B.C. fast-tracking 18 mining and energy projects in face of U.S. tariff threat

A wind turbine is shown at a wind farm near Pincher Creek, Alta., March 9, 2016. The British Columbia government says it is working to expedite roughly $20 billion worth of energy and critical mineral projects in order to increase employment and draw investment at a time that Canada faces the threat of tariffs from the United States. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The British Columbia government has released a list of 18 critical mineral and energy projects worth roughly $20 billion that it said it’s working to accelerate in the face of ongoing tariff threats from the United States.

The list contains mining projects that have received pushback from some B.C. and Alaskan First Nations groups, including Eskay Creek, Highland Valley and Red Chris mines.

The Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation said in November that it would not give its consent to expand the Highland Valley Copper Mine, southwest of Kamloops, because the impact would be “neither reasonable nor sustainable” and the mine has already harmed its ancestral lands and water.

That is in contrast to the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation in June last year when they announced a positive final investment in the Cedar LNG Project, a floating liquefied natural gas facility on the west coast that is also on the government’s list for expedited projects.

Cedar LNG has been opposed by environmental groups, including Environmental Defence Canada and the David Suzuki Foundation, which say new LNG infrastructure “contradicts Canada’s climate commitments.”

What the government called the “initial list” is made up of projects that already have developed business cases but still need some type of permit or approval from government.

In addition to four mines, there are three energy security projects, and eleven BC Hydro clean energy ventures that mostly involve wind power.

The projects will employ approximately 8,000 people in B.C. and the provincial government is working to identify other projects, the Office of the Premier said in a statement.

The release of the list comes after Premier David Eby said on Monday that the government was expediting some projects to diversify the economy, assuming there would be “four years of continual on and off tariff threats” from the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2025.

Marcy Nicholson, The Canadian Press