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The Northeast is about to vastly expand its already outsized contribution to B.C.’s energy output
Despite being the most sparsely populated region of British Columbia, the Northeast is an energy powerhouse. The region’s plains, foothills and boreal forests are the site of virtually all the province’s natural gas production as well as a major source of hydroelectric power, newly augmented by the Site C project on the Peace River.
As such, the region is on the verge of a huge expansion in output. Exploration and production from the huge Montney, Horn River and Liard Basin gas fields are set to soar as liquefied natural gas exports to Asia through the LNG Canada terminal in Kitimat commence in 2025. The Coastal GasLink pipeline, built to transport gas from the region to the coast at Kitimat, saw its final weld completed in fall 2023.
The Northeast makes a huge and soon-to-grow contribution to clean energy as well. The existing two dams on the Peace River generate around 30 percent of B.C.’s hydroelectric power and a third, Site C, will supply 1,100 megawatts more—ensuring the province’s electrical grid is almost 100 percent renewable far into the future. Its dam, spillway and powerhouse now complete, Site C is now in the process of filling its reservoir and is expected to begin generating power in 2025.
In fact the Northeast punches above its weight in a lot of respects. Among B.C.’s economic regions, it has the highest proportion of people that are working age, between 15 and 64, at 68 percent. It also has the highest labour force participation rate among working-age people, again 68 percent. It has the third-highest dollar value of major projects planned or under construction in the province and more than half that total is actively underway.
In addition to energy, the Northeast hosts substantial agriculture, forestry and mining activity as well. The Peace River country around Dawson Creek and Fort St. John is home to grain, canola and pulse farming along with cattle ranches and feedlots. The forest industry, unfortunately, has seen a wave of consolidation in recent years due to cost pressures, volatile markets and a decline in the timber supply.
There are two metallurgical coal mines in the south of the region around Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge, Brule and Willow Creek, currently operating, and a handful of others under care and maintenance that could be brought back into service should coal prices permit. These mines send their ore directly to Asia steel mills by rail and through the Port of Prince Rupert.
Recent cooperation between the Doig River First Nation (Tsááʔ çhé ne dane) and local municipalities in establishing urban reserves illustrates reconciliation in action that creates benefits for the entire community. As a signatory to Treaty 8 in 1900, the DRFN has long held rural reserve lands throughout the Peace Country. But in recent years it has acquired fee-simple properties in Fort St. John and, through a legal process involving the federal government, is in the process of turning these into urban reserves. This status will allow some 2,000 members of the First Nation to live and work in the city where the jobs are while still enjoying treaty rights, tax exemptions and other benefits. As part of the transition, the DRFN has entered into partnership with local government to harmonize the operation and maintenance of infrastructure, bylaws and land use policy. Having established a template in Fort St. John, it is now working towards a similar partnership in Dawson Creek.
“It unlocks a lot of economic growth,” says Will Fong, an economic advisor to the DRFN. In addition to increasing the labour supply where it’s most needed, the urban reserve partnerships provide an outlet for First Nations investment. “The capital that exists within First Nations is pretty significant,” he notes.
In Fort St. John, for example, the DRFN recently completed engineering and planning work on a $25-million gas station, café/restaurant and office building that represents the first phase of a larger commercial land development. The ribbon-cutting is slated for 2025.
Northeast: A New Energy Era
Other Regions
Mainland-Southwest: Ripple Effect
Vancouver Island: Welcoming Shores
Thompson-Okanagan: Urban Makeover
Kootenay: Hidden Gem
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North Coast-Nechako: Sea Change
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