Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding
December 17, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to drive their shared missions. This framework for an agreement will strengthen federal-provincial collaboration in the energy sector to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, unlock the full potential of Alberta’s energy resources, and create hundreds of thousands of new high-paying careers for Canadians.
The MOU is built on practical solutions: stronger, more effective industrial carbon pricing, major private sector investments in clean technologies, and expanded, responsible energy development for the workers and communities who rely on it.
Under this partnership, Canada and Alberta will collaborate on multiple projects to build Canada’s economy and meet growing consumer and industrial energy demands. It will advance the construction of Pathways Plus – the world’s largest carbon capture, utilisation, and storage project. The project will strengthen Canada’s energy sector, reduce emissions, and deliver substantial economic benefits, including more than $16 billion in GDP and more than 40,000 jobs annually.
Upon receipt of a proposal from the Government of Alberta, the Government of Canada will provide a clear and efficient approval process under the Building Canada Act for the construction of a new pipeline – to be financed and constructed by the private sector, with Indigenous Peoples’ ownership and benefits. It would transport at least one million low-emissions barrels per day to Asian markets as a priority. As a prerequisite to this project, Pathways Plus means Alberta would export some of the lowest carbon-intensity oil produced in the world.
The MOU also advances multiple ambitious clean energy projects and measures that will improve affordability, attract foreign and private investment, and build a more sustainable economy. This includes a strong industrial carbon pricing agreement for the province and an agreement to lower methane emissions by 75% over the next decade. It will also drive initiatives that will enable Alberta to build and operate competitive nuclear power generation, reinforce Alberta’s electricity grid to power sovereign AI data centres, and build large transmission interties with British Columbia and Saskatchewan to better supply low-carbon, low-cost power across the three provinces.
Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding
- Canada and Alberta remain committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050;
- Alberta and Canada will work together to achieve the shared objective of establishing Canada as a global energy superpower, unlocking the growth potential of Western Canada’s oil and gas (including liquified natural gas (LNG)), renewable energy, critical minerals, and other resources that the world needs;
- Alberta and Canada recognize their obligations to consult with, and where appropriate accommodate, Indigenous Peoples; and
- Canada and Alberta are committed to respecting Aboriginal and Treaty rights, engaging in early, consistent, and meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples, in a manner that promotes reconciliation, and respects the rights and cultures of Indigenous Peoples while advancing economic opportunities through Indigenous ownership and partnerships.
Objectives
The Governments of Canada and Alberta are focused on achieving the following objectives and have developed the following clear actions towards this goal:
- Increasing production of Alberta oil and gas to reach Canada’s export and national security goals, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, while simultaneously reaching carbon neutrality by, in part, reducing the emissions intensity of Canadian heavy oil production to best in class in terms of the average for heavy oil by 2050.
- Increasing electrical generation for consumer and industrial use on Alberta’s electricity grid, including meeting the needs of AI data centres, while simultaneously reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for the electricity sector by 2050.
- Creating electricity and energy policies that address consumer affordability, electricity grid stability, economic competitiveness and long-term competitive certainty, that attract Canadian and foreign sources of private sector capital investment.
- Reducing layers of regulatory overlap and simplifying regulatory systems to ensure a maximum 2-year timeframe for permitting and approvals with the goal of shorter project approval timelines where feasible.
- Providing meaningful opportunity for Indigenous rightsholders to participate in consultation processes and economic opportunities through Indigenous ownership, partnerships and benefits.
Projects
- Construction of one or more private sector constructed and financed pipelines, with Indigenous Peoples co-ownership and economic benefits, with at least one million barrels a day of low emission Alberta bitumen with a route that increases export access to Asian markets as a priority. The application for this pipeline project will be ready to submit to the Major Projects Office on or before July 1, 2026. It is agreed this new pipeline would be in addition to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline for an additional 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day destined for Asian markets.
- Construction and financing of the world’s largest carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) project (Pathways) for the purpose of making Alberta oil among the lowest carbon intensity produced barrels of oil in the world.
- Construction of thousands of megawatts of AI computing power, with a large portion dedicated to sovereign cloud for Canada and its allies.
- Construction of large transmission interties with British Columbia and Saskatchewan to strengthen the ability of the western power markets to supply low carbon power to oil, LNG, critical minerals, agricultural, data centres and CCUS industries in support of their sustainability goals.
Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding | Prime Minister of Canada
