One-third of Canadians unsure if they’re covered for climate risk

John Shmuel, managing editor, RATESDOTCA

Hot, dry weather worsened by climate change made much of Canada into a tinderbox that ignited this summer, leading to the country’s worst wildfire season on record. 

These fires pose growing threats to both lives and property — but a new survey from BNN Bloomberg and RATESDOTCA found that many Canadians are not familiar with the right insurance coverage to ensure their homes are protected from such climate risks. 

The survey, conducted by Leger in early September, asked 1,538 Canadians if they had contacted their insurance provider in light of the climate disasters that impacted the country this year. It found that only 14 per cent of Canadians contacted their insurer to review their coverage. 

Meanwhile, 33 per cent said that they did not contact their insurer and are unsure whether they have adequate coverage to protect them from climate risks. 

Not fully understanding your home insurance coverage can have dire consequences in the event of a claim. For instance, most home insurance policies will cover damage from forest fires, which is one consolation for those who had their homes damaged or destroyed by wildfires in places such as Kelowna, B.C., and Halifax this summer. 

But there are other coverages that are not included in a basic home insurance policy. As climate threats intensify, that puts homeowners who are not aware at risk. For instance, a basic home insurance policy in Canada will not cover overland floods — that is, water that seeps into your home as a result of a sudden rainstorm or an overflowing river. This includes water damage from hurricanes, which are predicted to increasingly hit Atlantic Canada in the coming years. 

Concern about climate change is more pronounced among young people. About one in three surveyed people between the ages of 18 to 34 said they had contacted their insurer to confirm they were properly covered against climate risks, while only 10 per cent of those aged 55 and older did the same.

When it came to taking action, only seven per cent said they had taken out additional endorsements, such as overland flood coverage, to protect against climate risks. But among young people (those aged 18-24), this number rose to 24 per cent. 

An earlier BNN Bloomberg and RATESDOTCA survey conducted in May found that younger people were also more likely to consider climate change risks when choosing the location of their home. The survey found that 64 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 factored in climate, compared to only 27 per cent of those aged 55 and older. 

Climate change should be top of mind when factoring in location, because more insurers in Canada are raising premiums for areas at higher risk of forest fires or floods. In some cases, they’re declining to insure properties altogether. Being aware of this is important for all potential homeowners when buying a property. 

BNN Bloomberg has teamed up with RATESDOTCA to take the pulse of Canadians every month on key pocketbook issues. This is the latest instalment in monthly special coverage.  

Rogers ordered to open TTC wireless network to all carriers by Oct. 3: Minister

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

The federal government is forcing Rogers Communications Inc. to grant BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. access to its cellular network in Toronto's subway by Oct. 3 if they don’t yet have their own systems up and running by then. 

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said at Toronto City Hall that the deadline is part of new spectrum licence conditions, designed to bring cellphone and data services to the entire subway network by the end of 2026.

The licence conditions that came into effect Monday require Rogers to provide immediate access to the infrastructure and share technical details. The conditions also establish that carriers have a collective responsibility to provide wireless services on the TTC, and that they're expected to work together to meet the deadlines.

"The message is simple. Enough is enough. That is the message that I'm sending to the telcos on behalf of millions of TTC riders who have been very, very patient," Champagne said, adding that the government could impose penalties or licence suspensions if the deadline isn't met.

Currently, only Rogers and Freedom Mobile customers have access to the network, though all riders have 911 access. 

The minister has also set a Dec. 20 deadline for mobile carriers, including rivals Bell and Telus, to reach commercial agreements with Rogers about financial terms.

And while the Oct. 3 deadline covers only the existing network, Ottawa is requiring service be in place for all stations within six months of the commercial agreements being reached. Service will need to be in place for 80 per cent of tunnels within two years, and full system coverage by the end of 2026.

The deadlines come after months of tense back-and-forth negotiations between Rogers and rivals Bell and Telus on how to move forward. The companies have been deadlocked over the best technical approach, as well as financial terms, for providing coverage to all subway riders.

