Prime Minister Carney launches new Major Projects Office to fast-track nation-building projects

OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 29, 2025 /CNW/ – In a rapidly shifting global landscape, we need to act decisively to build a stronger, more competitive, and prosperous economy. To those ends, the government tabled the Building Canada Act, which Parliament passed this June. This legislation enables the government to streamline federal approval processes to get major projects built faster. These projects – including ports, railways, energy corridors, critical mineral developments, and clean energy initiatives – will better connect our economy, diversify our industries, access new markets, and create high-paying careers, while protecting Canada’s rigorous environmental standards and upholding the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, launched the new Major Projects Office (MPO). The MPO is headquartered in Calgary and will have offices in other major Canadian cities. Its mandate is to serve as a single point of contact to get nation-building projects built faster. It will do so in two principal ways. First, by streamlining and accelerating regulatory approval processes. Second, by helping to structure and co-ordinate financing of these projects as needed.

The MPO will help to identify projects that are in Canada’s national interest and will help fast-track their development. The MPO will accelerate projects by creating a single set of conditions, thereby reducing the approval timeline for projects of national interest to a maximum of two years. To that end, it will work with provinces and territories to achieve a “one project, one review” approach for environmental assessments. Leveraging its expertise, the Major Projects Office will also help streamline approvals for all major projects across government, not just those designated under the Building Canada Act.

The MPO will work to attract domestic and global capital to these major projects. The MPO will help structure and co-ordinate financing from the private sector, provincial and territorial partners, and government initiatives, including the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Canada Growth Fund, and the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program. In doing so, the MPO will deliver value for money for taxpayers, new jobs, and faster growth for Canadians.

The Prime Minister is pleased to announce the appointment of Dawn Farrell to spearhead this mission as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Major Projects Office. Ms. Farrell brings four decades of experience in Canada’s energy sector, including as President, CEO, and Board Chair of Trans Mountain Corporation, President and CEO of TransAlta Corporation, and as a senior executive at BC Hydro. Her extensive executive experience, deep expertise in implementing large projects, and wide-ranging understanding of regulatory processes and industry relations will be invaluable to the effectiveness of the MPO.

The Major Projects Office will benefit from the expert advice of an Indigenous Advisory Council. The membership of the council will be confirmed next month and will be comprised of representatives from First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Modern Treaty and Self-Governing partners. Over the summer, the Prime Minister convened meetings with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis rights holders to engage Indigenous leadership on their priorities and the opportunities for equity ownership and resource management of major projects. As legislated in the Building Canada Act, partnership and consultation with Indigenous Peoples is central to the work of the Major Projects Office and the government’s broader mission to build major infrastructure faster.

For too long, the construction of major infrastructure has been stalled by arduous, inefficient approval processes, leaving enormous investments on the table. Canada’s new government is moving with urgency and determination to change this process, so that Canada can build the infrastructure that will transform our economy to become the strongest in the G7.

The government will announce the first set of nation-building projects in the coming weeks.

Quotes

“Canada has always been a nation of builders, from the St. Lawrence Seaway to Expo 67. At this hinge moment in our history, Canada must draw on this legacy and act decisively to transform our economy from reliance to resilience. We are moving at a speed not seen in generations to build ports, railways, energy grids – the major projects that will unlock Canada’s full economic potential and build Canada strong. I am thrilled that Dawn Farrell, one of Canada’s most experienced executives, is stepping up to help lead this vital priority.”

— The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

“The Major Projects Office is a radically new way of doing business and getting big things built: different machinery, people, skills, and processes. The MPO will facilitate the process of building critical new infrastructure at speeds not seen in generations; infrastructure to diversify our trading relationship and to become an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy.”

— The Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy

“At this pivotal moment, we must embrace new ways of doing business in order to build the strongest Canada. We are making good on our promise to move quickly to unlock private sector investment, provide investor certainty, and advance Indigenous reconciliation and protect our environment. The new Major Projects Office will drive this progress, ensuring projects are structured for success via ‘one project, one review’, so we can become an energy and natural resource superpower.”

— The Hon. Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

“Establishing the Major Projects Office is critical to ensuring the interests of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis are at the centre of building Canada strong. It’s another important step toward creating an economy where jobs, opportunities, and prosperity flow into Indigenous communities – not past them.”

— The Hon. Rebecca Alty, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations

“Through the Major Projects Office, we will deliver faster on projects that strengthen resiliency, prosperity, and security in the North and benefit all of Canada. The MPO will help us do things more effectively, in accordance with modern treaty-based impact assessment and regulatory processes and in close partnership with Indigenous Peoples and Northerners – so that these important projects reflect their realities and priorities.”

— The Hon. Rebecca Chartrand, Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

Quick facts

• The Major Projects Office was created as part of the One Canadian Economy’s Building Canada Act, which came into force on June 26, 2025.
• The Major Projects Office is providing $40 million over two years to increase the capacity of Indigenous Peoples to engage early and consistently on major projects.
• The federal government has also expanded the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program from $5 billion to $10 billion, to help create long-term economic opportunities and build lasting prosperity for Indigenous Peoples across Canada.
• A recent Statistics Canada study confirmed that regulatory requirements in Canada increased by 2.1% per year from 2006 to 2021 (37% total). This has lowered business sector investment growth by 9%.

Associated links

• Major Projects Office
• One Canadian Economy
• Implementation of Bill C-5: One Canadian Economy
• Building Canada Act

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca 

SOURCE Prime Minister’s Office