Executive Leadership Roundtables

The Major Projects Office's "one project, one review" approach and two-year federal review limit are now being tested on real projects. Which approval, coordination and legal bottlenecks still stand between designation and a final investment decision?

Convening: proponents, Major Projects Office and federal officials, provinces, regulators, Indigenous partners.

Pension funds, infrastructure investors and banks at home and abroad are weighing Canada against the United States and other jurisdictions for long-cycle energy capital. Policy has shifted materially, yet hesitancy persists. What must still change for private capital to choose Canada, and how can domestic and global institutions co-invest at scale? Can buyer-nations take equity alongside offtake, as LNG Canada's Asian partners have done?

Convening: pension funds and asset managers, international infrastructure investors, global and domestic banks, strategic investors from buyer nations, producers, government, proponents.

Energy finance is increasingly state-directed. Sovereign funds, export credit agencies and allied governments are using capital as a tool of security and industrial policy, from buyer-nation equity in LNG to the $18.5 billion in Canadian mineral projects mobilized with 12 allied nations. How should Canada position itself for strategic capital, and how can these partnerships deliver commercial returns as well as strategic aims?

Convening: sovereign wealth funds, export credit agencies and development finance institutions, allied government officials, strategic investors from buyer nations, producers and proponents, federal officials.

Canada, the United States and Mexico form one of the world's most integrated energy markets, with crude, natural gas and power crossing their borders every day. As the three countries work through the CUSMA review, the case for continental energy security, a "Fortress North America", is gaining ground. What trade framework would give producers and buyers the certainty to sign long-term contracts, and how can the three countries deepen integration and collaboration across energy, critical minerals and supply chains?

Convening: producers, midstream operators, U.S. refiners and buyers, Mexican energy companies, trade officials, industry associations.

The 2026 Hormuz disruption interrupted roughly a fifth of global LNG exports, and approvals for LNG Canada Phase 2, Ksi Lisims, Cedar and Woodfibre are being accelerated. What contract terms, pricing and supply assurances will secure the buyers this next wave needs?

Convening: hosted buyers from Asia and Europe, LNG developers, Montney producers, Indigenous co-owners, shipping and trading houses.

Record earnings are driving consolidation, and takeovers of established Alberta companies are moving control of prime upstream assets. Governments are acting as equity partners, lenders and regulators at once, and even signalling a policy change can move capital. How should Canada weigh protecting its asset base against an open investment climate, and how can policy and counterparty risk be managed so long-cycle capital stays committed?

Convening: producer CEOs and boards, institutional and international investors, M&A advisors and investment banks, federal and provincial officials, regulators, legal advisors.

The Pathways trilateral MOU is advancing, and the Alberta–Ottawa agreement pairs pipeline access with industrial carbon pricing and carbon capture. What pricing and contract certainty does large-scale CCUS need to reach definitive agreements and investment decisions?

Convening: oil sands producers, CCS developers, federal and Alberta officials, carbon-market specialists, investors.

Alberta's abundant natural gas is drawing data centre developers. More than 30 projects, representing up to 21 GW of demand, have applied to connect to the grid, and Meta's announced $13 billion campus and Pembina's 932 MW Greenlight project show the gas-to-compute model taking shape. With grid capacity constrained, how far can bring-your-own-power models go? Which interim solutions can bridge the gap until new capacity arrives, where should shared hub infrastructure be built, and what other constraints stand in the way?

Convening: hyperscalers and data centre developers, gas producers, power builders, utilities, the system operator and regulator, the Alberta government.

Canada's Nuclear Energy Strategy targets up to ten new large reactors, and Darlington is set to become the G7's first commercial SMR deployment. What will it take to finance, license and build on schedule, including the first deployment outside Ontario?

Convening: utilities, reactor vendors, fuel suppliers, the nuclear regulator, provinces, industrial power users, Indigenous partners, financiers.

China refines the large majority of the world's rare earths and has shown it is willing to use export controls. Meanwhile, around $18.5 billion in Canadian mineral projects has been mobilized with 12 allied nations. How can Canada and its allies amplify processing capacity that competes, through offtake, price mechanisms or public support?

Convening: miners and refiners, manufacturers and OEMs, allied government representatives, export credit agencies, Indigenous partners.

Indigenous ownership now spans the energy system: the Haisla Nation's majority stake in Cedar LNG, 38 First Nations' share of Enbridge's Westcoast system through Stonlasec8, majority ownership of the Wataynikaneyap transmission line, a stake in Darlington's new nuclear build, and equity in Canada Nickel. How can equity be built in from day one, what governance do Nation-owned entities need, and what must global investors understand to partner with them?

Convening: Nations and Indigenous-owned investment entities, ministers, international and institutional investors, the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation and federal loan programs, lenders, and proponents.

Around three-quarters of the 72,600 energy workers Canada needs by 2035 will replace retirees, and the nuclear workforce is projected to double by 2050. Alberta faces a 15,500-worker construction shortfall before new megaprojects, as housing, infrastructure and data centres compete for the same trades. How can the sector qualify more apprentices, youth and Indigenous workers fast enough to keep projects on schedule?

Convening: CEOs and HR leaders, building-trades unions, post-secondary institutions, Indigenous training and employment organizations, governments, immigration officials.