Bell and Telus both want a joint build of the subway's 5G network using a consortium model similar to Montreal's Metro system, rather than a pay-for-access approach. Rogers has not publicly committed to either model.

The roughly three-week timeline to bring some level of coverage for all riders comes after Rogers unexpectedly launched 5G wireless service for its own customers in Toronto's downtown subway stations and tunnels in August. The move came despite ongoing talks with the government and drew frustration from Bell and Telus.

All three telecoms said they welcomed the deadlines announced Monday that will force the others to the table.

“This approach reflects what we've been proposing all along — to bring 5G services to all riders as quickly as possible," Rogers spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said in a statement.

"Bell and Telus have been dragging their heels and  the federal government is now forcing them to work with us in earnest to make connectivity possible for all riders."

She added the company will continue to work to build out the TTC network to expand access and that it has shared engineering and technical information with Bell and Telus.

Telus spokesman Richard Gilhooley said the company was pleased with the decision to compel Rogers to provide access.

"Minister Champagne's order will significantly improve public safety and fair competition. It is regrettable that it took his action to force Rogers to do what they had promised to do months ago," he said in a statement.

Bell spokeswoman Jacqueline Michelis said it is a good day for Toronto as the news will mean greater connectivity, convenience and safety.

"With the federal government now forcing Rogers to finally work with other carriers, we look forward to providing our customers with underground wireless coverage in the coming weeks," she said in a statement.

While past negotiation efforts have yet to yield results, Champagne said he expects the companies to meet the Oct. 3 deadline. 

"They know me by now. I'm not the type of guy you want to mess with. I think they figured that out," he said. 

"But above that, they don't want to mess with millions of Torontonians."

It has been more than a decade since the TTC signed a deal to enable cell service in the subway, but the reluctance of the major wireless providers to sign on to the system owned by BAI Communications meant few had access.  

Only after Rogers bought the Canadian arm of BAI Communications in April did the federal government have the jurisdiction to act on the issue, Champagne said. 

"The message could not be stronger, and I expect them fully to comply with that. If they fail to do so, we will take enforcement action." 

 

Major wireless carriers now active on Toronto's subway network after months of talks

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press

More than a decade after embarking on a plan to offer wireless service on the Toronto subway, the TTC has joined the global ranks of transit systems where riders can make phone calls, send text messages or browse the web underground — regardless of their mobile carrier.

Major carriers Bell Canada and Telus Corp., along with their low-cost brands Virgin and Koodoo, began offering cellular service in the busiest sections of the Toronto subway system on Monday, giving their customers the same access already enjoyed by riders with Rogers Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc.'s Freedom Mobile.

The Rogers-owned 5G wireless network is available to passengers in the Line 1 stations and tunnels in the so-called Downtown U from Union Station north to St. George and Bloor-Yonge, plus Spadina and Dupont stations. Users are also able to access the network in 13 stations on Line 2, along Bloor Street from Keele station to Castle Frank, plus the tunnels between St. George and Yonge stations. 

Rogers acquired the cellular network in the subway system from BAI Canada earlier this year and has been working to upgrade it.

The winding road to Monday's milestone began in 2012, when the TTC, as part of a public procurement, awarded Australia-based BAI a $25-million contract that would see it develop a wireless network in the Toronto subway system.

But BAI and the TTC only managed to sign on one carrier, Wind Mobile. Later rebranded Freedom Mobile, its customers had been the only riders since 2015 with access to mobile service on select TTC platforms and tunnels.

Elsewhere, other major cities zoomed past Toronto on similar projects as the TTC subway lagged behind.

New York City launched underground mobile service at its first six subway stations in 2011 through a partnership with BAI subsidiary Transit Wireless. By 2017, there was cell service at all underground subway stations in the city, while the tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan became its first to have full cellular and data connectivity three years later.

In 2013, Canada's four major carriers launched a $50-million project to build a cellular network in Montreal's Metro system, which was completed by 2020.

