Business Leaders Applaud Economic Certainty Following Alberta Referendum
Business leaders across the country said Albertans’ overwhelming vote to stay within Canada puts the onus on Ottawa to live up to its promise to boost energy investment in the province.
While members of the C-suite are not known for their willingness to get political, in the lead-up to the vote a smattering of CEOs loudly spoke out about the economic risks facing Alberta should it entertain secession from Canada. In the end, more than 75 per cent of Albertans chose Remain in Monday’s referendum, soundly rejecting the separatists’ attempts to carve out an independent country.
Oil patch CEOs are now pushing federal and provincial politicians for a renewed focus on multibillion-dollar energy infrastructure projects, including a new pipeline connecting the oil sands to a deepwater port in Vancouver, carbon capture facilities and expansion of natural gas export terminals.
Vern Yu, the president and CEO of AltaGas, was a vocal proponent for the Remain campaign leading up to the vote. He is thankful that Albertans chose to stay within Canada and is “optimistic about the opportunities ahead and confident in what we can achieve together,” he said in an e-mail Tuesday.
“Here in Alberta, we have world-class resources, innovative businesses, talented people, and tremendous opportunities ahead of us. Now, it’s time to get to work.”
Mark Little, chief executive officer of Suncor Energy Inc. from 2019 through 2022, said Albertans’ decision to remain in Canada is “very positive” for the province.
In response to Premier Danielle Smith’s LinkedIn post announcing victory for the federalist side, Mr. Little said there is still “lots of work to do to achieve Alberta’s full potential in Confederation! Let’s go!!”
Industries outside the energy sector also said the referendum and its outcome signalled the need for greater co-operation between Ottawa and provinces.
“If we leave politics aside for a moment, what’s important is that the federal and the provincial governments continue to work together to support growth,” said Laurent Ferreira, CEO of Montreal-based National Bank of Canada. In 2025, National Bank acquired Edmonton-based Canadian Western Bank for $5-billion to expand its operations in Alberta and B.C.
“The focus should be on how Canada becomes an energy superpower, how we accelerate nation-building projects, how we attract more investment, and how we ensure Alberta continues to play a leading role in the Canadian economy,” Mr. Laurent said in an e-mail. “We are seeing momentum on all these fronts.”
Bank of Nova Scotia CEO Scott Thomson, a former Calgary-based energy executive, said the result of the vote demonstrates that Canadians “see something worth building together,” even during periods of strain.
“I am more optimistic today than I have been in years,” Mr. Thomson said in an e-mail. “There is growing recognition of the province’s importance to Canada’s economic future, and new momentum behind the projects needed to realize its potential.”
An appetite for separatism will always lurk amid a minority of Albertans, said Deborah Yedlin, the CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. But she said a good portion of the 25 per cent of Albertans who didn’t vote to remain don’t necessarily want to leave, rather, “they wanted to send a message” to Ottawa.
“Canada’s not perfect, but those who chose to stay cast a vote for the future, rather than hold on to gripes of the past that were largely driven by a decade of federal regulations that stymied energy development,” Ms. Yedlin said in an interview.
With the world’s energy systems being reshaped by the war in Iran and the United States’ upheaval of established trade relationships, Alberta is uniquely positioned to “play a really important role on the global stage from an energy standpoint,” she said.
“We are on the cusp of significant opportunity,” and now, with the vote done, it’s time to make sure that investments land, she said.
Many Albertans want to see tangible investment and growth as proof that the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta has changed for the better, Ms. Yedlin said.
“The reality is that a lot of those investments are going to happen in the rural parts of the of the province, and people who may have voted to take that separatist route are going to be the beneficiaries of that investment as it starts to roll in.”
Under a recent energy memorandum of understanding, the federal and Alberta governments have a Nov. 15 deadline to come to definitive agreements with oil companies on policies and financial levers that aim to boost crude production.
Those policies will be key to drawing investment to the province and proving that Prime Minister Mark Carney is “willing to set a new path, build a new relationship,” said Adam Legge, the president of the Business Council of Alberta.
Mr. Carney’s recent acknowledgment that past federal policies hurt the energy sector has Albertans “willing to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt and willing to come to the table more productively in a conversation that, ultimately, I think will achieve greater balance, fairness in the federation,” Mr. Legge said.
Bill Lomax, chief executive officer of the First Nations Bank of Canada, said he was also relieved to see such a strong result for unity.
“First Nations leaders in Alberta have stated for months that they wanted Canada to remain united to respect their treaty rights,” Mr. Lomax said. The result “means we can continue to build the economic strength of First Nations and Canadians together without facing years of political uncertainty and strife.”
Alberta’s Indigenous population has been almost unanimously opposed to separation, with 47 out of 48 chiefs and councils in the province publicly opposing the referendum question itself. And, earlier this year, an Alberta judge struck down a petition to hold a separation referendum, ruling the province failed to consult with First Nations to address how leaving Confederation could affect their treaty rights.
With one in four Albertans voting for a binding referendum on secession, however, separation will continue to be an issue in the province.
That’s “a non-trivial share of Albertans,” Toronto Dominion Bank chief economist Beata Caranci said in a Tuesday report, adding that provincial legislation allows another referendum to take place five years after an unsuccessful vote.
“With a relatively low voter threshold that enables the question to come back on the ballot, investors will be looking for signs on whether Alberta risks a perpetual five-year cycle of constitutional uncertainty,” Ms. Caranci said.
The federal government’s Major Projects Office is currently reviewing plans for energy infrastructure that include a $40-billion-plus Pacific Link pipeline and $33-billion expansion of the LNG Canada terminal in Kitimat, B.C.
Alberta’s vote to remain in Canada is “unambiguously constructive” for the country’s plans to build this energy infrastructure, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Maurice Choy. In a report, he said the referendum results removed “a tail risk that has cast a modest shadow over the sector for certain investors.”
“A unified Canada preserves the legal, regulatory, and financial frameworks that have underpinned the long-dated, contracted/regulated cash flows that have defined much of the sector’s investment thesis,” Mr. Choy said.
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
