“One Year of Nation Building: Looking Back, Moving Forward” Keynote Address by Minister Tim Hodgson
Press Release
From: Natural Resources Canada
April 24, 2026
Introduction
Good morning everyone, bonjour à tous.
Thank you to the Empire Club for having me.
A year ago today, Canadians were four days away from casting our ballots in an election that – I believe – marked a turning point in this country.
It had been a tumultuous period in Ottawa, across the country, and around the world.
For the first time in decades, the question of Canada’s survival felt truly existential. From coast to coast to coast, Canadians were asking ourselves, not only “Who are we?” but “Who do we want to be?” and “How do we survive or even thrive in a world without free trade?”
For a year now, we have been answering these questions, together, as one nation. A nation with a proud identity and unique history. A nation with a distinct set of challenges, but also one with an unmatched resource base and the foundation to do some truly great things.
But a foundation does not a house make.
That is why our government – and especially my job as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources – has, in many ways, one singular mission: to build Canada Strong.
For too long, we felt overly secure in the hand we had been dealt: abundant resources, a world order generous to middle powers like Canada and a social safety net that provided a decent quality of life for most Canadians.
To return to the house metaphor for a moment, perhaps most of all, we enjoyed the tranquillity of the neighbourhood in which we grew up, with a neighbour to our south who cooperated with us, helped protect us and shared generously with us.
It is now clear that the world has changed. Economic integration – once a strength – has been weaponized against us. It is time to stop relying on Neighbourhood Watch and install our own security systems.
On April 28, 2025, Canadians told us – and each other – one very clear thing: they no longer wanted to be complacent about the neighbourhood or the world we live in.
They wanted a government that would not just govern Canada, but protect and fight for it.
Canadians also knew that, while legitimate and important, we had to put our internal differences aside – because if we were divided, we could be conquered.
Canadians are now prepared to see this country and the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. We are leading a whole coalition of nations looking to do just that: to build strategic autonomy in a world where great powers feel unbound by rules, traditions and economic norms.
I think it is safe to say that, over the past year, we have rethought almost everything about our place in the world.
I hope you feel like your federal government has been doing that with you – and that you know that we have your back in this new world, which often feels dangerous and uncertain.
Just a week after I was sworn into Prime Minister Carney’s Cabinet as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, I flew to Calgary and gave a speech in a room not too dissimilar to this one.
I said Canada needed to stop admiring its advantages and start using them… because energy and natural resources do not make us prosperous when they are sitting in the ground.
I said a country does not become more sovereign simply by saying it wants to be more sovereign. We do it by thinking and acting like a country that knows how to build things for itself.
That means we need to build a Canada defined by delivery, not delay.
That, in many ways, has been the organizing idea behind my first year as Minister.
When I took office, the thought of building big things like we used to again felt nearly impossible. We were mired in slow bureaucracy; duplicative, overcomplicated permitting and regulatory processes; and apathy.
We still have a lot to do. But a year later, it no longer feels impossible.
One Year of Nation Building: 2025–2026
Let me speak plainly about what we have done over the past year to transform Canada.
The first thing we needed to do was improve the federal government’s ability to move with clarity, purpose and speed. That is why standing up the Major Projects Office was so important.
Too often, it is assumed that the problem in Canada is that we have overly high standards. On the contrary – I believe our standards are a strength. They build social licence and mean we do things right the first time around.
But the path to achieving and evaluating these standards across government departments was fragmented, duplicative, and difficult to navigate. It made public and private sectors alike feel like even the best projects and ideas would be crushed under the weight of bureaucracy.
Launched last August – just a few months after we passed the Building Canada Act – the Major Projects Office attacks this exact problem.
It creates a clear path, a one-stop-shop for proponents and a place in the federal government that represents our laser-focused mission to get big things built.
We have now referred 15 projects and six transformative strategies to the Office, representing $126 billion in investment. And we are just getting started.
That matters because one of the quiet but damaging habits Canada had developed over the years was a tendency to speak in general terms about growth, while hesitating to act on specifics.
But countries do not become stronger by speaking generally. They become stronger by making concrete decisions about real projects. That is exactly what we are doing at the MPO.
That same focus on practicality and specifics has shaped our work with the provinces, especially when it came to signing a first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta.
The Canada-Alberta MOU matters because it signalled something simple but powerful: not only do Canada and Alberta share the goal of being a clean and conventional energy superpower, but we are prepared to put politics aside to achieve it.
I was in the room when the MOU was signed. It was incredibly powerful to watch Albertans – with tears of joy and relief in their eyes – express that they once again felt like they had a place in Canada. It was an expression of the best of what Canada has to offer: diverse perspectives working toward a more united, prosperous nation.