But co-operation between the rival telecoms has been hard to come by in Toronto.

The service to all carriers comes after months of tense back-and-forth negotiations between Rogers, Bell and Telus over the best technical approach, and financial terms, for the coverage.

Bell and Telus wanted a joint build of the TTC's mobile network using a consortium model similar to that of Montreal's Metro, rather than a pay-for-access approach. Rogers has not publicly committed to either model.

While that dispute remains unresolved, the federal government set a deadline of Tuesday for all TTC subway system passengers to have cellular connectivity, regardless of their carrier. It also set a Dec. 20 deadline for the companies to negotiate commercial agreements to provide service on the subway over the long term.

“Our dedicated team of technologists designed and introduced an immediate solution that added capacity, so Bell and Telus could join the network,” said Rogers chief technology and information officer Ron McKenzie in a press release.

In an interview, Bell vice-president of wireless networks Mark McDonald said he was optimistic that Bell and Telus would get their way as they continue to negotiate with Rogers.

"I really don't know why they've been reluctant," he said of Rogers's lack of commitment to a consortium build.

"It's a precedent. It is the standard model in Canada. So I believe that everybody will realize that's the right path forward to bring the highest quality network in the subway, to share those costs."

Telus spokesman Richard Gilhooley said in a statement his company would be "working hard to expand the number of stations and tunnels covered in the coming months."

Monday's news was welcomed by Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of the TTCriders advocacy group, who said it still took too long to reach the milestone given the ongoing safety issues on the transit system.

"It's still kind of shocking how long it's taken to get to this point, but we're glad that the federal government stepped in, that the new mayor asked the federal government to step in, and that everyone will have access to cell service in the subway," she said.

"People report that the subway is the place where they feel the least safe on the TTC network and it's because people feel isolated."

Rogers bought the Canadian arm of BAI Communications and the rights to provide wireless service on the subway in April. It then announced plans to upgrade the existing infrastructure installed by BAI at most downtown subway stations and build 5G capability for the entire network of stations and tunnels — a process it expects to take two years.

Rogers vowed to make the system accessible for other carriers to provide coverage to their customers. That included honouring BAI's previous contract with Freedom Mobile.

Rogers customers have had cellular service on the subway since the company activated high-speed 5G wireless service on Aug. 23. The move came while Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne was considering changes to the conditions of licence for the major telecoms in order to ensure all TTC customers could access Rogers's upgraded cellular network.

Bell and Telus had urged the federal minister to prevent Rogers from giving its own customers a head start on using the network.

But after launching service before Champagne ruled on the issue, Rogers then argued in a submission to Ottawa that the federal government should not force it to turn off access for its own customers — a position accepted by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).

"As ISED’s objective … is to ensure access to wireless services for Canadians throughout the TTC Subway System, it would be contrary to ISED’s objectives to prevent or remove services once they have been offered," it said in its ruling last month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2023.

 

Laurentian Bank appoints new CEO after computer mainframe outage

Laurentian Bank announced the appointment of Éric Provost as president and chief executive on Monday, following a computer outage at the bank last week.

Provost replaces Rania Llewellyn in the top job, effective immediately. He was most recently Laurentian's group head of personal and commercial banking.

The bank also said director Michael Boychuk has been appointed chair of its board of directors, replacing Michael Mueller, who has resigned from the board.

"We have experienced challenges recently and the board is confident that Éric will successfully focus the organization on our customer experience and operational effectiveness," Boychuk said in a statement.

"Éric's appointment as CEO follows his exceptional performance leading our commercial banking business and was part of our formal succession planning process." 

Laurentian said it suffered a mainframe outage last week during a planned IT maintenance update. It said customer data and financial information remained secure at all times.

The bank said Provost's immediate priority will be to rebuild trust with the bank's customers and address the impacts of the outage.

"Once the issues related to the outage are fully behind us, we will develop a new plan to ensure the sustained success of our bank," Provost said. 

