Canada unveils $70B clean energy and minerals plan

Canada's government announced Monday what it's calling the largest clean energy investment in North American history: nearly $70 billion. Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled the plan alongside the premiers of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Most of the money expands hydropower, the dams and transmission lines that move electricity to where it's needed. The government says the projects will support 23,000 jobs.

The plan bundles two things Canada wants at once: more clean electricity, and more mined critical minerals. Those are the materials used in batteries and electronics. A new corridor through a region called the Labrador Trough is meant to connect the two. It would power mines with clean electricity instead of diesel generators. Canada has announced critical-minerals funding before, in smaller pieces. This is by far the biggest single commitment yet, and it explicitly ties mining to the clean-power buildout.

Keep reading — what to watch

Will the Labrador Trough corridor actually get built on this timeline? It's only been referred to Canada's Major Projects Office, a body that reviews and can fast-track big infrastructure. Referral isn't approval. Projects at this scale, cutting through multiple provinces, routinely take years longer than announced. The $70 billion figure is real money committed. Whether it becomes working mines and power lines on schedule is still unproven.