Energy Mandate Letter

Dear Minister,

Canadians have given us a clear mandate: to grow our economy, strengthen our sovereignty and build a country that works for everyone. They are ready to build Canada. Now, we must deliver. 

Our path forward is ambitious – and it must be. Global instability, and the accelerating pace of technological changes are testing our resilience. But Canadians are not afraid of hard work, nor are they afraid to take risks. They believe in fairness, in unity, and in building an abundant future for all Canadians. This government must match their resolve with urgency, discipline, and ambition.

I expect all Ministers to remain focused on their core mandate. Every ministry has clear goals focused on delivering better services and driving economic growth, while doing both with the efficiency and excellence Canadians deserve. That means setting clear goals, with measurable outcomes, and being relentless in execution. 

I expect Ministers to fulfill their mandates at a pace this country has not seen in recent history. Canadians expect and deserve change. It is the responsibility of our entire government to remove any roadblocks quickly and ensure the smooth and fast implementation of our priorities.

I expect you to do this by recruiting top talent, adopting best practices from around the world, and leveraging modern tools wherever possible, including artificial intelligence. Above all we must be ruthlessly pragmatic. If our policies are not achieving the results that Canadians deserve then we must change direction to achieve our goals. Through this, we can build a more modern government that delivers better results more efficiently. 

As Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, you will build Canada into an energy superpower that combines our conventional energy resources with our unlimited potential when it comes to clean, affordable energy. 

Our energy and natural resources represent our greatest global competitive advantage. Yet over the past decade, these sectors have been severely constrained by insufficient investment and the government's inability to coordinate major projects efficiently.

In addition, global investment is driving towards additional clean growth. With the uncertainty of America’s trade war, Canada’s stability makes it more attractive than ever. Canada has major untapped hydro resources, critical minerals needed for batteries, and an underdeveloped renewables sector. 

The government needs to use its power to speed up major projects. These will grow our economy, bring our products to new markets with reliable trading partners, and create good jobs.

Your mission bridges economic growth and energy sovereignty with climate action. You will position Canada to be a global energy superpower by developing our critical minerals supply chain, unlocking clean energy opportunities, streamlining project approvals, and ensuring energy security. Success will be measured by our ability to increase energy exports by 30% from 2024 levels (to $260 billion) by 2028 while simultaneously reducing the time to approve major energy and natural resource projects from five years to a maximum of two years with the first projects under this new process coming online in 2028. 

This focus on enhancing our competitive advantages in resources will strengthen our economy, create sustainable jobs, and secure our position as an energy leader in an increasingly uncertain world.

To address these challenges and build Canada's position as an energy superpower, you will:

• Accelerate critical minerals development and supply chains
  
  • Connect critical mineral projects to supply chains through a new First and Last Mile Fund (FLMF), committing support to at least 15 major projects by 2027 to make more projects viable
  • Support on-site development, processing, and refining capacity to reduce reliance on other countries, with at least 3 new integrated processing facilities online by 2028
  • Accelerate mineral exploration and extraction, including innovative recovery from mining waste and end-of-life products, with a goal of increasing critical mineral production by 40% by 2028
  • Broaden the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit by expanding qualifying minerals to include those necessary for defense, semiconductors, and clean technologies, targeting $2 billion in incremental new investment by 2027
  • Expand eligible activities under Canadian exploration expenses to include technical studies for critical minerals projects, reducing up-front risk to unlock up to $1 billion of incremental exploration investment by 2028
  • Modify the Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit to include critical mineral mine development expenses for brownfield sites, leveraging an incremental $1 billion in private investment by 2028
• Build Canada's clean energy advantages
  
  • Finalize and implement the six major clean energy investment tax credits to help catalyze $200 billion in private sector investment over five years
  • Continue leadership in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage technology, supporting at least 5 major CCUS projects with a combined capacity of 20 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2028
  • Construct an east-west electricity grid as a nation-building transmission project with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners, with construction beginning on at least three major inter-provincial connections by 2027
  • Attract investment to make Canada the best place to build data centers for AI infrastructure, securing $15 billion in new data center investments by 2026
• Streamline project approvals and reduce regulatory obstacles
  
  • Expedite project reviews for major energy infrastructure through the Major Federal Project Office, creating a one-window approach for all federal permits by end of 2025
  • Render final decisions on projects on a maximum two-year timeline, reducing approval times by 60% compared to previous frameworks
  • Implement One Project, One Review by signing Cooperation and Substitution Agreements with willing Premiers and Indigenous Governing Bodies, finalizing agreements with at least 8 provinces and 20 major Indigenous Governing Bodies by 2026
  • Reduce red tape by requiring relevant federal departments to eliminate outdated rules and streamline regulation, cutting regulatory burden by 25% by 2027
• Enhance energy security and sovereignty
  
  • Kickstart the clean energy supply chain by investing in critical minerals, connecting at least 10 major mines to processing facilities by 2027
  • Leverage the $5 billion Trade Diversification Corridors Fund to build energy export infrastructure, supporting at least 3 major energy export projects by 2028
  • Leverage the expanded $10 billion Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program to advance at least 15 energy projects in partnership with Indigenous communities by 2027
  • Safeguard Canadian resources from predatory foreign investors by strengthening the Investment Canada Act, implementing enhanced review mechanisms by end of 2025

These priorities are not just about economic growth – they are fundamental to our national sovereignty in an increasingly dangerous world. President Trump's unjustified trade war has restructured global trade, making it imperative that we secure our energy and resource advantages against those who would weaken us.

Building Canada's energy superpower status requires swift action. Within your first 100 days, I expect you to bring forward a comprehensive, specific strategy for building our critical minerals supply chain and securing faster approvals for major energy projects with details on all major projects in our pipeline. You will consult with industry leaders, Indigenous partners, and provincial governments to ensure alignment across jurisdictions. This is how we build one Canadian economy, not thirteen.

We all know that our country could be so much more than it is. We have the land, the talent, the know-how, and the energy to be the most prosperous nation on earth. And our people have a spirit that could take them anywhere they want to go.

Now let’s build it.

Signed,

Prime Minister

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Note: Italicized figures are added by Build Canada

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