"We will focus our efforts on renewing the trust of loyal customers while continuing our efforts to drive greater operational efficiency and growth in all our business lines."

As an initial step, the bank said it will reverse all monthly service fees for September as soon as possible. 

Last month, Laurentian completed its review of strategic options without a deal to sell the bank.

A strategic review is often seen by investors as a prelude to a sale by a company. However, Laurentian said it will work on simplifying its organizational structure and focusing on allocating capital and resources to its highest grossing businesses and specialized products.

Laurentian said it would share more information when it reports its fourth-quarter results on Dec. 7 and will unveil a renewed strategic plan at an investor day early in 2024.

The bank has been working through a three-year strategic plan it launched in late 2021 to modernize operations, including with the rollout of its first mobile banking app. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2023.

Laurentian needs to send a message to investors quickly, expert suggests

Ben Cousins, BNN Bloomberg

Following the latest news of a shakeup of Laurentian Bank’s C-suite, one portfolio manager said the bank needs to take steps to reassure its investors in short order.

On Monday, the bank announced Eric Provost, Laurentian’s group head of personal and commercial banking, would take over as president and CEO from Rania Llewellyn effective immediately, following an IT outage last week.

The bank also announced that director Michael Boychuk would replace Michael Mueller as chair of its board of directors.

Bryden Teich, partner and portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management, said the IT issue reasoning could be a way for the bank to avoid indicating the leadership change was due to its failed strategic review from earlier this year.

“If I’m trying to read the tea leaves, the banking sector as a whole is in a difficult moment, I think Laurentian specifically has been searching for an identity,” he told BNN Bloomberg Monday. “I would say perhaps that management didn’t find it and this is just a board shakeup and the bank is headed in a different direction.”

\

When it comes to the most recent shakeup, Teich the bank needs to be open with its investors about where the bank is going.

“You have to come out with a message quickly,” he said. “I think a lot of the moves, trying to go private or sell themselves, I think it’s also a great way to shake out any shorts that were in your stock.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR LAURENTIAN?\

In the near term, Teich suggested Laurentian might keep its operations as-is for the time being, with an economic downturn looming,

“Ultimately, lending’s a tough business, we’re about to go through probably a tough credit cycle and you need to have a management team that can focus on getting the institution through that,” he said.

“What Laurentian becomes after that, I’m not sure.”

With files from The Canadian Press

 

India tensions source of concern for Canada's postsecondary schools

Indira Kannan and Jordan Fleguel, BNN Bloomberg

With 20,000 students from India making up half of its student population, the president of Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ont., is hoping for a quick resolution to worsening relations between Canada and India.

Tensions have escalated between the two countries after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that there were “credible allegations” of Indian government involvement in the killing of Sikh independence activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was shot dead in June outside a B.C. temple.

Indian officials have called the allegations “absurd,” and this week the country issued a travel advisory for Canada that warned citizens to exercise caution and addressed students directly.

“Given the deteriorating security environment in Canada, Indian students in particular are advised to exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant,” the advisory read.

John Tibbits, president of Conestoga College, said he is hoping for an early resolution to the row, as any disruption of Indian student inflows would impact his institution, along with many other Canadian post-secondary schools.

“We’re concerned, but we’re not panicking at this point,” Tibbits said in a Friday interview.

“It would have a big impact on both sides if India decided they wanted to restrict the number of people coming here. We need the students and their skills and it would have a big impact on their families. So I’m hoping somehow the tension will diminish, but I understand it will take some time.”

Referring to security concerns raised in the travel advisory, Tibbits said there are no heightened security concerns in his area.

“I can’t talk about B.C. or other places, but here classes are going on as normal, it’s business as usual,” he said.

‘SINGLE GREATEST ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP’

India is by far the largest source country for international students in Canada.

Indians make up around 40 per cent of the foreign student population in this country. Those students not only pay tuition fees that are four to six times higher than those paid by domestic students, but also contribute to the local economies through rent, other spending and as a source of labour. 

