Good morning, Chair and honourable members.
My name is Abdul Jalil and I am the assistant deputy minister for the PrairiesCan Saskatchewan region. I'm joined by my colleague Joanne Pawluk, director general of business innovation and community development.
I'm pleased to be speaking with you from Regina on Treaty Four territory, the traditional land of the Cree, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Dakota, Nakota and Lakota peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
PrairiesCan is the federal department that supports economic growth in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We provide targeted investments, advocate for the Prairies' interests and collaborate with stakeholders across the prairie provinces. Our programs and services are sector-neutral. They help businesses, not-for-profits and communities grow stronger.
Since November 2015, we have invested more than $1.5 billion to diversify and grow the western Canadian economy, support innovation and stimulate the Canadian economy with pandemic support programs.
While our programs are not sector-driven, we have identified an estimated PrairiesCan investment of roughly $50 million for more than 90 projects closely linked to the natural resource sector and several tens of millions of dollars in indirect support since 2015. From oil and gas to hydro, and from potash to minerals and uranium, the natural resources sector supports quality jobs and helps communities prosper.
I'm pleased to share a few examples of these projects. We recently invested $7.5 million to establish two new rare earth element processing facilities in Saskatchewan. They are the first in Canada, and one of them will be the first of its kind in North America. These facilities mark the creation of a new value-added natural resource industry in Canada and a significant step toward establishing a secure domestic rare earth supply chain.
Earlier this year, PrairiesCan also announced more than $2.1 million to support the Energy Transition Centre. Based in the heart of downtown Calgary, this centre provides a space where Canada's largest energy companies can collaborate with clean energy start-ups, innovators and investors.
We invested $75,000 in the International Minerals Innovation Institute to undertake Saskatchewan's first ever alternative energy systems innovation challenge. This challenge connects mining companies and local businesses to support the accelerated application, scale-up and adoption of clean technology in the mining sector.
We are also making strategic investments in the growing hydrogen sector and have committed more than $6 million in support of hydrogen projects to date. Our investment has enabled the launch of the Edmonton Region Hydrogen HUB, an alliance of government, indigenous, academic and economic development leaders. This is Canada's first hydrogen hub, and it serves as the blueprint for other hydrogen nodes across the country.
In addition, carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies will play a vital role in enabling Canada to meet its net-zero commitments. That's why we invested more than $1.5 million for carbonNEXT, a Canadian commercialization hub for carbon capture, utilization, storage and monitoring technologies.
We make investments to support inclusive economic development as well. For example, we invested $150,000 to support the mineral-rich communities of Northern Saskatchewan in the Athabasca basin. This funding supported training and employment opportunities for residents, including indigenous participants, when they were affected by the slowdown of uranium mining. The Athabasca basin is now identified as one of Canada's critical mineral-rich regions.
The team at PrairiesCan has deep roots on the Prairies. We are engaging communities and collaborating with diverse interests to support sustainable economic development in the natural sector. Our intent is a strong economy that works for everyone.
I would be pleased to answer your questions.
Thank you.