Federal government invested nearly $30 billion in oil and gas industry in 2024, report finds

OTTAWA, ON — Canada’s federal government provided $29.6 billion in financial support to the oil and gas industry in 2024, according to a new analysis by Environmental Defence.

The analysis, published on April 3rd, took stock of direct grants, tax breaks, loans and loan guarantees from the federal government and its Crown corporations to the oil and gas and petrochemical industries. 

The 2024 tally is about $11 billion higher than 2023. 

Ahead of the federal election on April 28th, federal and provincial politicians have been talking about reviving the Energy East Pipeline, and Liberal leader Mark Carney recently stated he is committed to building pipelines across the country.

At the same time, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre pitched a “national energy corridor” to fast-track approvals for critical infrastructure, like pipelines and transmission lines, across the country.

All these possible projects would only happen with significant government support, according to Julia Levin, associate director of national climate for Environmental Defence and author of the report.

Both the major parties — the Conservatives and Liberals — are keeping pipelines in the conversation, while the Bloc Québécois’ recently-released election platform branded it as a “no pipeline party,” Mario Levesque, a professor at New Brunswick’s Mount Allison University, told Canada’s National Observer.

“What’s missing in all of this talk about this energy corridor and everything else is Indigenous engagement,” said Levesque.

“None of the parties have really said that they would engage Indigenous communities going throughout this process.”

The New Democrats recently reaffirmed its pledge to eliminate public subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas companies, as did the Bloc. 

The federal government has supported the oil and gas sector to the tune of nearly $75 billion over the past five years, Environmental Defence found.

In 2024, Export Development Canada provided a $500-million loan for Cedar LNG and $200 million for the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

The Crown corporation also gave Enbridge US $300 million, Calgary-based oil company Vermilion Energy $100 million for oil and gas exploration and production, and $100 million for Wolf Midstream for its carbon capture and storage (CCS) plans and export.

Last year, Environmental Defence started including some financial support to the petrochemical industry in its analysis because Export Development Canada changed how it reports transactions and included some petrochemical companies in the oil and gas category.

Petrochemicals are derivatives of fossil fuels and are used to manufacture many different products, including plastics.