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Alberta

Northern Alberta Métis community launches seven new oil sands partnerships to boost economic opportunity

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L-R (seated): Great Northern Bridgeworks president Steve Ross, Enviromulch Mulching & Logging superintendent Phil Mamers, Lynco Energy Services owner Doug Golosky, Surerus Murphy Joint Venture chairman Sean Surerus, Brothers HDD owner Jamie McClennon, Gateway Mechanical Services account executive Dean Seiz, Dorval O & M Services owner Brent Dorval (sitting in for Global Fusion Coating general manager Chad Olsen). L-R (standing): CRDAC directors Stacey Atkinson, Valerie Quintal, Shirley Tremblay, Margaret Quintal, and Grace Richards. Photo courtesy CRDAC

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Mario Toneguzzi

About 150 kilometres south of Fort McMurray, the Conklin region is responsible for nearly 1/3 of oil sands production

The predominantly Métis community of Conklin has launched seven new business partnerships in a bid to lift its opportunities in one of Alberta’s busiest oil sands regions.

From drilling to heavy machinery and pipelines, the new ventures will bring an economic and social boost to the community of 300 residents about 150 kilometres southeast of Fort McMurray.

“We’d like to focus more on getting local opportunities such as training, employment, maybe some subcontracting, to build the local businesses up and build our people up for local employment,” said Valerie Quintal, president of Conklin Métis Local 193.

“We are going to be planning with each one of them how we could better serve our community members.”

Quintal is also a director of the Conklin Resource Development Advisory Committee (CRDAC), which brokered the deals with companies including Brothers HDD, Gateway Mechanical Services and Surerus-Murphy Joint Venture.

CRDAC was established in 2008 to help the community engage with growing oil sands development in the Conklin region, said CEO Scott Duguid.

The area has become a hub for development using a technology called steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), which involves drilling horizontal well pairs and steam injection to produce oil sands crude.

“It was really developed when a lot of the SAGD development was in the application or the environment assessment phase and there was a huge push for regulatory consultation and engagement with government on regulatory applications for SAGD,” he said.

Métis cultural heritage is displayed alongside a map of development activity in the Conklin region. Photo courtesy CRDAC

The area around Conklin is now home to six major oil sands projects owned by the industry’s biggest producers. This includes Cenovus Energy’s Christina Lake facility, the largest so-called “in situ” project in the oil sands.

As of January 2024, the region produced more than 550,000 barrels per day, or nearly one-third of all oil sands production, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator.

CRDAC has partnerships in place with the big players in the region including Cenovus, Canadian Natural Resources and MEG Energy, Duguid said (including a unique home construction program with Cenovus).

But the new ventures take opportunity to the next layer, with companies that service or work for oil sands producers, he said.

Duguid said the group has partnerships in place with the big players in the region such as Cenovus, MEG, CNRL, and Harvest.

“There’s a fair amount of wealth being generated in the region and out of the South Athabasca oilsands. There’s a lot of work happening,” said Duguid.

“We as sort of a community representative organization are trying to put our hands up with some of these smaller industry players and saying ‘hey, we’re here, we have community members, we have a potential workforce, we may need training, we may need some capacity to ensure that our residents can be meaningfully employed, but we can work with you and for you.’”

The hope is that partnering with these mid-level businesses will provide an opportunity for grassroots Conklin businesses to grow, he said.

Some of the revenue from the partnerships will come back to the community to support social programs such as healthcare, housing, and substance abuse treatment.

“It’s hugely significant for the community,” Duguid said.

Gateway Mechanical Services’ Dean Seiz said the company reached out to CRDAC last year to see if they would be interested in a working relationship.

“Basically, the long-term goal is to see if there are any community members that would be interested in maybe getting into the trades that Gateway does,” Seiz said.

The company, with its head office in Edmonton, provides heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), plumbing and refrigeration services across Western Canada. It has nine locations for regional offices with about 275 technicians.

“It’s a work in progress with Scott [Duguid] and the community to see what’s important to the community to make things work,” Seiz said.

