Ottawa Pledges $10 Billion to Back Nearly $70 Billion Clean Power Buildout in Labrador and Quebec

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday that the federal government will provide $10 billion in financing for a major clean energy buildout in Labrador and Quebec, backing a package centered on Churchill Falls, Gull Island, a new Labrador wind project and transmission lines.

In a release issued for an announcement in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the Prime Minister’s Office described the broader package as worth nearly $70 billion, capable of producing 14,000 megawatts of clean power, and “the largest clean energy investment in North American history.” Those figures and that characterization were presented by the federal government and were not independently verified in the materials reviewed.

The federal financing, Ottawa said, will support upgrades and expansion of the Churchill Falls Generating Station, development of the Gull Island hydroelectric project, efforts to “unlock co-investment opportunities with the Innu of Labrador” for a major new onshore wind project in Labrador, and associated transmission lines. Ottawa also said it is referring the “Labrador Trough Clean Power, Critical Minerals and Infrastructure Corridor” to the federal Major Projects Office, which it said will coordinate federal financing, speed permitting and work with Indigenous Peoples on partnerships.

The announcement brought together Carney, Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham, and the chief executive officers of Hydro-Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. It marks a significant new federal financing role in a project that has been developing for years, rather than the launch of an entirely new proposal.

Public documents from that earlier phase help explain the scale, and also some of the unanswered questions around Ottawa’s headline numbers. A memorandum of understanding made public on Dec. 12, 2024, by Hydro-Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador set out a framework that included Gull Island at about 2,250 megawatts, a Churchill Falls expansion adding about 1,100 megawatts, and the existing Churchill Falls station at 5,428 megawatts.

Those public hydro figures total roughly 8,778 megawatts, well below the 14,000-megawatt figure cited Monday by the federal government. That suggests the federal total includes additional elements such as the planned wind project and related infrastructure. But the federal release did not provide a project-by-project megawatt breakdown in the materials reviewed.

The politics around Churchill Falls are central to why Ottawa’s involvement matters. The existing generating station has long been tied to a 1969 power contract under which Hydro-Québec buys most of the output, an arrangement that has remained politically sensitive in Newfoundland and Labrador for decades.

That tension resurfaced this year. In May 2026, Newfoundland and Labrador released an independent review that concluded the then-existing Churchill River memorandum of understanding was “not in the public interest” and recommended significant changes. Monday’s federal announcement signals that Ottawa is now stepping in not just as a supporter of clean power development, but as a financier and broker after that dispute.

The government also framed the package as an economic development project well beyond the dams and transmission network themselves. In its release, Ottawa estimated the projects would support 23,000 construction jobs and contribute $31 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product through the early 2040s.

Carney cast the investment as part of a broader nation-building effort anchored in electricity and interprovincial cooperation.

“Canada is extending its unique advantage in clean, reliable, and affordable power. Because when we master energy, we master our destiny. Through cooperative federalism, we are unlocking our immense potential, building big, building sustainably, building in partnership, and building Canada strong for all,” he said in the Prime Minister’s Office release.