On June 18, 2025, Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada (BCC), delivered a powerful testimony before the Canadian Senate amid review of Bill C-5, The One Canadian Economy Act. The legislation is designed to fast-track nation-building projects in the national interest, such as pipelines, powerlines, ports, railways, and roads, to help secure the Canadian economy amid trade disruptions with the United States.
As the head of the BCC, which represents private sector businesses responsible for half the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), Hyder has invaluable expertise and insight into what Canada needs to become a prosperous nation once again.
The CEO didn’t mince words about the urgent need for regulatory reform if Canada is to turn a new path and realize its true economic potential:
“I have to be honest with you, the last many years have been a challenge," said Hyder.
"I am asked repeatedly about how a country like Canada, blessed with resource wealth, world-class talent, and sophisticated capital markets, struggles to provide its trading partners with the goods they need to feel safe, secure and to prosper.”
The heart of Hyder’s testimony centred on a hard truth that has become impossible to ignore: Canada’s current regulatory regime is failing to deliver on large infrastructure projects, particularly in the natural resources sector, that help fuel the economy as a whole.
This issue isn’t new—it’s been lingering for years, with real-world consequences for every Canadian.
Over the past decade, for example, an estimated $280 billion in oil and natural gas projects have been cancelled, including $164.1 billion in LNG projects, $62.8 billion in pipelines, $30.4 billion in the oil sands, and $22 billion in refineries [1]. If we include the forestry and mining sectors along with energy, that figure jumps to a staggering $670 billion in cancelled or suspended resource projects since 2015, according to a different source [2]. These aren’t just numbers, but massive foregone economic opportunities for Canadians nationwide.
“At the same time, Canada's economic and national security is under siege,” he continued.
“Protectionist policies continue to grow and our democratic institutions continue to be threatened. Our allies and trading partners face the same headwinds and now more than ever are seeking to lock in safe and secure supplies of energy, food, and critical minerals.”
“Our world-class resources, whether it's in uranium, nickel, potash, grain, oil and gas compete in global markets. Unfortunately, we are losing market share. Once a top 10 supplier of many minerals and agri-food products, we're losing out to our competitors, of which many of them are in countries with weaker… standards and less respect for the rule of law.”
Canada’s economy is built on its resource sectors—energy, mining, forestry, and agriculture —which together account for over one-fifth of the national GDP and support one in seven jobs nationwide. Natural resources comprised nearly 50% of all merchandise exports last year, generating a trade surplus of $228 billion that helped sustain vital social programs, including healthcare, education, and law enforcement.
Yet, while Canada’s global competitors are moving quickly to capture new market opportunities, many Canadian projects are mired in regulatory limbo.
“Our energy, our story, is one of unfulfilled potential. LNG provides a striking example of where policy missteps and onerous regulatory barriers have kept Canada shackled and unable to reach its full potential, leaving us on the sidelines as other countries take the place that should have been Canada's as an energy supplier for the democratic world,” said Hyder.
“The environment ministers of two of Canada’s biggest provinces are calling on the Liberal government to scrap a host of Trudeau-era environmental and climate policies, saying the policies are holding the country back from meeting its economic potential.” https://t.co/3wxDdUrqK9
— Canada Action (@CanadaAction) July 4, 2025
For years, Canada has stood by as a spectator while its competitors, such as the U.S., aggressively built out LNG export capacity to meet growing global demand. Despite having 18 facilities proposed in B.C. and several more on the east coast at one point, a single project (LNG Canada) is operational.
Today, our southern neighbour is now reaping the rewards as the world’s largest LNG exporter, with hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity generated by the industry since 2016, and an additional CAD $1.86 trillion in GDP and nearly 500,000 jobs for the U.S. projected through 2040.
“Despite being blessed with enormous natural gas reserves and shores upon three of the world's four oceans, Canada has struggled to build the right infrastructure to move its energy products and resources to tidewater.”
“Even just two months ago. Just two months ago, S&P Global released a study where it found that it takes over 20 years, 20 years to discover, approve, and build a mine in Canada, ranking us amongst the countries with the longest lead time in the world.”
“This must change,” Hyder finished, before moving on to discuss Bill C-5 specifically and take questions from Canadian Senators (see video above for full context).
Auto sector chief executives urged Prime Minister Mark Carney Wednesday during a meeting on the Canada-U.S. trade war to repeal federal regulations that require one in five vehicles sold starting in 2026 to be zero-emission models. https://t.co/DKhabWKowO
— Canada Action (@CanadaAction) July 3, 2025
Hyder’s speech to the Senate isn’t a lone voice in the wilderness, but rather part of a chorus that has been growing louder over the past several months and years. Calls from Canadian premiers and business leaders in the banking and energy sectors echo the BCC's call for decisive regulatory reform, which will help Canada address its stagnant economy, low productivity, and over-reliance on a single trading partner.
Their proposals are direct and unambiguous: repeal the policies that have crippled investment, such as the 'No More Pipelines' Bill C-69, the west coast tanker ban (Bill C-48), and the impending oil and gas emissions cap, among other legislation that has made Canada uncompetitive at every turn.
The time has come to strengthen our economic future by unblocking investment, expediting approvals, and building the critical infrastructure needed for growth. Resource development is not just an economic priority—it is the foundation for jobs, prosperity, and the standard of living all Canadians enjoy.
As Hyder said, things MUST change. Bill C-5 is a great start. But it’s clear that Canada can do more to restore our reputation as a place where big things can get built again, and where resource investment is welcomed, not discouraged.
Canada, it’s time to build—or be left behind, again.
Canada Preferred Oil Supplier Among G7 Nations, Second for G20 Countries.
— Canada Action (@CanadaAction) June 22, 2025
Canadian energy exports are a force for good! https://t.co/TMDOKcKf4C
SOURCES:
1 - https://www.capp.ca/en/unleashing-canadas-energy-potential/
2 - https://thehub.ca/2024/05/13/deepdive-canadas-natural-resources-are-a-long-neglected-golden-goose/