Canadian Oil & Gas and Public Infrastructure: What Does $45 Billion Pay For?

Canadian Oil & Gas and Public Infrastructure: What Does $45 Billion Pay For?

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Speaking frankly, it is extremely difficult to fathom just how much a “billion dollars” is. For example, we often hear about the “billions” that our natural resource sectors generate for Canadians, but for 99.9% of us, without tangible comparisons, conceptualizing this amount of money is next to impossible.

A recent graphic by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) helps us overcome this challenge. According to CAPP, Canada’s oil and natural gas sector contributed $45 billion in payments to our governments in 2022, funds used to pay for our social programs and public infrastructure.

Public funds generated by the natural resource sectors contribute immensely to our nation’s well-being. So, when discussing the “billions of dollars” generated by the oil and gas sector for municipal, provincial, federal, and Indigenous governments from coast to coast, it’s more than just figures. We’re talking about schools, hospitals, roads, police, firefighters, universities, highways, and so forth.

Below, we examine what $45 billion in government revenues could pay for thanks to our job-creating, prosperity-generating oil and natural gas sector.

What Could $45 Billion in Oil & Gas Revenues Pay For?

How Much Does 45 billion in oil and gas revenues pay for in Canadian public infrastructure

Courtesy of CAPP

  • $16 billion – Site C Dam – British Columbia
  • $4 billion – Surrey Langley SkyTrain Project – British Columbia
  • $2.9 billion – Surrey Hospital and B.C. Cancer Centre – British Columbia
  • $4.9 billion – Green Line LRT – Alberta
  • $0.8 billion – Great Plains Power Station – Saskatchewan
  • $0.5 billion – New Portage District General Hospital – Manitoba
  • $5.5 billion – Scarborough Subway Extension – Ontario
  • $4.7 billion – Ottawa LRT – Stage 2 – Ontario
  • $2 billion – Trillium Health Partners Redevelopment, Mississauga Hospital – Ontario
  • $2.2 billion – Nouveau complexe hospitalier CHU de Quebec-Universitè Laval – Quebec
  • $0.7 billion – Cape Breton Regional Hospital Expansion – Nova Scotia
  • $0.5 billion – New School in Kenmount Terrace – Newfoundland & Labrador
  • $0.2 billion – Saint John, N.B. Hospital Renovations – New Brunswick
  • $0.1 billion – Stratford High School – Prince Edward Island

Total = $45 billion [1]

Oil & Gas Government Revenues Over the Long-Term

Canada's oil and natural gas sector helps pay for Canadian schools, roads, hospitals, officers, doctors, teachers, and more

Over the long term, Canada’s oil and natural gas sector is predicted to generate more than $1.1 trillion in revenues for Canadian governments. Imagine how many new schools, hospitals, roads, and other public infrastructure jobs such a large amount of money could pay for.

To put $1.1 trillion into perspective, Canada could build nearly 25x more of every infrastructure project listed above. Now that is absolutely mind-blowing and should be a wake-up call for any person or group looking to shut down the development of our natural resources and forego the benefits that come with it.

The money needed to pay our doctors, police officers, nurses, teachers, and the buildings they work in doesn’t grow on trees, folks!

Supporting Energy is Supporting Prosperity

Canada's oil and gas sector to create trillions of dollars in public revenues for Canadian governments from 2000-2032

Canada’s oil and natural gas sector not only contributes tens of billions of dollars to our government's pockets every year, but also supports roughly 900,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs across the country [1]. These are often long-term, well-paying jobs which put food on the table for nearly a million families from coast to coast.

The energy sector is also responsible for a massive share of our total merchandise exports; in 2022, energy accounted for $240.5 billion, or 33% of Canada’s total exported goods, with oil and gas accounting for $217 billion of that share [2]. In other words, our energy exports “pay the bills” for imports of many consumer goods and services. Additionally, natural resources are responsible for 45% of Canada’s manufacturing output, showing just how much economic spin-off is created by these prosperity-generating industries.

With growing global demand for both of these energies and an affordability crisis on our hands here at home, it’s time we unleash our oil and natural gas sector to the world. The reality is that the number of major energy and natural resource projects completed in Canada has dropped by 37% between 2015 (88 projects) and 2023 (56 projects); Canadians cannot afford to miss natural resource development and the associated massive economic benefits any longer.

Challenges to getting major resource projects built exist in our country, but we could change that. We must turn course for the sake of our families and the future prosperity and health of our nation at large.

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SOURCES:

1 - https://www.capp.ca/en/energy-the-canadian-way/

2 - https://energy-information.canada.ca/sites/default/files/2023-10/energy-factbook-2023-2024.pdf