We continue to work hard on a daily basis on agreements on carbon pricing and the Pathways Project, and we look forward to receiving Alberta’s pipeline proposal and finalizing a framework for AI data centres by July 1st. Early wins from the MOU include signing an agreement on methane emissions and on “One Project, One Review” – less than three years after we were fighting over environmental assessments at the Supreme Court.
And there is more good news. We have moved faster on “One Project, One Review” than any government in Canadian history. We have worked province by province to make progress on agreements that reflect realistic yet ambitious goals and standards in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, in addition to our existing agreement with B.C.
It has been less than 12 months. But ladies and gentlemen, Canada is building.
Ksi Lisims LNG – a $30-billion, Indigenous-led project with emissions 94 percent below the global average – proved the point of “One Project, One Review” when it was approved by B.C. at 4 p.m. and by the federal government at 4:30 pm the same day.
The last time a new uranium mine was approved for construction in Canada was in 2004. In the first two months of 2026, we approved two new mines, which, together, will produce enough uranium to power 40 million homes.
Let me repeat that: 40 million homes. That is more than double the number of homes we have in Canada.
That is the scale of energy our allies need. It puts cards in our hand when we sit down at a negotiation table.
We approved the Taylor to Gordondale pipeline expansion, which will significantly reduce our reliance on other countries for the diluent that moves our oil to market.
We approved this not only because it is a good project, but because we are no longer afraid of the “p” word – because we recognize that projects should be about prosperity, not politics.
Now, I am excited to announce another pipeline project approval, for the Sunrise Expansion in B.C.
This project — owned by Enbridge and 38 First Nations – is approved as of today and scheduled to start construction this summer. It will provide up to 300 million cubic feet per day of additional transportation capacity on British Columbia’s major natural gas transmission system.
This will enable us to heat more homes, businesses, hospitals and schools in B.C., in addition to providing gas for electric power generation and industrial and manufacturing processes. This expansion ensures British Columbia has enough gas supply as LNG export facilities like Woodfibre LNG – which will be the first net-zero LNG facility in the world – come online.
Sunrise will add more than $3 billion to Canada’s GDP and generate over $700 million in tax revenue for new roads, hospitals and schools in B.C. At peak construction, it will create 2,500 jobs, including for local Indigenous communities, with whom Enbridge has been working on this project. In fact, to date, more than $52 million has already been spent by Enbridge on the hiring and procuring of services from Indigenous businesses.
These are not random examples. They represent a broader change in Canada’s posture. For too long, we became accustomed to mistaking delay for seriousness.
But seriousness is not measured by how long a country takes to make decisions. It is measured by whether those decisions are thoughtful, credible and made in a timeframe that actually matters.
The same larger story can be seen in our work to diversify trade and exports.
For years, Canada talked about turning our immense gas resources into the ability to be a major global LNG exporter. Last summer, the first LNG cargo left Canada for Asia – marking a new era of Canadian energy exports.
Since then, we have also reset our relationships with China and India, the second- and fourth-largest markets on earth.
These are two markets we had previously left untapped for other countries to supply. Now, we are opening these enormous markets up to thousands of Canadian farmers, miners, energy producers and small businesses.
And the Prime Minister is far from finished. In less than twelve months, he has signed 20 new deals on four continents, touching almost every sector of the economy, so Canadian companies grow here and international companies invest here.
Our determination to build can also be seen in the critical minerals sector.
Right now, global production and processing are concentrated and controlled by hegemonic powers in a way that poses a problem for our economy and our national security.
It does not have to be that way. We have the rocks the world wants beneath our feet, and one of the world’s best mining sectors, right here in Canada.
We are now moving urgently to use these resources to create capacity to produce and process critical minerals domestically. That matters not only for our economic growth and resilience, but also because when we put cards in our hand that others want, it gives us influence on the world stage and in trade negotiations.
To that end, in 2025, we used our G7 Presidency to launch the Critical Minerals Production Alliance.
Over the last six months since its official launch, we have announced 56 deals with every G7 country, plus Finland, Denmark, Australia, Estonia, Luxembourg and Ukraine. These deals unlock $18.5 billion in Canadian projects – real dollars for real minerals, that will soon be sold in global markets.
The same broader understanding has shaped our work in the forest sector, which I often say was really the canary in the coalmine when it comes to American tariffs.
It is said that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Well, I spent part of my childhood in a forestry town – and unfortunately, I saw first-hand that that is exactly what we have been doing, as we faced five different tariff wars with the Americans, which have devastated Canadian towns from coast to coast.
That is why our strategy is about pivoting to grow. Our goal for Canada’s forest sector is not only for the sector to survive but thrive again, in every one of the 300 rural and Indigenous communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods.
The U.S. market is not how we unlock that. Instead, we are looking to new international partners who are hungry for Canadian wood, and baking that into the deals we are signing. In fact, in January, when I was in China with the Prime Minister, one of the major areas of trade collaboration we agreed on was forest products – opening a new market for Canadian producers.
