By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country's provincial leaders met Monday to start prioritizing which resource projects--among them, a crude-carrying pipeline--need to be built to drive long-term growth and capitalize on the nation's commodity riches.

Carney said the leaders are looking for commodity projects that are in the national interest and bring material benefits to Canadians. It envisages equity participation for affected indigenous communities, and those that can advance clear-energy goals. Carney said his Liberal government is working on legislation that would accelerate approval of such projects, to two years from five, and would be handled by a single federal office.

Carney said he expects the list of possible projects to be refined during the summer. Among the projects that may come under consideration is a crude-carrying pipeline to a marine port. "We know what we have and we are going to build on it," the prime minister said at a press conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where Canada's national leaders met.

Building energy projects has taken on elevated importance in the aftermath of President Trump's tariff policy, which threatens to squeeze a crucial source of growth for Canada--notably, exports to the U.S. Trade with its southern neighbor accounts for about 20% of Canada's gross domestic product.

Since his election victory, Carney has argued he wants to position Canada as an energy superpower in both conventional and clean energy. In an agreed-upon statement, Carney and premiers said that Canadian officials must work urgently to get natural resources and commodities--such as critical minerals, and low-carbon oil and gas--to domestic and foreign markets, particularly in Asia and Europe.

This marks a significant change from the previous Liberal administration, led by Justin Trudeau. His government enacted measures that angered the western Canadian, resource-rich provinces, such as caps on emissions from the energy sector and a tougher environmental-assessment process, that they argued stymied the region's economic potential.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sounded mostly positive about Monday's developments, referring to it as a "grand bargain" between Ottawa and western Canada. She said an alliance of Canada's biggest oil companies have pledged to decarbonize their production through the use of carbon-capture technology, but this carries a high price tag. A new pipeline that connects Alberta's energy patch to northwestern British Columbia may generate enough cash to offset the decarbonization costs, Smith added.

Smith has warned that Alberta might hold a referendum next year on whether the province should separate from Canada, given years of frustration about Ottawa's climate-change policy.

Indigenous groups, however, have voiced concerns that these push to accelerate construction of energy projects could infringe on their jurisdiction. Carney said he intends to hold a conference with Canadian indigenous leaders in mid-July to address their concerns.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-02-25 1911ET