Rebooting Canada's backbone: Trump's tariffs put megaprojects back in spotlight

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For the first time in the lives of many Canadians, the idea of large-scale, nation-building infrastructure is back in the spotlight.

Not since the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway in 1971 have so many politicians, experts and ordinary Canadians been talking up major projects — everything from an east-west "energy corridor" to port expansions and rail upgrades — insisting the country needs to build, and build fast.

A big part of this urgency comes from shifting geopolitics and economic uncertainty tied to Canada's reliance on the United States. President Donald Trump's tariffs and "51st state" rhetoric have driven home the need for alternate trade routes and new markets.

Federal leaders, premiers and industry insiders are now looking at ways to fast-track projects that once languished in political purgatory, all in hopes of making Canada more self-reliant and resilient.

But to truly build again in ways that would propel the country's GDP, proponents say Canada needs to look beyond regional projects — beyond even the recently launched $3.9-billion development plan for a high-speed rail linking Toronto to Quebec City.

"It's a good start. Personally, I would like to see some more stuff outside of that Toronto-Windsor corridor. A lot of cities here don't even have bus service anymore," said Kent Fellows, professor of economics at the University of Calgary.

Think of megaprojects on the scale of the Canadian Pacific Railway or Highway 1.

For decades, Fellows says, the country has relied on the private sector to build new infrastructure. But in recent years, the risks and costs have ballooned to the point where few companies, no matter how large, are willing to bear them. 

"We've certainly seen that on the pipeline front, but we're seeing it on other fronts," Fellows said. "Maybe it's time to rethink that strategy."

If the goal is to build big and build fast in response to Trump, Canada's recent track record isn't encouraging. From the Northern Gateway and Energy East pipelines to multiple proposed LNG terminals in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, as well as light rail and metro projects in Montreal, Surrey, B.C., and Hamilton, Ont., plenty of high-profile projects have been abandoned, cancelled or stalled.

Even some of the smaller scale proposals related to renewables, such as a graphite mine in western Quebec or Uranium prospecting in eastern Ontario, face fierce opposition. 

Industries have pointed to bureaucracy, NIMBYism and shifting regulatory frameworks as hurdles driving away investment. Collectively, they've created what one expert calls "infinite" veto points to strike down a project — at community levels, across provincial lines and in the courts.

"We've gone from one extreme, where almost no one could say no, to the opposite extreme, where it's almost impossible to get a good project built," said Marc Dunkelman, author of Why Nothing Works.