 2022), and investing $319 million over seven years to support research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) to advance the commercial viability of CCUS technologies.
• Launching the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada, which lays out an ambitious framework to help cement hydrogen’s role in reducing emissions and leading to economic benefits across Canada while also positioning Canada as a leader in hydrogen. Vast natural resources endow Canada with a competitive advantage in the production of clean hydrogen.
• Investing $600 million to expand the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program, which supports smart renewable energy and electrical grid modernization projects to help provide essential grid services while supporting Canada’s equitable transition to an electrified economy.
• Investing $194 million to expand the Industrial Energy Efficiency Management Program, which supports ISO 50001 certification, energy managers, cohort-based training, audits, and energy efficiency focused retrofits to help Canada’s industrial sectors adopt cleaner technology.
• Establishing the Canada Growth Fund - a significant new $15 billion government investment fund that will accelerate the investment of private capital into decarbonisation and clean technology projects, help to promote the diversification of Canada’s economy and exports, play a key role in helping to meet Canada’s climate targets, and support the restructuring of critical supply chains in our natural resources sector.
• Broadening the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s (CIB) role to invest in private sector-led infrastructure projects that will accelerate Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy. This will allow the CIB to invest in small modular reactors; clean fuel production; hydrogen production, transportation and distribution; and CCUS.

On June 1, 2022, Natural Resources Canada formally launched the first phase of the Regional Energy and Resource Tables Initiative, to collaborate with provincial and territorial governments to accelerate Canada’s growth opportunities by taking into account each region’s unique advantages and ability to meet the demands of new and emerging markets.

Working in partnership with provincial and territorial governments, and engaging with Indigenous Peoples, experts and stakeholders, will form the basis for comprehensive and actionable place-based economic strategies for every region of Canada to realize a comparative advantage in a net-zero economy.

Canada has what it takes to thrive in a low-carbon world. While transforming Canada’s energy systems will take time, the Government remains committed to taking bold action to support its energy and natural resources sectors in building a cleaner, more prosperous economy that works for everyone.