In 2021, Ontario’s auditor general released a report warning about the risks of the province’s colleges depending on high international student tuitions to stay afloat.

"That puts these institutions in a precarious position, should students decide to go elsewhere, or are no longer able to come to Canada to study," Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s report had stated.

Colleges, universities and communities across Canada would be impacted if current political tensions were to affect the flow of Indian students to Canada, according to the president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Jeff Nankivell told BNN Bloomberg this week that the freeze could risk impacting a major source of funding for Canadian universities and colleges.

“The single greatest economic relationship is around the student flows to Canada,” he said in a television interview on Thursday.

While demand remains high in India for Canadian education, and “it would take a lot to knock it off course,” Nankivell noted that government tensions could dissuade prospective students.

“That has implications not just for colleges and universities and private professional schools, but also for communities across the country,” he said.

His comments echoed remarks from Rohinton Medhora, distinguished fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, who in a recent interview with BNN Bloomberg, also pointed to international student flows as a possible “economic consequence” of the ongoing diplomatic crisis between Canada and India.

VISA SUSPENSION

India has also announced a ban on new visas for Canadian citizens.

While this is unlikely to affect students, who mostly hold Indian passports, a bigger cause for concern is the Indian government’s directive to Canada to downsize its diplomatic and consular staff in India, to match India’s staff strength in Canada. 

That could delay the processing of student visas, prompting students to look elsewhere, Tibbits explained.

“Certainly there is a risk, there’s no question,” Tibbits said.

“We know Indian students could go to Australia, Great Britain or the U.S. But there’s a lot of diaspora in Canada and I think overall they consider Canada a country of opportunity and friendly to the Indian population. So I would think we would still be, compared to the U.S., a destination of choice.”

Tibbits said he was not aware of requests from Indian students yet to defer their admission to later semesters, but he hopes things return to normal soon.

“I’m certainly disappointed at the tension,” he said. “I think India’s a very important ally of Canada. It’s in both our interests to have a good relationship, especially for Canada … we’re a small country, we need a good relationship with India.”

 

Coastal GasLink pipeline project 98 per cent complete

TC Energy Corp. says its Coastal GasLink pipeline project is 98 per cent complete.

Coastal GasLink is a 670-kilometre pipeline spanning northern British Columbia that will carry natural gas across the province to the LNG Canada processing and export facility in Kitimat, B.C.

TC Energy says the pipeline will be mechanically complete before the end of the year.

Earlier this year, the company raised the estimated project price tag for Coastal GasLink to $14.5 billion, up significantly from a previous estimate of $11.2 billion and more than double the initial cost estimate of $6.2 billion.

Over the course of the project, the pipeline's construction has also attracted opposition and protests from environmentalists and Indigenous leaders.

While many Indigenous groups along the project's pathway support the pipeline, the hereditary Wet'suwet'en chiefs, whose territory the pipeline crosses, do not.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2023.

 

Clean electricity regs can be tweaked, but no special deal for Alberta: Guilbeault

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press 

There will be no special treatment for Alberta when it comes to Canada's incoming regulations to make electricity cleaner, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Friday.

The comments are the latest salvo in the seemingly never-ending battle between Alberta and Ottawa over climate policy.

This one relates to new clean electricity regulations that Guilbeault published in draft form in August. The regulations will require all electricity to be from either renewable sources, like wind or hydro, or equipped with carbon-capture technology by 2035.

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan have said that that is simply not doable, and they are instead targeting 2050 as the date for full emissions-free electricity. 

The two provinces still rely heavily on fossil fuels — natural gas for Alberta and coal and gas for Saskatchewan — to make power, and they say they can't eliminate those or build enough carbon capture without hurting reliability or costing their residents a fortune.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith Thursday said she will use her province's sovereignty act to challenge any attempt by Ottawa to enforce that deadline. Her comment came after an Alberta Electric System Operator issued a report warning about the possibility of blackouts if the federal regulations are enforced. 

