From pipelines, to railways and AI: Ottawa pitches 167 projects ahead of Carney's investment summit

A floating LNG terminal on B.C.'s coast, a high-speed rail line between Edmonton and Calgary and a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Ocean are among 167 possible investment opportunities Prime Minister Mark Carney will show off at next week's investment summit in Toronto.

The projects are outlined in a 66-page "prospectus" obtained by CBC News, which gives the most detailed look yet at the investment opportunities Ottawa and Canadian business leaders plan to showcase at the summit.

The Sept. 14 and 15 gathering, hosted by the prime minister in partnership with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, will bring together deep-pocketed international investors and Canadian business leaders in hopes of drumming up $1 trillion in investment.

CBC News previously reported that invitations went out to some of the world's biggest investment firms and sovereign wealth funds as part of a broader push to attract capital at a time of trade upheaval and geopolitical uncertainty.

With the U.S.-Canada trade war escalating, the government is also under pressure to deepen economic ties beyond the United States.

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The document groups the pitches into eight areas of investment: 11 conventional energy projects, 31 clean energy projects, 63 in mining and metals, 16 in marine and port infrastructure, 11 in power and utilities, 10 in digital technology, 19 in advanced manufacturing and six transportation projects.

Each pitch highlights the project's current stage, the capital expenditure needed and the kind of investment being sought to help it get built.

Some of the priciest projects on the list include a $57 billion US expansion of the Port of Churchill; a $44 billion investment in Nova Scotia's Wind West offshore wind project, led by the province; the proposed $35 billion West Coast Oil Pipeline, which would carry oil from Alberta to B.C.'s coast; and the $28.5 billion Ksi Lisims LNG terminal project.

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Other projects include a float glass manufacturing facility in Manitoba, expanded manufacturing capacity for night-vision technology used in defence and satellite technology for Earth observation, along with the long list of infrastructure projects.

Absent from the list are the Alto high-speed rail project, which would run between Toronto and Quebec City and has received pushback over the land expropriation it would require, and any plans to privatize airports, which Carney's government has been weighing.

Some projects are also closer to reality than others. The Ksi Lisims project, for example, is described as "fully permitted and shovel ready," while a critical-mineral graphite project in Saskatchewan is listed as being in the preliminary stages of economic and environmental assessment.

The prospectus spells out plans for a $57 billion US expansion to the Port of Churchill. Upgrades to Canada's only deepwater Arctic seaport would include a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export corridor, rail upgrades and other modernization aimed at establishing a "four-season trade gateway."

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For Alberta, the prospectus spells out a $10.9 billion plan for a high-speed passenger rail line linking Calgary and Edmonton. The document says trains would reach speeds of more than 300 kilometres per hour, completing the trip in about 90 minutes.

For the oil and gas sector, plans include a $35 billion, 1,250-kilometre-long oil pipeline connecting Alberta crude production to a deepwater export terminal in southern British Columbia.

The document also includes a $2.1 billion US proposal for Calgary-based South Bow's Prairie Connector pipeline expansion. The proposal would add 380 kilometres of new pipeline to transport Canadian crude to U.S. refining markets in the Midwest. Prairie Connector would use parts of the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline previously built on the Canadian side of the border. 

A grain vessel at the Port of Churchill on Monday, Aug. 31. An expansion of the port is one of the projects included in the prospectus for the summit. (Josh Crabb/CBC)

For natural gas, the document includes a $28.5 billion pitch for the floating Ksi Lisims LNG export facility on the B.C. coast. Currently, 99 per cent of Canada's natural gas exports are destined for the United States. Amid ongoing trade tension, Carney's government has sought to diversify the pool of buyers for Canada's energy exports.

In clean energy, the federal government is attempting to sell investors on access to "the world's cleanest and most reliable energy systems." Proposals span nuclear power generation in New Brunswick, carbon capture in Saskatchewan, and wind power and green hydrogen in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Aside from natural resources and hard infrastructure, the document frames Canada as a pioneer in artificial intelligence, with a national strategy dating back to 2017. 

Investment opportunities in this sector include a $14.5 billion data centre near Medicine Hat, Alta., along with several smaller data centre projects. The prospectus also offers investors an opportunity to invest in Toronto-based Xanadu Quantum Technologies, which makes quantum computers powered by light instead of electricity.