July 30, 2024 Halifax, Nova Scotia Natural Resources Canada
The Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia are working together to build a low-carbon economy that drives clean growth and creates good, sustainable jobs throughout the province and across the country.
The Canada-Nova Scotia Regional Energy and Resource Table (NS Regional Table) is a key vehicle for driving economic prosperity now and into the future. Launched in October 2022, the NS Regional Table is a partnership between the federal and provincial governments, in collaboration with Mi'kmaw partners - and with input from key interested parties - to identify and accelerate shared economic priorities for a low-carbon future in the province's energy and resource sectors.
Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and the Honourable Tory Rushton, Nova Scotia's Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables, released The Nova Scotia Regional Energy and Resource Table Framework for Collaboration on the Path to Net Zero (Collaboration Framework).
The Collaboration Framework identifies six areas of economic opportunity to pursue: hydrogen, marine renewables, clean electricity, critical minerals, the forest bioeconomy and carbon management. In all of these areas, companies across the province are already moving to seize the economic opportunities they present, and the federal and provincial governments will be there to support them.
Over the past few years alone, Nova Scotia has seen the benefits of increased economic activity in these priority areas, which both the provincial and federal governments will continue to build on going forward. Both governments committed to the Joint Policy Statement on Developing and Transmitting Clean, Reliable and Affordable Power in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which was signed in October 2023 and commits them to working actively together to ensure progress toward electricity systems that will be affordable, reliable and clean and will meet the requirements of the forthcoming Clean Electricity Regulation. In line with this commitment, the federal government today announced an additional $192 million for clean energy projects and associated storage systems. Other recent investments and progress toward these goals include 660 electric vehicle charging stations for Wolfville and Halifax, a $125-million investment in EverWind in Port Hawkesbury, $10 million earlier this month for electric grid upgrades in Antigonish and more. In the hydrogen space, too, recent progress includes the passage of Bill C-49, to help develop offshore renewable energy, and advances in the Canada-Germany hydrogen alliance.
Both Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia are working to establish and maintain constructive, co-operative relationships based on mutual respect that lead to improved opportunities for Indigenous Peoples. This includes an acknowledgment that the integration of Indigenous perspectives is critical to realizing a low-carbon economy that is grounded in respect, recognition and reconciliation. In this regard, the two governments collaborated closely on the development of this Framework with Kwilmu'kw Maw-klusuaqn, which represents 11 Mi'kmaw communities under the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Chiefs.
Through these collaborative efforts, the two levels of government, Indigenous partners and key interested parties can position Nova Scotia to be a global energy, mining and technology supplier of choice in a net-zero world while creating good jobs and lasting prosperity across the province.
