Investment

Investment ensures that the energy needed by Canadians is available and used efficiently while also supporting economic and export opportunities in the energy sector. Investment in energy innovation is an important part of building a clean economy.

Learn more about energy investment in Section 2 of the Energy Fact Book including:

Capital expenditures and environmental protection expenditures

Foreign Direct Investment and Canadian Direct Investment Abroad

Canadian Energy Assets Abroad, foreign control of assets, Major Energy Projects in Canada, Canada’s Energy Infrastructure

RD&D and Mission Innovation

Key facts

• Capital expenditures in Canada’s energy sector totaled $66 billion in 2021. Electric power generation and distribution was the largest area of energy capital expenditure at $25.3 billion in 2021, surpassing oil and gas extraction ($23.9 billion) for the first time.
• Fuel, energy and pipeline infrastructure make up the largest proportion of Canada’s infrastructure at 31% of net stock in 2021. Investment and operations of the infrastructure created 115.7k jobs and $18.0 billion in GDP.
• In 2022, there were 320 planned (announced, under review, or approved) major energy projects worth $427 B, and 61 energy projects under construction worth $46.5 B.  There were 183 clean technology projects valued at $116 B.
• The stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the energy sector rose in 2021 to $201 billion (+8.8% over the previous year). The energy industry’s share of overall FDI in Canada was 19% in 2021, relatively unchanged from 2020.
• In 2019-20, federal energy RD&D expenditures were $837M and provincial and territorial (P&T) government energy RD&D expenditures were $325M, for a combined total of $1,162M.