Dawn Farrell, CEO of Canada’s Major Projects Office. (Photo courtesy of the Major Projects Office)
Citing a rapidly shifting global landscape, the Canadian government has launched the new Major Projects Office (MPO) in Calgary, naming former Trans Mountain president and CEO Dawn Farrell as the organization’s first CEO. The move, which was announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney last week, builds on the Building Canada Act, which Parliament passed in June.
The legislation enables the government to streamline federal approval processes to get major projects built faster, including ports, railways, energy corridors, critical mineral developments and clean energy initiatives.
The government says the focus will be on better connecting our economy, diversifying our industries, accessing new markets, and creating high-paying careers, while protecting Canada’s rigorous environmental standards and upholding the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
While headquartered in Calgary, plans are to have offices in other major Canadian cities as well, with the mandate to serve as a single point of contact to get nation-building projects built faster. It will do so in two principal ways. First, by streamlining and accelerating regulatory approval processes. Second, by helping to structure and co-ordinate financing of these projects as needed.
The MPO will help to identify projects that are in Canada’s national interest and will help fast-track their development by creating a single set of conditions, thereby reducing the approval timeline for projects of national interest to a maximum of two years. To that end, it will work with provinces and territories to achieve a “one project, one review” approach for environmental assessments. Leveraging its expertise, the MPO will also help streamline approvals for all major projects across government, not just those designated under the Building Canada Act.
The MPO will work to attract domestic and global capital to these major projects and help structure and co-ordinate financing from the private sector, provincial and territorial partners, and government initiatives, including the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Canada Growth Fund, and the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program.
The MPO’s chief executive officer, Farrell, brings four decades of experience in Canada’s energy sector, including as president, CEO, and board chair of Trans Mountain Corporation, president and CEO of TransAlta Corporation, and as a senior executive at BC Hydro.
The MPO will also receive the expert advice of an Indigenous Advisory Council. The membership of the council will be confirmed in the coming weeks, and will be comprised of representatives from First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Modern Treaty and Self-Governing partners.
Over the summer, the Prime Minister convened meetings with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis rights holders to engage Indigenous leadership on their priorities and the opportunities for equity ownership and resource management of major projects. As legislated in the Building Canada Act, partnership and consultation with Indigenous Peoples is central to the work of the MPO, and the government’s broader mission to build major infrastructure faster.
According to figures provided by the federal government, the MPO is providing $40 million over two years to increase the capacity of Indigenous Peoples to engage early and consistently on major projects, and the federal government is also expanding the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program from $5 billion to $10 billion.
“Canada has always been a nation of builders, from the St. Lawrence Seaway to Expo 67. At this hinge moment in our history, Canada must draw on this legacy and act decisively to transform our economy from reliance to resilience,” stated Carney. “We are moving at a speed not seen in generations to build ports, railways, energy grids – the major projects that will unlock Canada’s full economic potential and build Canada strong. I am thrilled that Dawn Farrell, one of Canada’s most experienced executives, is stepping up to help lead this vital priority.”
A recent Statistics Canada study suggested that regulatory requirements in Canada increased by 2.1 per cent per year from 2006 to 2021. That 37 per cent increase correlates to with a nine per cent reduction in business sector investment.
“The Major Projects Office represents a transformative shift in how we deliver vital infrastructure projects,” said Dominic LeBlanc, president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy. “Canada needs to build here at home at speeds not seen in generations. By working closely with provincial, territorial and Indigenous governments to streamline and simplify approval processes, the office will help diversify our trading relationships, strengthen our position as an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy and promote Canada’s long-term economic prosperity.”