The report did not explain how that conclusion was reached. But Smith is in full-scale attack mode, launching a widespread advertising campaign, including outside of Alberta, asking people to tell Ottawa not to let Albertans freeze in the dark.

Guilbeault disputes that the regulations will put undue costs or cause reliability problems anywhere. He said he wants to work with all provinces and territories to make sure the regulations work for everyone and also reduce emissions.

"I would call on Premier Smith to work with us constructively to ensure that these regulations are the most efficient for all Canadians," Guilbeault said during a news conference on an unrelated topic in Ottawa Friday.

He said while the regulations are still in the consultation stage, and adjustments can still be made, there will not be a carve-out that exempts Alberta.

"How fair would it be for ... the rest of the federation if we started carving out exceptions for provinces?" he said.

"We didn't do it for pricing. We worked with all provinces to ensure that we had a fair and equitable system when it came to pricing, and we will do the same for the clean electricity regulations."

Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with Ontario, launched court challenges of Ottawa's authority to impose a carbon price, arguing it impeded their jurisdictions from developing their natural resources as they see fit. 

Ultimately, the Supreme Court of Canada sided with Ottawa, ruling that climate change and emissions cross provincial borders, so Ottawa has jurisdiction to implement a carbon price.

The Sovereignty Act, which Smith passed in Alberta almost a year ago, would allow the province to reject federal laws or regulations when the province thinks they cause harm to Alberta. It has not been tested in court.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2023.

 

High grocery prices 'inherent to the Canadian system': food economist

Daniel Johnson, BNN Bloomberg

Following meetings between government officials, grocers and manufacturing companies around at stabilizing food costs, a food economist said conversations about food supply chains should be broad and inclusive to get at the heart of the issue.

Mike von Massow, a food economist and associate professor at the University of Guelph, told BNN Bloomberg it’s important for players at all levels of the supply chain to be involved in the discussions in order to have a “fulsome” picture of what is taking place. 

“It’s important to have the broader conversations,” von Massow said in a Tuesday interview.

“Frankly, I would have had them even more broad, and included some of the producer groups, so that we have a complete picture of what's going on in the supply chain.”

The expert’s comments came after the federal government held meetings on the topic of stabilizing food prices with top grocery executives at Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart and Costco, and with leaders at manufacturing companies including McCain, Nestlé and Kraft Heinz.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said grocery executives agreed to take action to stabilize food prices and that their plans will be presented next month. 

In another bid to tackle high food costs, the federal government also tabled the “Affordable Housing and Groceries Act” last week. The legislation attempts to maintain competition in the grocery industry and expands powers for the Competition Bureau to investigate price fixing.

In a recent BNN Bloomberg interview, former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley criticized the government’s moves aimed at stabilizing food prices. He disagreed with the focus on grocery stores and said if the federal government was serious about its efforts, it would focus on supply management instead.

FOOD PRICES IN CANADA 

Food inflation remains high in Canada. However, von Massow noted that prices have declined in two of the last three months despite elevated prices on an annual basis – a trend he said should provide “some hope” for consumers. 

According to von Massow, there are several factors “inherent to the Canadian system” that contribute to higher prices. 

“None of these things are going to be big magic bullets to bringing food prices down. But I think things like interprovincial trade barriers are small things that we could do to improve not only the food prices but the prices of many other things as well,” he said. 

Some of these factors include labour costs in Canada that are higher relative to the U.S. 

“That comes into play regardless of where we are in the food system, at restaurants, at retail (or) at processing.” von Massow said. 

He also noted that logistic costs are more expensive in Canada due to fuel costs, as well as from a “distance travelled perspective.” 

First Nation wants reasons for Trans Mountain ruling; says it's entitled to appeal

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

A B.C. First Nation is asking the Canada Energy Regulator to release its reasons as soon as possible for allowing a modification of the Trans Mountain pipeline's route.

In a letter to the regulator dated Wednesday, a lawyer representing the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation (SSN) said the decision to grant the route deviation Monday without providing its reasons has left the First Nation without the ability to decide its next steps.