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Alberta

Big win for Alberta and Canada: Statement from Premier Smith

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Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement on the April 2, 2025 U.S. tariff announcement:

“Today was an important win for Canada and Alberta, as it appears the United States has decided to uphold the majority of the free trade agreement (CUSMA) between our two nations. It also appears this will continue to be the case until after the Canadian federal election has concluded and the newly elected Canadian government is able to renegotiate CUSMA with the U.S. administration.

“This is precisely what I have been advocating for from the U.S. administration for months.

“It means that the majority of goods sold into the United States from Canada will have no tariffs applied to them, including zero per cent tariffs on energy, minerals, agricultural products, uranium, seafood, potash and host of other Canadian goods.

“There is still work to be done, of course. Unfortunately, tariffs previously announced by the United States on Canadian automobiles, steel and aluminum have not been removed. The efforts of premiers and the federal government should therefore shift towards removing or significantly reducing these remaining tariffs as we go forward and ensuring affected workers across Canada are generously supported until the situation is resolved.

“I again call on all involved in our national advocacy efforts to focus on diplomacy and persuasion while avoiding unnecessary escalation. Clearly, this strategy has been the most effective to this point.

“As it appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us (though there is still work to be done), it is my sincere hope that we, as Canadians, can abandon the disastrous policies that have made Canada vulnerable to and overly dependent on the United States, fast-track national resource corridors, get out of the way of provincial resource development and turn our country into an independent economic juggernaut and energy superpower.”

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Alberta

Energy sector will fuel Alberta economy and Canada’s exports for many years to come

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From the Fraser Institute

By Jock Finlayson

By any measure, Alberta is an energy powerhouse—within Canada, but also on a global scale. In 2023, it produced 85 per cent of Canada’s oil and three-fifths of the country’s natural gas. Most of Canada’s oil reserves are in Alberta, along with a majority of natural gas reserves. Alberta is the beating heart of the Canadian energy economy. And energy, in turn, accounts for one-quarter of Canada’s international exports.

Consider some key facts about the province’s energy landscape, as noted in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) 2023 annual report. Oil and natural gas production continued to rise (on a volume basis) in 2023, on the heels of steady increases over the preceding half decade. However, the dollar value of Alberta’s oil and gas production fell in 2023, as the surging prices recorded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine retreated. Capital spending in the province’s energy sector reached $30 billion in 2023, making it the leading driver of private-sector investment. And completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has opened new offshore export avenues for Canada’s oil industry and should boost Alberta’s energy production and exports going forward.

In a world striving to address climate change, Alberta’s hydrocarbon-heavy energy sector faces challenges. At some point, the world may start to consume less oil and, later, less natural gas (in absolute terms). But such “peak” consumption hasn’t arrived yet, nor does it appear imminent. While the demand for certain refined petroleum products is trending down in some advanced economies, particularly in Europe, we should take a broader global perspective when assessing energy demand and supply trends.

Looking at the worldwide picture, Goldman Sachs’ 2024 global energy forecast predicts that “oil usage will increase through 2034” thanks to strong demand in emerging markets and growing production of petrochemicals that depend on oil as the principal feedstock. Global demand for natural gas (including LNG) will also continue to increase, particularly since natural gas is the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel and more of it is being traded in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Against this backdrop, there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for Alberta’s energy sector, particularly if the federal government dials back some of the economically destructive energy and climate policies adopted by the last government. According to the AER’s “base case” forecast, overall energy output will expand over the next 10 years. Oilsands output is projected to grow modestly; natural gas production will also rise, in part due to greater demand for Alberta’s upstream gas from LNG operators in British Columbia.

The AER’s forecast also points to a positive trajectory for capital spending across the province’s energy sector. The agency sees annual investment rising from almost $30 billion to $40 billion by 2033. Most of this takes place in the oil and gas industry, but “emerging” energy resources and projects aimed at climate mitigation are expected to represent a bigger slice of energy-related capital spending going forward.

Like many other oil and gas producing jurisdictions, Alberta must navigate the bumpy journey to a lower-carbon future. But the world is set to remain dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come. This suggests the energy sector will continue to underpin not only the Alberta economy but also Canada’s export portfolio for the foreseeable future.

Jock Finlayson

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
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