Alberta
Canada can play a big role in addressing growing food insecurity, Nutrien CEO says
TORONTO — Canada is poised to play a big role in global food production as climate change makes farming more difficult and the world’s food supply chain is rendered fragile by political and economic uncertainty, said Nutrien CEO Ken Seitz.
Seitz made the remarks in Toronto at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Canada.
He said climate change is redrawing the map of global food production and Canada has an opportunity to be a key player in addressing food insecurity.
The world faces a double-barrelled problem, said Seitz: “To feed a rapidly growing world, we’ll need to produce more food and we’ll need to do it sustainably.”
Nutrien is the world’s third-largest producer of nitrogen and the largest producer of potash, two key ingredients in commercial fertilizer.
The Saskatoon-based potash and fertilizer company has six potash mines in Saskatchewan with more than 20 million tonnes of capacity, as well as two large phosphate mines in the U.S.
In Canada and across the world, climate change is making farming, already an unpredictable business, even more volatile, Seitz said.
“Here at home in Canada, growers are experiencing wetter springs, hotter and drier summers, all of which constrains our irrigation and water and all those resources that we need to manage,” he said.
Seitz said farmers need support in the form of incentives so they can adopt technology and new practices in order to farm more sustainably. Risk is a major barrier for farmers, he said, who are dealing with increasing uncertainty and managing slim margins.
Seitz said he believes carbon capture is a key part of the climate solution.
In 2021, Nutrien began piloting a new project aimed at helping farmers reduce greenhouse gas emissions, trap and store carbon, and measure improvements as well as facilitating the purchase and sale of carbon credits.
The pilot program is currently working on 750,000 acres across North America, Seitz said Wednesday.
The past year has been a tumultuous one for the agriculture business, and Nutrien has not been immune to the ups and downs.
Demand increased for Nutrien’s potash earlier in 2022 as a result of the war in Ukraine. Because of that boost, in March the company said it would ramp up production to meet the demand, with most of that additional volume expected to be produced in the second half of the year.
That ramp-up would mean more capital spending and more hiring at Nutrien’s Saskatchewan potash mines, the company said in May. However, as Nutrien saw sales slump in the latter half of its financial year, in February it announced it would delay increasing production.
Despite this, Nutrien’s earnings in 2022 doubled, which the company attributed mainly to higher selling prices resulting from global supply uncertainties as well as record retail performance.
And its production ramp-up, while pushed back, was far from scrapped. The company said while it had previously planned to increase annual potash production to 18 million tonnes by 2025, it would reach that milestone by 2026 instead.
Nutrien was created in 2018 as a result of a merger between PotashCorp of Saskatchewan and Calgary-based Agrium Inc.
— With files from Amanda Stephenson
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:NTR)
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
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.”
From the Fraser Institute
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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