Alberta
Japan PM sees LNG Canada as a ‘flagship’ facility to help improve world energy security while lowering emissions
Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida speaks during the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau, Germany on June 26, 2022 as (L-R) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Schulz look on. Getty Images photo
From the Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.
Kishida is expected to ask for Canadian LNG as the country looks to replace Russian gas supplies
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sees the LNG Canada terminal under construction at Kitimat, B.C. as a “flagship” facility, he said in remarks Jan. 12 during a visit to Ottawa to meet with Prime Minster Justin Trudeau.
“LNG will indeed play a crucial role in striking a balance between energy security and decarbonization,” he said.
“LNG Canada is a flagship project making maximum use of the latest technologies of Japanese companies.”
Resource-poor Japan is the world’s largest LNG consumer, using the fuel to generate electricity, power industry, and heat homes and businesses. Qatar is one of Japan’s largest LNG suppliers.
Kishida is expected to ask for Canadian LNG as the country looks to replace Russian gas supplies. Japan, a relatively short distance from the LNG Canada project compared to terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast, imported nearly 75 million tonnes of LNG in 2020 – worth over $30 billion.
Kishida’s visit comes just months after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ottawa also seeking Canadian LNG. Prime Minister Trudeau questioned the business case for shipping Canadian LNG to Europe.
Germany, moving swiftly to reduce reliance on natural gas flows from Russia, built an LNG import facility in just 194 days and recently received its first shipment from the U.S. It also signed an agreement with Qatar to receive 2 million tonnes of LNG per year for 15 years starting in 2026. Germany will open a second LNG import terminal in January.
While Canadian LNG can help alleviate the challenge in Europe, the larger long-term opportunity is in Asia, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Module delivery, LNG Canada site, Kitimat, B.C., July 2022. Photo courtesy LNG Canada
“For Asian buyers, Canadian LNG is quite cost competitive due to its relatively low shipping and liquefaction costs compared to other global exporters,” says Dulles Wang, Wood Mackenzie’s director of Americas gas and LNG research.
As of July 2022, Japan had 92 operating coal plants, 6 under construction and 1 in pre-construction, says Global Energy Monitor. Construction of new coal-fired power plants is occurring mostly in Asia, with China accounting for 52 per cent of the 176 gigawatts of coal capacity being built in 20 countries in 2021, says a New Scientist report.
“If Canada increases its LNG export capacity to Asia, net emissions could decline by 188 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year through 2050 – or the impact every year of taking 41 million cars off the road,” according to Wood Mackenzie analysis.
Asia drives 67 per cent of global LNG demand today, and that share is expected to grow to 73 per cent by 2050 as world consumption doubles to 700 million tonnes per year.
“Starting in 2027, we see there’s going to be a global supply/demand gap that is probably going to grow to 120 million tonnes per annum and about 150 million tonnes per annum by 2035,” says Matthias Bloennigen, Wood Mackenzie’s director of Americas upstream consulting.
“Developing western Canadian LNG would be helpful to alleviate the LNG demand that’s going to develop in the world.”
The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.
Alberta
Low oil prices could have big consequences for Alberta’s finances

From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill
Amid the tariff war, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil—a common benchmark—recently dropped below US$60 per barrel. Given every $1 drop in oil prices is an estimated $750 million hit to provincial revenues, if oil prices remain low for long, there could be big implications for Alberta’s budget.
The Smith government already projects a $5.2 billion budget deficit in 2025/26 with continued deficits over the following two years. This year’s deficit is based on oil prices averaging US$68.00 per barrel. While the budget does include a $4 billion “contingency” for unforeseen events, given the economic and fiscal impact of Trump’s tariffs, it could quickly be eaten up.
Budget deficits come with costs for Albertans, who will already pay a projected $600 each in provincial government debt interest in 2025/26. That’s money that could have gone towards health care and education, or even tax relief.
Unfortunately, this is all part of the resource revenue rollercoaster that’s are all too familiar to Albertans.
