Energy Corridors: The Answer to Canada’s Energy Security Problems or Multi-Billion Dollar Road to Nowhere?

Plans for nation-spanning pipelines and power lines will either unite the country or cause further divisions.

Canada can no longer afford to keep the lights on by relying on its trusty playbook of maintaining siloed regional utilities, selling resources to a southern offtaker at the expense of its provincial neighbours, and coasting by on its serendipitous geology and geography. For a nation rich in abundant oil, gas, hydro, wind, solar, and critical minerals, we have somehow shot wide on an empty net. We have allowed this supercharged resource portfolio to fracture into incompatible energy kingdoms where power lines encounter resistance at provincial borders, we can’t refine the raw products we extract, and proposed energy infrastructure projects face labyrinthine regulatory hurdles that have left countless projects spinning their wheels at the starting line. The idea of uniting the country with nation-spanning energy corridors, enabling the optimized distribution of domestic molecules, megawatts, and free trade from coast to (almost) coast is certainly enticing. It feels like the kind of nation-building cooperation we need in these unprecedented times.

Recent high-profile events have exposed the vulnerabilities in Canada’s energy security, sovereignty, and resiliency systems. On a –45°C night last January, an emergency SMS from the AESO lit up Albertans’ phones, directing them to immediately curtail their personal power use to stave off rolling blackouts. This was a stark reminder that extreme weather events are stretching our power infrastructure to its breaking point. The massive upheaval to global trade caused by the United States has reminded us how risky it is to depend on a single customer for our most valuable resources. Given the increased prevalence of extreme weather events causing wildfires and droughts, and their impact on transmission grids and hydro reservoirs, Canadians have a right to expect a more resilient approach to energy security that extends beyond provincial borders. These are high-stakes problems that demand decisions we can no longer afford to ignore.

After decades of false starts on cross-country energy infrastructure, Canadian leaders have woken up and chosen action. PM Carney is sitting down with provincial premiers to hash out a plan for a national trade and energy corridor, including a proposed $5B Trade Diversification Corridor Fund to help build a pipeline that will transport hydrocarbons from their production in Alberta to their refinement in Ontario. If we aspire to be an energy superpower, this kind of federal-provincial cooperation will be needed on the road to economic sovereignty.

The reality of the East-West Energy Corridor project materialized in mid-August when the Ontario Government, acting as flag bearer for the burgeoning Alberta-Saskatchewan-Ontario partnership, called on Canadian companies to leverage their engineering, construction, and commercial expertise to evaluate the feasibility of the project. The provinces and federal government are seeking a comprehensive evaluation of corridor options, including route optimization, port siting consideration, engineering and environmental parameters, Indigenous participation & equity strategies, capital and lifecycle cost analysis, risk mitigation strategies, and adjacent development opportunities.

Similarly, a pan-regional electrical corridor could follow in a future phase, though increasing electrical interconnections between neighbouring hydropower and hydrocarbon power grids with associated supply commitments would likely make more sense. Baseload fossil-fuel grids in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick optimizing supply with hydropower grids in B.C., Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland would be a significant step in increasing system resiliency and reducing Canada’s overall electricity carbon footprint.

AtkinsRéalis is one of the companies putting together a plan to ensure an energy corridor will be developed responsibly. The project will require a holistic approach, considering the needs of all environs and stakeholders, improving on the patchwork efforts of the past. These pipeline and powerline analyses will be undertaken to ensure these projects benefit and respect the rights of all stakeholders, not least of which are Canadian taxpayers who count on their government to make responsible decisions. The time for a new nation-building project has never been better, because the need has never been greater.

Make no mistake, the challenges facing energy corridors cannot be underestimated, testing both technical expertise and political will. Pipelines, transmission lines, and LNG terminals fast-tracked under national interest legislation cannot come at the expense of local consent. This alliance of politicians who pride themselves on getting things done insist this type of project will tear down provincial trade barriers and provide Canada some long overdue economic sovereignty. These plans demand big things built faster, shortening approval timelines, and fast-tracking regional buy-in in the process. The governments involved are serious about proceeding, and we need to ensure we don’t bypass the necessary consultation in our haste to achieve these goals.

Canadians must decide whether we will remain divided into energy islands, each province out for itself, or whether there is the will to join hands and finally take the political and economic leap to secure our collective energy future. An energy corridor, if proven by our technical experts to be our best choice for bolstering our energy security and resilience, will either unite the nation or reveal how deep our regional divisions truly are.