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Author: Nathaniel Crouch

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As Ottawa and the provinces debate pipelines, Climate Action Network Canada, a coalition of just under 200 organizations, is pointing to a different kind of nation-building.

On Oct. 9, it launched what it calls the Yes Agenda with a report [pdf] and project map cataloguing 110 clean energy and transmission infrastructure projects at various stages of development. Together, the projects represent billions of dollars in Canadian investment.

The network says the launch responds to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s call to hear what the Canadian people support. “A different approach to nation-building is not hypothetical but is already underway,” the report says. The aim is to help the public and decision-makers “support the right opportunities
in their own communities.”

The inventory combines spring 2026 research by Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors, and was further investigated by CAN-Rac’s secretariat and members of a steering committee. 

While the report covers 110 unique projects, CAN-Rac presents it as a snapshot, not a census. For projects to be included, they had to represent $100 million or more, or meet capacity thresholds such as 100 megawatts (MW) for wind, solar, or hydro. CAN-Rac also explained that a listing is not an endorsement.

The list highlights several projects that would be Canadian firsts:

• The Yukon-British Columbia Grid Connect, an 800-kilometre line that would link the Yukon to the North American grid for the first time.
• Nunavut’s Inuit-owned Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link, its first connection beyond the territory.
• Nova East Wind, which would be Canada’s first offshore wind farm.
• B.C.’s first geothermal plant, Fort Nelson First Nation’s Tu-Deh-Kah, and its first utility-scale battery/storage system.
• Saskatchewan’s first direct link between its northern and southern grids.

The must-read part of the report involves the patterns highlighted by the research. Alberta has become a “cautionary tale,” the report notes, after its 2023 moratorium led to dozens of project cancellations, including five listed projects that have been cancelled since March of this year. The province disputes that framing.

Institutional design drives much of the Indigenous partnership in listed projects. In Ontario, Hydro One’s standing offer of up to 50% equity in new transmission lines for nearby First Nations, and Quebec’s similar model governed by the Alliance de l’énergie de l’Est, make Indigenous partnership a near-default. B.C. and Saskatchewan have equivalent partnership models. Alberta has no comparable requirement and “sees almost no Indigenous participation,” the report says. Every project that is interprovincial or interterritorial does involve formal Indigenous partnership or co-ownership, notes the report.

The report stresses that ownership is not consent. Equity stakes, often held through elected band councils, do not establish the “free, prior, and informed consent of the broader community,” required under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), nor replace the Crown’s duty to consult. A companion “barriers” report is due this fall, with Alberta as a central case study. 

“The question is no longer whether we can build a clean energy future,” the report states, “but whether we will say yes, together, and build it well.”