Canada’s economy gained momentum to finish off 2024, growing at an annualized pace of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter to bring full-year growth to 1.5 percent, according to Statistics Canada. It’s important to note, however, that despite the relatively strong growth, the Canadian economy faces risks in 2025, with impending tariffs declared by the U.S. government and another tariff on energy rapidly approaching.
In 2024, Canada’s largest capital investments were in fintech, private equity and mergers and acquisitions. The information and communications technology (ICT) sector was the country’s hottest sector, attracting CAD $15.3 billion ($10.5 billion U.S. dollars) in investment. This was followed by consumer and retail, with CAD $4.1 billion ($2.8 billion U.S.) and automotive and transportation at CAD $1.6 billion ($1.1 billion U.S.)
Some of the most noteworthy investment project announced across Canada in 2024 and early 2025 include:
Ontario Embarks on the Largest Capital Investment in Public Works
In June 2024, the Ontario government announced that it is delivering the most ambitious capital plan in the province’s history by investing more than CAD $190 billion (USD $131.4 billion) over the next decade to build and improve transit, highways, homes, hospitals, schools, long-term care facilities and other critical public infrastructure. Infrastructure Ontario’s latest Market Update lists 25 major infrastructure projects with an estimated value of over CAD $30 billion (USD $20.7 billion) in design and construction costs.
Some of the projects include the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus Redevelopment, the Brampton Courthouse Addition Phase 2 and Toronto Regional Bail Centre and the Mount Sinai Hospital Phase 3A Redevelopment Project.
“Together with Infrastructure Ontario and our partners in the construction sector, we are delivering on our plan to build the public infrastructure that communities need to grow and prosper,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure for Ontario. “We have moved three projects out of the procurement stage and into construction, getting more shovels in the ground to build highways, hospitals and other critical assets.”
An Ontario Hub for Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturing
In 2023, Volkswagen Group and PowerCo SE, together with the Government of Canada, Ontario and the municipal government, first announced details for Volkswagen’s first ever North American EV battery cell gigafactory in St. Thomas, Ontario. The St. Thomas Gigafactory will have six production blocks with a potential production volume of up to 90 gigawatt hours – enough for about one million EVs a year. The project will be PowerCo SE’s first cell factory in North America. The St. Thomas Gigafactory is expected to create up to 3,000 new, highly qualified jobs. In addition, it has the potential to create up to tens of thousands more indirect jobs at construction companies, suppliers and partners, along with local retail and other sectors.
Québec Sees Expansion of Vantage Data Centers Facility
In late February 2025, Vantage Data Centers, a global provider of hyperscale data center campuses, announced a $500 million CAD (more than $350 million USD) investment to further expand its footprint in Québec. The investment will fuel the development of QC24, the fourth and final facility on the company’s growing Québec City campus. QC24 will deliver an additional 32MW of IT capacity, bringing the four-data-center campus to a total of 86MW, strengthening the Capitale-Nationale region’s digital infrastructure and supporting its rapidly growing economy. Driven by significant customer demand for sustainable data centers in the province, QC24 is being developed in alignment with LEED Gold certification standards.
Port Projects in Québec Will Help Strengthen Canada’s Supply Chain
In October 2024, the Government of Canada announced up to CAD $38 million (USD $26.2 million) for seven projects in Québec under the National Trade Corridors Fund. These investments will reduce capacity constraints and bottlenecks, making it easier for goods to move quickly. By enhancing infrastructure and improving efficiency, these investments will also support economic growth in the province of Québec and in the regions along the St. Lawrence River.
The projects are as follows: The Montreal Port Authority will increase export capacity for Canadian containerized grains, QSL International Ltée will develop an industrial-port zone in the cities of Sorel-Tracy and Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel, thereby increasing trade volumes, The Québec Port Authority is undertaking several key projects, including expanding the terminal storage space at Pier 103 and relocating essential infrastructure for the electrical supply of the L’Anse au Foulon sector, finalizing an agreement for the development of a new dry bulk and cargo terminal behind pier 108, and a new storage area at the Saguenay Port Authority in the southwest sector of the Terminal.
