Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the launch of a new office that will coordinate delivery of proposed nation building construction projects.

The Major Projects Office (MPO) is headquartered in Calgary and will have offices in other major cities. Its mandate is to serve as a single point of contact to get nation-building projects – including ports, railways, energy corridors, critical mineral developments, and clean energy initiatives – built faster.

The Prime Minister’s Office says it will do so in two principal ways: by streamlining and accelerating regulatory approval processes and by helping to structure and co-ordinate financing of these projects as needed.

“Canada has always been a nation of builders, from the St. Lawrence Seaway to Expo 67. At this hinge moment in our history, Canada must draw on this legacy and act decisively to transform our economy from reliance to resilience,” Carney said. “We are moving at a speed not seen in generations to build ports, railways, energy grids – the major projects that will unlock Canada’s full economic potential and build Canada strong.”

The MPO will help to identify projects that are in Canada’s national interest and will help fast-track their development. It will accelerate projects by creating a single set of conditions, thereby reducing the approval timeline for projects of national interest to a maximum of two years. To that end, it will work with provinces and territories to achieve a “one project, one review” approach for environmental assessments. The office will also help streamline approvals for all major projects across government, not just those designated under the Building Canada Act.

The MPO will also work to attract domestic and global capital to these major projects. The MPO will help structure and co-ordinate financing from the private sector, provincial and territorial partners, and government initiatives, including the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Canada Growth Fund, and the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program.

Carney also announced that the office will be led by Dawn Farrell, the former President, CEO and Board Chair of Trans Mountain Corporation.

The MPO will also be directed by an Indigenous Advisory Council. The membership of the council will be confirmed next month and will be comprised of representatives from First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Modern Treaty and Self-Governing partners.

The office will provide $40 million over two years to increase the capacity of Indigenous Peoples to engage early and consistently on major projects.

The government plans to announce the first set of nation-building projects in the coming weeks.