We are also pivoting inwards. That is not inherently a bad thing, despite some traditional orthodoxy. I believe strongly that the Canadian forest sector should benefit more from Canadian customers and Canadian customers should benefit more from the Canadian forest sector.
These were the two challenges I gave the federal Forest Sector Transformation Task Force when they started their work in January. Last week, I received their report… and I am excited to announce it will inform a targeted, new national Forest Strategy, which we are developing in partnership with the provinces, territories, and Indigenous Peoples, and which I look forward to sharing with Canadians later this year.
Building on our foundation – 2026 and beyond
I am proud of the work this government has done to build Canada strong so far. But if we can meet our goals in just a year, they were not ambitious enough.
Friends, the stakes are only rising – something the volatility in the Middle East over the last two months has brought into very sharp focus for us all.
That means the next phase of our work to build Canada strong will be even more important.
So, as I did in Calgary one year ago, I am going to spell out my Year Two goals as your Energy Minister and ask you – and all Canadians – to hold me accountable.
First, Canada needs a coherent strategy for electricity and nuclear energy – because every major ambition we have, from AI to advanced manufacturing to mineral processing, depends on reliable and affordable electricity. By this time next year, not only will these strategies be announced, but they will be in their implementation phases.
Second, we need to keep moving projects from approval to final investment decision, construction, and, ultimately, production. In spring 2027, you will see projects not just having been added to the Major Projects Office, but at least five to ten new projects having reached FID or broken ground.
Third, I want our energy and natural resources sectors to play the strategically important role they can – as Canada’s strongest cards – in the CUSMA renegotiation.
I spent my whole life doing deals. Ultimately, it is about knowing which cards are your best, and playing them effectively. Energy, electricity, forest products, minerals… these are our best cards.
Fourth, we need to complete the practical work underway on the Canada-Alberta MOU. Yes, that includes the upcoming steps in the discussion on a new west coast pipeline – a project that could add an average of $31.4 billion to our GDP every year for the next decade, equivalent to increasing Canada’s GDP by 1.1 percent annually.
But equally importantly, it also includes work to unlock a step-change in the carbon intensity of Canada’s oil sands and take a massive step towards net zero through the Pathways Project – a project that, as Premier Smith said when we spoke on a panel together at CERAWeek in Houston, will “future-proof” our oil industry.
The MOU also includes plans for nuclear and AI data centres in Alberta, and new export infrastructure across western Canada. It resets how we think about Indigenous participation in natural resource projects. It is all those pieces that make the MOU so important – for Alberta and for Canada.
Fifth, and most importantly, I want it to be clear to each and every person in this country that their life is better in Spring 2027 than in the spring of 2026.
Safer. More affordable. More optimistic.
The plans that I am describing are mostly long-term. That is just the nature of the industries for which I am responsible, and the scale of the national challenge in front of us. However, I believe, in many ways, this is actually an antidote to the political quick fixes, click-bait and Band-Aid solutions that governments of many stripes have employed for years.
At the same time, we know that you need to be able to get a good job, buy a nice home, and afford your groceries today. Not tomorrow. The Prime Minister gets that. Your government gets that.
That is why we cancelled the GST for first-time homebuyers, the consumer carbon price and the federal excise tax on gas and diesel until Labour Day.
It is why you will get the first Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit in your bank account on July 5.
It is why we cut taxes for 22 million Canadians.
Because that is really what government is about: the hard, steady, practical work of making Canadians’ lives better tomorrow than they are today. That means not only delivering on the big, long-term things, but bridging Canadians to that better future right now.
Conclusion
History – and for those of you closer to my age, experience – tells us that nations are tested not when everything is going well, but when crisis strikes.
That is when you find out whether a country still knows how to act on its advantages
I believe Canada does. Over the last year, I have seen it with my own eyes.
Our government is honoured to play its part.
But in a democracy, a government is only as inspired and ambitious as the people from whom it gets its mandate.
I believe that Canadians are ready to make tough decisions, build big things, and take seriously the responsibility that comes with our resources, our geography, and our position in the world.
We understand with newfound clarity that the privilege of economic strength is not something future generations of Canadians will automatically inherit, but something each generation must renew for the Canadians that will follow them.
Today, I see a Canada that will no longer be seen as a commentator, or a caretaker of a world order that has ceased to exist.
Canada is now a leader of a new world order that moves past clear-eyed idealism to operate with clear-eyed pragmatism and effectiveness.
I am grateful for the opportunity to look back on our first year of service to Canadians with you today.
But if I can leave you with one thing, it is not something to look back on for today.
It is what we all want our children and grandchildren to look back on when they judge how we met this moment.
Simply put, my hope for them is they will see that when the world changed, this generation of Canadians did not yearn for times past or languish in nostalgia.
Instead, we got to work and built Canada Strong. For us, and – most importantly – for them.
Thank you. Merci.
IBF5
