Canada Home to Billions’ Worth of Second-Quarter Capital Kickoffs

Industrial Info is tracking billions’ worth of active and proposed capital-spending projects in Canada that are set to kick off from April through June, including US$30 billion that have a medium-to-high chance (70% or more) of beginning construction as scheduled. Most of the project activity is concentrated in four provinces: Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

Alberta leads all provinces in terms of total investment, and Dow Incorporated (NYSE:DOW) (Midland, Michigan) expects full construction of a US$2 billion expansion of its Path2Zero Project in Fort Saskatchewan will begin in April. Path2Zero initially kicked off in 2024 with the construction of a brownfield ethylene unit.

Dow says Path2Zero will be the world's first net-zero integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives facility to capture both Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, which are emissions from properties directly controlled by a company, and emissions from purchased power generation, respectively.

Site preparation and underground piping and pylon tie-ins for the Path2Zero-related expansion are already underway: Linde plc's (NYSE:LIN) (Woking, England) is building an air separation facility nearby--where off-gas from Dow’s ethylene unit would be converted into hydrogen to be returned back to the unit to fuel its furnaces. Subscribers to Industrial Info’s Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Chemical Processing Project Database can read detailed reports on the Path2Zero and air separation projects. Dow expects Path2Zero to be operational at the end of 2027.

Industrial Info is tracking a variety of oil and gas projects planned to begin in the second quarter in Alberta, the Canadian leader in crude oil and natural gas production.

Canada is the U.S.’ largest foreign crude oil supplier, with roughly 4 million barrels of oil delivered each day accounting for about 60% of total U.S. crude oil imports. About 87% of that comes from Alberta.

The provinces’ oil and gas-related second-quarter kickoffs include various drilling programs and field expansions.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited’s (NYSE:CNQ) (Calgary, Alberta) US$622 million project in the Smith West Field near Slave Lake aims to drill about 170 new wells and construct gathering field tie-ins to grow its production of heavy crude. Subscribers to the GMI Oil & Gas Project Database can read the project report.

Ovintiv Incorporated (NYSE:OVV) (Calgary) is investing US$475 million in its Duvernay North and US$350 million in its Duvernay South Crude Oil & Natural Gas Fields--each of which will involve drilling at least 45 new wells. Subscribers can read the Duvernay North and Duvernay South project reports.

Click here for a full list of oil and gas-production projects across Canada that Industrial Info is tracking with a medium or high probability of kicking off from April through June.

British Columbia is also home to plenty of oil and gas projects, including two efforts from Tourmaline Oil Corporation (Calgary) that will help supply gas-processing plants: the US$200 million expansion of its Nig Creek Gas Field development and the US$150 million expansion of its Conroy Gas Field development. The projects, about 300 miles apart, each involve drilling at least 30 new wells. Click here for the project reports.

In Ontario, Enbridge Incorporated (NYSE:ENB) (Calgary) plans to begin construction of a US$33 million grassroot natural gas pipeline that would run parallel to an existing pipeline in Milton, to a reception point in Kingsville (see project report.) Construction is expected to be completed in 2026.

Industrial Info is also tracking a steel mill project set to kick off in the second quarter attributed to Stelco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated (NYSE:CLF) (Cleveland, Ohio). Stelco is preparing for the US$34.73 million addition of a blast furnace stove at its Lake Erie Works Steel Mill in Nanticoke, to reduce emissions. Click here to read a report on the project, which is expected to wrap up around the end of the year.

In Quebec, IBM (Armonk, New York) plans to begin a US$165 million Phase 1 expansion of its semiconductor packaging and testing plant in Bromont, which is designed to expand the company’s packaging capabilities and resources for research and development. Construction is expected to be completed in 2026. Click here to read the project report.

According to Statistics Canada, the federal government's statistics arm, capital investment across Canada totaled C$352.3 billion (US$246.3 billion) in 2024--with C$225.3 billion attributed to private investment. The department is forecasting total investment of C$388 billion (US$271.5 billion) in 2025.

However, according to a recent white paper from the government titled Canada's response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, “due to the sudden uncertainty around trade relations, businesses on both sides of the border could delay investments, further slowing growth … Canadian companies that rely on cross-border supply chains will face logistical and financial challenges.”

For more information on the turmoil around tariffs, see March 21, 2025, article - Canada's Carney Reviews Tariff Response as U.S. Imports Dip and March 13, 2025, article - Alberta Looks to Japan for Energy Trade.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.