The letter said the First Nation has the right to request a reconsideration of the decision, or to appeal it through the Federal Court of Appeal.

"This has, in fact, created significant uncertainty for SSN and left SSN without the procedural options that would otherwise be afforded to it with the potential for irreparable harm to its rights and title as a result," the letter states.

The Canada Energy Regulator ruled Monday to allow Trans Mountain Corp. to alter the route slightly for a 1.3-kilometre stretch of pipeline in the Jacko Lake area near Kamloops, B.C.

It said it would release its reasons for the decision in the coming weeks.

Trans Mountain Corp, a Crown corporation, had requested the change because of what it said were engineering difficulties in the area related to the construction of a tunnel.

The company had warned that being forced to stick to its original route and construction method could result in up to a nine-month delay in the pipeline's completion, as well as an additional $86 million more in project costs.

Trans Mountain had been hoping to have the pipeline completed by early 2024.

But the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation, whose traditional territory the pipeline crosses and who had only agreed to the originally proposed route, opposed Trans Mountain's application.

The First Nation has said the new route threatens to disturb land that has spiritual and cultural significance.

The First Nation's lawyer said in the letter Wednesday that Trans Mountain has indicated it wants to break ground on the new route on Oct. 2.

The Trans Mountain pipeline is Canada's only pipeline system transporting oil from Alberta to the West Coast. The expansion, which is currently underway, will boost the pipeline's capacity to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd.

The pipeline — which was bought by the federal government for $4.5 billion in 2018 after previous owner Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. threatened to scrap the expansion project in the face of environmentalist opposition and regulatory hurdles — has already been plagued by construction-related challenges and delays.

Its projected price tag has also soared: first to $12.6 billion, then to $21.4 billion and most recently to $30.9 billion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2023.

 

Northvolt gets billions from Canada to build Quebec EV battery plant

Mathieu Dion and Rafaela Lindeberg, Bloomberg News

Sweden’s Northvolt AB said clean power and access to critical raw materials alongside generous subsidies swayed its decision to pick a site close to Montreal for its first electric vehicle battery plant in North America. 

The $7 billion project sets up Northvolt, founded by former Tesla Inc. employees, to become a global player as Western nations seek to lessen EV battery dependence on China. It’s set to start operating in 2026 and initially produce enough batteries for about half a million EVs. The plant was announced Thursday, confirming a report in June by Bloomberg News. 

To help attract Northvolt, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is matching subsidies available for U.S. manufacturing under the Inflation Reduction Act. The support during construction as well as battery production may amount to more than $5 billion, and follows similar commitments for Volkswagen AG and Stellantis NV factories in Ontario. 

“It will make our country one of the few places with this capacity outside of Asia,” said Trudeau at a news conference in Montreal.

Quebec’s clean hydroelectric power will “slash by half the total footprint of the carbon dioxide required to produce batteries,” co-founder Paolo Cerruti said in an interview. Canada’s reserves of critical minerals and Montreal’s location on the eastern side of the continent were also factors in the company’s choice — alongside generous funds.

The moves are a testament to the growing global subsidy race. Tensions between China and Western countries have spiked, with EVs moving into the crosshairs after the European Union this month kicked off a probe into what it says is unfair Chinese state support of its electric-vehicle makers.

In a first phase, Northvolt’s Montreal factory will have a capacity of 30 gigawatt hours of annual lithium-ion cell manufacturing and will also produce cathode components and recycle old batteries. No timeline was provided for a second phase that would double output.

Government funding will amount to about $1 billion each from Canada and Quebec toward construction, mostly in loans that may be partially forgiven if Northvolt meets certain conditions. As part of its share, Quebec is buying a $420 million equity stake in Northvolt. 

The company will also be eligible for combined operating subsidies of as much as $4.6 billion over a maximum period of nine years, broadly matching commitments for the VW and Stellantis projects in Ontario. Northvolt chose the location east of Montreal from about 70 different sites in North America.

