OTTAWA — The major projects office has seconded employees from banks, oil and gas companies and mining firms as it pursues its mandate to improve Canada’s review process and get shovels in the ground faster, a new document shows. The list of 41 employees was released Tuesday by the federal government after it initially balked at making the information public. Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs have for months pressed Ottawa to reveal the list, citing concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Ottawa initially refused to disclose the list and federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson last week accused opposition MPs of peddling “conspiracy theories” when he was asked to reveal it. A copy of the list obtained by The Canadian Press on Tuesday, first reported on by The Toronto Star, includes one employee from the Bank of Montreal, two from RBC and one from Scotiabank. The list also includes four staffers from the Yukon goverment and one each from the governments of British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Other companies that have lent employees include ATCO EnPower, railways CN and CPKC, mining company BHP Canada, Ledcor, the Pembina Pipeline Corporation, TC Energy, the TransAlta Corporation, Torys law firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers and QSI Finance Canada. Federal institutions also have staff on loan to the office, including nine from the Canada Energy Regulator, two from the Trans Mountain Corporation and one each from the RCMP, the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canada Development Investment Corporation. Opposition MPs have been asking about potential conflicts in the major projects office for months, after the Globe and Mail reported the office was recruiting from Bay Street. Staff from the major projects office have said the federal government has had an interchange program since the 1970s to bring in private-sector employees with specific expertise, and reimburses their employers for part of their salaries. Those officials have insisted their employees are not in conflicts and that they’ve been cleared by human resources in the Privy Council Office. At a meeting of the House of Commons committee on the environment last month, major projects office CEO Dawn Farrell told MPs that senior officials like her consult the parliamentary ethics commissioner, while other employees have “been cleared” through human resources in the Privy Council Office. “There are no conflicts of interest with these employees,” Farrell said, responding to questions from Conservative MP Branden Leslie. “It’s all been cleared. It’s all been cleared. We clear every single employee, and they have to sign disclosures, and they have to disclose which areas where they might be conflicted, and they cannot work on any projects where there are conflicts.” Still, at least one MP isn’t convinced. Speaking to The Canadian Press from COP31 in Turkey, Bloc Québécois MP Patrick Bonin said the list further fuelled his concerns that the number of staff brought in from the Canada Energy Regulator and oil and gas companies is pushing energy priorities within the major projects office. “We’re left with a government that chose to hide the fact that oil and gas companies literally have their hand in the Canadian state,” Bonin said in French. “At the core of this (major projects office) is the largest oil and gas lobbyists in Canada, who already had no credibility. A five-year-old would understand at which point there’s the appearance of a conflict of interest.” A senior government source also shared a copy of the major projects office’s purported “conflict of interest framework.” It outlines that the office’s conflict of interest policies follow that of the Treasury Board Secretariat, which requires employees to disclose conflicts. It also says employees are required to “protect non-public Government of Canada information.” In a statement, a spokesperson for Intergovernmental Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the government has “full confidence” in the standard set out in the framework. “The Build Canada Exchange Program has for more than 50 years helped attract Canadians with a variety of experiences and skill sets to contribute to the Government of Canada’s mission,” the spokesperson said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2026. Nick Murray, The Canadian Press