Resource revenue (including oil and gas royalties) is inherently volatile. In the last 10 years alone, it has been as high as $25.2 billion in 2022/23 and as low as $2.8 billion in 2015/16. The provincial government typically enjoys budget surpluses—and increases government spending—when oil prices and resource revenue is relatively high, but is thrown into deficits when resource revenues inevitably fall.
Fortunately, the Smith government can mitigate this volatility.
The key is limiting the level of resource revenue included in the budget to a set stable amount. Any resource revenue above that stable amount is automatically saved in a rainy-day fund to be withdrawn to maintain that stable amount in the budget during years of relatively low resource revenue. The logic is simple: save during the good times so you can weather the storm during bad times.
Indeed, if the Smith government had created a rainy-day account in 2023, for example, it could have already built up a sizeable fund to help stabilize the budget when resource revenue declines. While the Smith government has deposited some money in the Heritage Fund in recent years, it has not created a dedicated rainy-day account or introduced a similar mechanism to help stabilize provincial finances.
Limiting the amount of resource revenue in the budget, particularly during times of relatively high resource revenue, also tempers demand for higher spending, which is only fiscally sustainable with permanently high resource revenues. In other words, if the government creates a rainy-day account, spending would become more closely align with stable ongoing levels of revenue.
And it’s not too late. To end the boom-bust cycle and finally help stabilize provincial finances, the Smith government should create a rainy-day account.
Alberta
Governments in Alberta should spur homebuilding amid population explosion

From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill and Austin Thompson
In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.
Alberta has long been viewed as an oasis in Canada’s overheated housing market—a refuge for Canadians priced out of high-cost centres such as Vancouver and Toronto. But the oasis is starting to dry up. House prices and rents in the province have spiked by about one-third since the start of the pandemic. According to a recent Maru poll, more than 70 per cent of Calgarians and Edmontonians doubt they will ever be able to afford a home in their city. Which raises the question: how much longer can this go on?
Alberta’s housing affordability problem reflects a simple reality—not enough homes have been built to accommodate the province’s growing population. The result? More Albertans competing for the same homes and rental units, pushing prices higher.
Population growth has always been volatile in Alberta, but the recent surge, fuelled by record levels of immigration, is unprecedented. Alberta has set new population growth records every year since 2022, culminating in the largest-ever increase of 186,704 new residents in 2024—nearly 70 per cent more than the largest pre-pandemic increase in 2013.
Homebuilding has increased, but not enough to keep pace with the rise in population. In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.
Moreover, from 1972 to 2019, Alberta added 2.1 new residents (on average) for every housing unit started compared to 3.9 new residents for every housing unit started in 2024. Put differently, today nearly twice as many new residents are potentially competing for each new home compared to historical norms.
While Alberta attracts more Canadians from other provinces than any other province, federal immigration and residency policies drive Alberta’s population growth. So while the provincial government has little control over its population growth, provincial and municipal governments can affect the pace of homebuilding.
For example, recent provincial amendments to the city charters in Calgary and Edmonton have helped standardize building codes, which should minimize cost and complexity for builders who operate across different jurisdictions. Municipal zoning reforms in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer have made it easier to build higher-density housing, and Lethbridge and Medicine Hat may soon follow suit. These changes should make it easier and faster to build homes, helping Alberta maintain some of the least restrictive building rules and quickest approval timelines in Canada.
There is, however, room for improvement. Policymakers at both the provincial and municipal level should streamline rules for building, reduce regulatory uncertainty and development costs, and shorten timelines for permit approvals. Calgary, for instance, imposes fees on developers to fund a wide array of public infrastructure—including roads, sewers, libraries, even buses—while Edmonton currently only imposes fees to fund the construction of new firehalls.
It’s difficult to say how long Alberta’s housing affordability woes will endure, but the situation is unlikely to improve unless homebuilding increases, spurred by government policies that facilitate more development.
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