Respected Calgary business leader and one of Canada’s most experienced executives, Dawn Farrell, has an important new job!
For various reasons, although 2025 continues to be a challenging year for Canadian business, Farrell’s important new job is also reinforcing the renowned Canadian dynamic that, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
When Prime Minister Mark Carney recently launched the federal government’s new Major Projects Office (MPO) to fast-track large new infrastructure projects in Canada, he appointed Calgary’s Dawn Farrell as chief executive officer.
Understandably, her ‘job description’ specifics are complex and complicated, but the MPO’s mandate is to serve as a single point of contact to get nation-building projects built faster – in two key ways:
- Streamlining and accelerating regulatory approval processes.
- Helping to structure and coordinate financing of projects.
The Major Projects Office is now the central place to make pitches, deliver complaints or express concerns about projects.
Ottawa explains that while not all projects approved by the office will necessarily get federal financing, the MPO’s focus is value for money, helping structure and coordinate financing from the private sector, provincial and territorial partners, and the federal government.
The MPO is headquartered in Calgary, with offices in other major Canadian cities. An Indigenous Advisory Council of First Nations, Inuit and Métis representatives, including modern treaty and self-governing partners will provide advice on proposed projects.
Before the official announcement, the Prime Minister’s office explained that Carney was looking for a candidate “with experience in carrying out large, complex projects involving several provinces, and who was able to navigate a regulatory environment.”
There is agreement that Dawn Farrell is the perfect business leader for the job! Smart, savvy and driven. A relationship builder, a tough negotiator, an innovator and a doer. And Canadian business, the energy sector, industry analysts and critics alike and all levels of government are unanimous. Dawn Farrell’s important new job is ambitious, timely, focused and critical.
Mark Carney called her “one of Canada’s most experienced executives.” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she has great respect for Farrell, citing her impressive corporate record in Alberta.
In business and in the Calgary community, Dawn Farrell is respected as a multi-faceted Calgary success story.
With almost four decades of experience in the energy industry, she served as an executive vice-president for B.C. Hydro, CEO of TransAlta, where she led the transformation of the company away from coal and into renewables and one of Canada’s largest wind power producers, and overseeing the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Her Calgary impact also includes serving the community as Mount Royal University chancellor from 2020 to 2024.
Ever since the June announcement, Farrell’s life has been understandably kicked into warp speed with meetings, travel, more meetings and schedules. “I am grateful for this opportunity to play an important role in helping to advance major projects that will create major opportunities for Canada and Canadians,” the Calgary business icon says.
“This is Canada’s opportunity to create more resilience in our economy, and it is essential that we rise to meet this moment with urgency, creativity and dedication.”
Catching her breath on the hectic commute to and from Calgary to Ottawa and MPO offices across the country, she pointed out that she is, “Excited to build a team that works with First Nations, business, governments and regulators to make Canada the first choice for investment and growth.
“Building major projects faster will contribute not only to our economy, but will help develop our communities, open opportunities for trade here at home and around the world and improve our shared future.”
By all indications (and industry reaction), the federal government’s decision to locate the MPO head office in Calgary – home to the headquarters of numerous oil and gas companies which are looking to build new pipelines – appears to be a politically strategic one.
Industry insiders suggest that locating the office in Calgary sends a significant signal and a very public acknowledgment that most major projects in this country involve the energy sector.
The MPO works with the federal government’s Bill C-5, legislation created to speed up approvals for major infrastructure projects identified as being “nation-building” and the Building Canada Act, enabling the federal cabinet to pick projects, approve them upfront and override federal laws, environmental reviews and the often-dragged-out permitting process.
A key mandate of the legislation speeds approval times from five years to two years by introducing a one project/one review approach instead of the conventional federal and provincial approval processes happening sequentially.
While the MPO’s key focus is simplifying and accelerating federal decision-making for projects essential to Canada’s growth, there is unconfirmed but reliable business speculation that the federal government’s push to build new infrastructure is part of the Canadian taking-the-high-road pushback strategy to Donald Trump’s trade protectionism, given Canada’s heavy reliance on exports to the U.S.
Although the various specific projects have yet to be finalized or announced, the federal government will spend a hefty half a trillion dollars on infrastructure projects, ranging from energy to ports to intelligence. The initial tranche of major projects the federal government is hoping to get off the ground quickly include expanding liquefied natural gas production in B.C., and upgrading the port in Montreal.
Some other, early-stage possibilities requiring further development, but could be part of the next wave for consideration are wind power in Atlantic Canada, upgrades to the Port of Churchill and the Alberta-based Pathways Plus carbon capture project.
“One of the most exciting opportunities for growth in the whole of the Canadian economy would be to expand the emerging liquefied natural gas industry and develop new oil-related projects,” explains Lisa Baiton, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).
“More nation-building projects, such as LNG export facilities, pipelines, carbon capture projects, offshore and upstream developments, mean more high-quality jobs for Canadians, more opportunities for Indigenous partnerships and a more economically independent country.”
CAPP estimates that the oil and natural gas industry alone has about $26 billion worth of projects under construction yet more than $100 billion planned or waiting for a final investment decision.
Lisa Baiton emphasizes that the oil and natural gas industry ranks as one of the most productive in the country. “A strong energy sector is essential to addressing today’s challenges – from affordability and energy security to long-term national prosperity. We need a fast-follow on action, including a significant policy reset to attract investment and create meaningful momentum to become a global energy superpower.
“Dawn Farrell’s extensive experience in the energy sector leading major projects makes her an ideal candidate to oversee significant and complex infrastructure projects with important regulatory and stakeholder relations components, such as Indigenous participation,” she adds with enthusiasm.
“The creation of the major projects office and her appointment are concrete steps towards making Canada an energy superpower and it sends a positive signal to industry and investors.”
