Canada's 18 Nation-Building Megaprojects

Talks between Ottawa and Washington collapsed last week, and the US followed through with 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods starting on Saturday. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will match the tariffs "dollar for dollar" starting September 8, and called the US actions an attack, saying "you're at war when you get attacked. We got attacked."

Carney’s Major Projects Office

The MPO was launched to speed up approvals for nation-building infrastructure, ports, mines, trade corridors, and other major projects meant to unlock natural resources and reduce reliance on a single trading partner.

The key strategic sectors include electricity, mining, energy and trade infrastructure.

Carney has rolled projects out in tranches since September 2025, with the first two tranches representing more than $116 billion in investments. Dawn Farrell, the former CEO of both TransAlta and Trans Mountain, runs the office as its CEO.

What inclusion means: Being referred to the MPO gets a project "national interest" consideration and a fast-tracked federal review. Farrell described the process as "one project, one review, one decision," not automatic funding or guaranteed approval. The office is meant to compress timelines and coordinate provinces, territories and Indigenous partners rather than write the check itself.

Two of the most advanced projects on the list are LNG Canada 2 and Darlington’s new nuclear build.

The existing LNG Canada facility in Kitimat, BC, already ships 14 million tonnes of LNG a year, and its owners are now weighing a phase 2 that would double capacity, adding an estimated $33 billion in private investment.

And Ontario Power Generation is currently mid-build on the first of four small modular reactors at Darlington, with the reactor foundation complete and construction advancing on the building structure, putting Canada on track to be the first G7 country with an operating SMR by 2030.