A Series of New Manufacturing Projects and Jobs in BC
New support for manufacturing businesses in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia is expected to create jobs and promote the development of made-in-BC products while strengthening local economies and communities. Through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF), the Government of BC is contributing as much as CAD $7.2 million (USD $5 million) toward six capital projects and two planning projects in the Lower Mainland. These projects will help local manufacturers remain competitive by strengthening local supply chains, implementing new, advanced manufacturing equipment and technology to create new product lines to diversify their operations, while establishing new, skilled jobs for local workers.
One of the largest projects is that of Vancouver-based pH7 Technologies Inc., a clean-tech company that has developed an innovative process for extracting and refining critical metals, including platinum group metals, to support the transition to renewable energy in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner. The company is receiving as much as CAD $1.5 million (USD $1 million) to construct a full production plant and purchase new equipment to scale up to full commercialization, while creating 20 jobs. Another project, Ideal Gear and Machine Works Inc., is a Delta-based manufacturer that produces custom-made gears used in machinery for forestry, marine and mining equipment, and transmission systems for hydroelectric power. It will receive as much as CAD $2.4 million (USD $1.7 million) toward upgrading to advanced manufacturing equipment at its current facility that will decrease reliance on manual processes and improve production time and precision.
A Large Liquified Natural Gas Project in British Columbia
In mid-2024, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project operated by Woodfibre Management, a privately held Canadian company based in Vancouver, began blasting activities to lay the groundwork for the future installation of the planned CAD $5.1 billion (USD $3.5 billion) 2.1 million-tonne-per-year export terminal with 250,000 square meters of floating storage capacity being built near Squamish, British Columbia. The project will be the world’s first LNG export facility to commit to achieving net zero emissions by 2027.
The construction phase officially began in August 2023 when Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan (QMW) fabrication yard, a joint venture of McDermott and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), started building the first out of 18 modules for the project. The delivery of all modules, totaling 34,359 MT, is slated for the third quarter of 2025. Woodfibre LNG has converted a cruise ship, Isabelle X, off Squamish for use as a “floatel” for non-local workforce accommodation.
Dow Chemical’s CAD $6.5 Billion Net Zero Chemical Plant in Alberta
In late 2023, chemicals and materials science giant Dow announced its decision to move forward on Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero, a CAD $6.5 billion (USD $4.5 billion) project to build the world’s first net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions ethylene plant in Alberta, Canada. The project will see Dow build a new ethylene cracker and increasing polyethylene capacity by two million metric tonnes annually (MTA), as well as retrofitting an existing cracker to net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Construction of the project began in 2024. Capacity additions are expected to come online in phases, with the first phase starting up in 2027, adding approximately 1,285 Kiloton Annually (KTA) of ethylene and polyethylene capacity, and the second phase starting up in 2029, adding an additional approximately 600 KTA of capacity.
Report Finds Saskatchewan Leads Canada in Building Construction
In a report released in early 2025, Statistics Canada released data that showed that Saskatchewan’s building construction investment increased by 30 percent in December 2024 compared to December 2023 (seasonally adjusted). The province also saw a 9.4 percent increase in month-over-month growth from November 2024 to December 2024. This ranks Saskatchewan first in year-over-year and second in month-over-month growth in this category among all Canadian provinces. Private capital investment was projected to reach CAD $14.2 billion (USD $9.8 billion) in 2024, an increase of 14.4 per cent over 2023. This is the highest anticipated percentage increase in Canada.
“The increased activity we are seeing across our construction sector is a testament to the confidence individuals and businesses have in our province’s strong and stable economy,” said Saskatchewan Trade and Export Development Minister Warren Kaeding. “Every new project contributes not only to job growth and infrastructure development, but further bolsters Saskatchewan’s economy. These investments lead to direct benefits for Saskatchewan’s communities, now and into the future.” T&ID
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