Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.
I am pleased to rise today to speak to the motion submitted by the member for Battle River—Crowfoot. To succeed in a more competitive world, Canada must define and invest in its competitive strengths. This includes our energy sector, which remains a major driver of our economy and jobs across the country.
In 2023, oil and gas accounted for 7.7% of Canada's GDP and $160 billion in exports. We also have proven reserves of over 1.7 billion barrels of oil, most of which are found in Canada's oil sands.
At the same time, for Canada to prosper we must find ways to reduce emissions from oil and gas and lay the foundation for a low-carbon economy. Building a competitive low-carbon economy is not just an environmental imperative; it is an economic one. The global energy system is changing at an unprecedented speed, and countries that can produce energy while driving down emissions will be the ones that succeed in the decades ahead.
While Canada's energy resources have helped support our economic prosperity, oil and gas production accounts for 30% of our overall greenhouse gas emissions as a nation. While Canada's emissions across the economy have fallen by 8.5% since 2005, emissions from oil and gas have increased by nearly 7% over the same period of time. This contrast underscores the scale of this challenge. If other sectors are doing their part, Canada's biggest-emitting industry must do so as well.
The good news is that Canadian companies are stepping up, with innovative clean technology companies working with the energy sector through initiatives like the Clean Resource Innovation Network, which received $227 million from the strategic innovation fund. These collaborations help make our energy sector more sustainable by decreasing emissions.
Clean technologies will be central to that effort, providing solutions that reduce environmental impact, boost resource efficiency and support economic growth. Adopting clean technology is a strategic choice that, when commercialized and adopted at scale, will enable our industries to support the achievement of Canada's climate targets.
No single solution will deliver all the reductions we need, but taken together, they can lower emissions, improve efficiency and support good jobs.
Canada is a world leader in clean tech and is home to several companies developing innovative clean technology solutions that are important for decreasing emissions from the oil and gas sector. This includes methane detection and measurement, nuclear fusion, geothermal energy, long-duration energy storage, and carbon capture and storage. These and other technologies have the potential to better manage our resources while working to eliminate scope 1 and scope 2 emissions.
Canada's strengths position us to lead in developing, deploying and exporting the solutions needed to reduce emissions not just from oil and gas but across all heavy industries. The government is committed to becoming a world leader in carbon removal and sequestration technology, but industry itself recognizes what is at stake and has committed to developing carbon capture utilization and storage technologies as a key tool for reducing the environmental impacts of the energy sector and meeting its obligations.
The Pathways Alliance was recently identified by the government as being on track for consideration as a project of national interest. This industry group represents 95% of Canada's oil sands production and has proposed a vast carbon transportation and storage network to cut its emissions by 22 million tonnes per year by 2030. This reflects the scale of change required and represents an opportunity to lower emissions and grow Canada's clean tech sector.
Another area in which the oil and gas sector must curb its emissions is with respect to methane. In 2023, 45% of Canada's total methane emissions originated from the oil and gas sector. Methane mitigation is one of the fastest, most cost-effective ways to reduce emissions. Canadian companies are already global leaders in this space, from designing sensors and satellites to detect emissions to developing the software and analytical methods to process the data, providing the service to repair leaks, and designing and manufacturing the equipment to reduce or capture vented and flared gas.
Many of these reductions can generate revenues that help fund GHG mitigation efforts. This creates good jobs at home and gives us an edge in international markets from Europe to Asia that demand cleaner energy. Failure to meet evolving international standards could severely restrict Canada's access to these crucial markets in future. By acting swiftly and effectively to reduce methane emissions, Canada's energy industry can enhance its competitiveness, secure access to global markets and diversify its energy exports from traditional reliance on the United States. This strategic shift is vital from both an economic and an environmental perspective.
The government is committed to helping the oil and gas sector succeed in its commitments to decarbonize. Our actions include methane regulations implemented by the federal and provincial governments, which have spurred an internationally recognized ecosystem of innovation and a robust methane mitigation industry here at home. Leading Canadian clean technology firms have gained international success because of our government's efforts on methane.
Federal, provincial and territorial carbon pricing systems for industry play a key role in driving clean technology. The government is committed to improving the federal system and actively working with provincial and territorial governments to ensure that carbon markets continue to function well and to ensure that they establish a long-term signal to lock in future investments.
The Canada growth fund plays a pivotal role in accelerating emissions reduction in Canada's oil and gas sector by addressing one of the main barriers to large-scale investment: market and policy uncertainty around future carbon prices through carbon contracts for difference.
The clean technology, clean hydrogen, clean electricity, and carbon capture, utilization and storage investment tax credits implemented by our government will play an important role in driving investments, including in the oil and gas sector. To further support this goal, the government will ensure that the full value of the CCUS investment tax credit is extended to 2035.
In short, clean tech is the key to unlocking emissions reduction in the oil and gas sector. It will allow us to reconcile two vital imperatives: cutting our emissions and sustaining our prosperity. Our government will continue to work with industry, provinces, territories, indigenous partners and communities to drive down emissions, foster innovation and build a low-carbon economy that is competitive, resilient and sustainable.
Canada can position itself as a global leader in responsible energy production and clean technology development. We can and we must. This is not just about reducing emissions; it is also about building the economy of the future, one that sustains prosperity, meets our climate commitments and ensures that Canadian workers, communities and businesses have the tools they need to thrive.