A look at the second batch of projects being weighed by the Major Projects Office

Prime Minister Mark Carney has revealed the second batch of potentially “nation-building” infrastructure projects to be reviewed on expedited timelines, making good on his promise to make the announcement before the Grey Cup football championship this weekend. 

The projects being referred to the new Major Projects Office include an LNG export terminal and electrical transmission line in northwestern British Columbia within a proposed infrastructure corridor stretching from that region into Yukon.  

Also on the list are critical minerals mines in Ontario, Quebec and new Brunswick, and a hydro project in Nunavut. 

None of the investments being considered by the Major Projects Office have yet received a national-interest designation that would confer special treatment in permitting and approvals.

All told, the federal government says projects for consideration announced Thursday add up to $56 billion in investment. That’s on top of the $60 billion announced in the first tranche in September. 

Here is a snapshot of the latest wave of projects heading to the Major Projects Office: 

Ksi Lisims LNG 

The proposed floating liquefied natural gas project on Pearse Island, B.C., near the Alaska border is a joint venture between the Nisga’a Nation, a group of Canadian natural gas companies called Rockies LNG and Texas-based Western LNG. Documents show the project’s assets will be constructed, owned and operated by wholly owned subsidiaries of the U.S. company.

The project received B.C. government approval in tandem with a conditional green light from Ottawa in September, clearing the project to move to the next stage of seeking permits and authorizations. Some First Nations have fought the project in court. 

Ksi Lisims aims to export 12 million tonnes per year of natural gas that has been chilled into a liquid state, enabling it to be transported across the Pacific in specialized tankers. The targeted startup date is 2029. 

The project referral also includes the 800-kilometre Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project to connect gas fields in northeast B.C. to the plant, along with a 95-kilometre electrical transmission line. 

North Coast Transmission Line 

The BC Hydro project would run 450 kilometres from Prince George to Terrace, B.C.

It would supply power to Ksi Lisims and other planned industrial sites in B.C., including critical minerals mines. 

The Canada Infrastructure Bank has announced a loan of $139.5 million support the early stages of the work. The line has an estimated price tag of $6 billion. 

The federal government says the project will create thousands of direct full-time jobs once operational and generate millions in public revenues annually. 

Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor

The federal government says it will take a “co-ordinated effort” alongside Indigenous communities and the B.C. government to build the power, highway, telecommunications, port and rail infrastructure Northwestern B.C. and Yukon need to unlock vast critical minerals deposits in the area. 

To help that along, Ottawa has referred a Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor to the Major Projects Office. The corridor concept also envisions a conservation area the size of Greece. 

The Red Chris Mine expansion, included in the first batch of nation-building projects to be considered, falls within the proposed corridor, as does Ksi Lisims and the North Coast Transmission Line. 

Canada Nickel Crawford Project 

The project north of Timmins, Ont., sits in the world’s second-largest nickel reserve. The metal it produces would be used for steel and batteries. 

Canada Nickel says it has submitted an environmental impact statement to Ottawa and is on track to receive final permits this year. 

The mine would have carbon emissions 90 per cent below the global average and the potential for a net-negative footprint, the federal government said. 

Once mining operations have started, there is the potential to produce other metals such as iron, cobalt, platinum, palladium and chromium. There could also be a nickel refinery for stainless steel and electric vehicle markets, and a stainless steel and alloy production facility. 

Ottawa says the mine is expected to attract $5 billion in investment and create 4,000 new jobs. 

Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie Mine 

The open-pit mine in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Que., north of Montreal would supply graphite needed in defence applications and to make electric vehicle batteries. 

It would be linked to the planned Bécancour Battery Material Plant, and the whole operation would be part of the Critical Minerals Production Alliance, a Canada-led G7 initiative

The Quebec government gave the mine the green light in 2021, and Nouveau Monde says early preparatory work is underway. Construction is set to begin early next year. 

The project is expected to create 1,000 jobs and draw $1.8 billion in investment. 

Northcliff Resources’ Sisson Mine 

The proposed open-pit mine in Sisson, N.B. would produce tungsten, used in the steel, defence and other industries, as well as molybdenum. 

It’s located on Crown land 100 kilometres northwest of Fredericton. Sisson is a partnership between Vancouver-based Northcliff Resources and its majority owner, New Zealand’s Todd Corp. 

Sisson received federal approval in 2017, and the latest deadline for construction to get underway is next month —  the second extension granted.  

Northcliff announced in August that it had recieved more than $8 million in funding from Natural Resources Canada to help with an updated feasibility study and engineering work. It has also recieved about $20.7 million from the U.S. Department of Defence. 

Iqaluit Nukkiksautiit Hydro Project

The project would be Nunavut’s first hydro energy project to be fully Inuit-owned. 

It’s being billed as a “breakthrough for Arctic sovereignty,” replacing Iqaluit’s reliance on 15 million litres of imported diesel every year with up to 30 megawatts of hydroelectric power. 

The facility on the Kuugulak River 60 kilometres northeast of the territorial capital would be led by Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp. 

A presentation on the corporation’s website from January of this year says that a final investment decision is targeted for 2029, with construction beginning in 2030 and commissioning in 2033. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2025.