“This is the largest manufacturing investment in the history of Quebec,” said the province’s premier, Francois Legault.

Cerruti, who previously led the supply chain and operations planning at Tesla, will lead Northvolt’s North American operations. The battery maker, created seven years ago, has already received $55 billion in orders from BMW, Volvo Car and Volkswagen. 

It’s currently making batteries in Sweden and plans an initial public offering when equity markets are more favorable, counting BlackRock Inc. is among its large investors. The firm is also planning to build a factory in Germany, but financial support has yet to be finalized. 

Northvolt has already secured a battery buyer in North America for the new plant, Cerruti said, without disclosing any details. Future expansion on the continent is possible, he said. 

The ambitious timeline for the project may come under pressure from a labor shortage with around 3,000 workers necessary and opposition from residents living nearby. 

“It’s not going to be easy, but being aware and having a plan is kind of solving 50 per cent of the problem,” Cerruti said. 

With assistance from Laura Dhillon Kane.

Quebec EV battery plant will produce $25

billion worth of batteries each year: Volpe

Jordan Fleguel, BNN Bloomberg 

A $7-billion electric vehicle battery plant is coming to Quebec, and one industry expert says it will be able to produce around $25 billion worth of batteries each year when fully built out.

The president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association told BNN Bloomberg that the investment by Swedish battery-maker Northvolt is an important link in EV battery supply chain infrastructure, which will be critical to Canada’s economy going forward.

“This is their first North American investment, and it's massive,” Flavio Volpe said in a television interview on Thursday.

The Quebec government is subsidizing the plant, committing up to $2.9 billion to secure the deal, while the federal government will add up to another $1.34 billion.

Volpe says that as Canada attempts to break into the global EV battery market, government subsidies are necessary to attract investment from the world’s largest companies.

“If you want to be in the big leagues, you've got to, unfortunately, pay a franchise fee,” he said. “But then it generates all kinds of incredible activity that doesn't come any other way.”

Volpe says that when fully operational, the plant will have the capacity to make roughly one million batteries per year.

“They're about $25,000 each battery, so the economic activity in the area is going to be in and around $25 billion a year,” he said, “so there is a lot of money tied to production.”

Northvolt’s facility, which will be located outside Montreal, is expected to go into production in 2026 and will employ up to 3,000 people, according to the company.

 

Blackstone bets on Canadian immigration to usher in growth

Iva Poshnjari, BNN Bloomberg

With highly educated immigrants set to grow Canada’s population, one of the world’s largest asset management firms is looking to invest heavily in the country.
 
Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset management company which oversees US$1 trillion in assets, is opening up an office in Canada as it commits to growing its presence and investments in the country.  

Jonathan Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, told BNN Bloomberg that his company has “a lot of enthusiasm” about Canada’s economy – and he sees the country’s growing population as its largest asset for future growth and productivity.
 
“We think the resource that (Canada) is most rich in is human talent,” Gray said in a television interview on Wednesday. 
 
“The fact that the population in Canada is growing at 2.7 per cent, five times the rate of the U.S., it’s very bullish. Many of those folks are quite educated as well.”
 
Blackstone is looking to grow its investments in Canada within several industries that include housing, logistics, infrastructure and clean energy. 
 
“You’ll see us on the real estate front do more in the student housing, which is an area Canada is really strong in, because so many people want to get a Canadian education,” he noted. 
 
Data centres will be another area Blackstone intends to focus to facilitate the advancement of artificial intelligence, Gray added.
 
“When you think about what’s coming in AI, data centres are really the manifestation of that,” he added. 
 
HOUSING PUSH 
 
As Blackstone eyes more student housing, Gray spoke about the Canadian housing market’s strength at large. 
 
Despite extraordinary high prices, he expects that overwhelming demand for housing in Canada combined with limited housing supply will continue to support the sector – particularly in areas where concentrated numbers of immigrants are expected to land.
 
“I think housing long-term has got some support because of this supply-demand imbalance,” Gray said.