Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and dear members of the committee.
My name is Dan Dufour. I'm with Natural Resources Canada. It's a pleasure to be here this afternoon. I'm joined by two of my Natural Resources Canada colleagues, Nada Vrany and Monique Frison, as well as a number of other federal colleagues, to share our perspectives related to federal assistance for the natural resource industries.
I'm calling from Ottawa, located on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe peoples.
I'll happily touch on, in my brief remarks, how we advance the sustainability and competitiveness of our natural resource industries as part of the global transition to net-zero emissions by 2050. To achieve this goal, Natural Resources Canada is investing in sustainable energy, mining and forestry initiatives. We're ensuring a just transition by moving forward with comprehensive action, including legislation, to support workers across the country. We're also advancing economic reconciliation in partnership with indigenous peoples, communities and businesses by ensuring their meaningful participation in Canada's net-zero future.
Through the regional energy and resource tables, we are working with provinces and territories to identify and accelerate key economic opportunities towards the low-carbon economy. The government's recent investments in natural resource sectors contain numerous key tools that will enable such a strategy. We are investing nearly $4 billion in critical minerals to develop Canada's value chain, from expanding mining and processing of strategic minerals to manufacturing such products as batteries, EVs and solar panels. Through initiatives like the smart renewables and electrification pathways program, we're continuing to invest in clean energy expansion to green our grid and enhance generation capacity.
We also recognize nuclear energy to be an important non-emitting and reliable source of electricity. That is why budget 2022 includes close to $70 million to support activities to minimize waste generated from small modular reactors, to strengthen international nuclear co-operation agreements and to enhance domestic safety and security policies and practices.
What's more, we see hydrogen as a clean energy source central to meeting Canada's climate commitments. Budgets 2021 and 2022 included several important hydrogen investments, including funding for projects under the clean fuels fund and under the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada net-zero accelerator. We also have a proposal to expand the Canada Infrastructure Bank's mandate to include hydrogen production, transportation and distribution. There are new incentives for zero-emission vehicle purchases, which will include hydrogen-powered vehicles, and new investor tax credits for CCUS and clean technologies.
Regarding the oil and gas sector, support has been designed to help the industry decarbonize. During the pandemic, the government introduced targeted funding and programs in this sector to keep Canadians working while addressing environmental objectives. This includes an investment of $1.7 billion to address inactive and orphan wells. Our support also includes a suite of initiatives to help Canada become the cleanest oil and gas producing country in the world. This includes an investment of $319 million in research, development and demonstration to advance CCUS technologies, as well as $1.5 billion to expand clean fuel production facilities.
The government also recognizes the challenges and growth opportunities in Canada's forest sector, which has received over $345 million since budget 2017 for innovation, market and product development, as well as economic development in indigenous communities across the country. Budget 2022 included an additional $380 million to address the increasing threat of wildland fires, and over $55 million to protect British Columbia's old-growth forests. Finally, the two billion trees program received a federal investment of $3.2 billion as part of the natural climate solutions fund.
Canada, as we know, operates in a global system. A number of the budget 2022 investments that I mentioned will support Canada's energy transition and climate initiatives, but we know that more is needed. NRCan continues to actively explore additional measures to maintain the competitiveness for Canada's natural resource industries on the global stage.
To conclude, transforming Canada's natural resource industries will take time, but the government is committed to positioning these sectors to advance our climate change commitments while building a cleaner, more inclusive and prosperous economy that works for everyone.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.