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Coal reserves in Canada rank 13th largest in the world (following theformer Soviet Union, theUnited States, thePeople's Republic of China andAustralia) at approximately 10 billion tons, 0.6% of the world total.[1] This represents more energy than all of the oil and gas in the country combined. The coal industry generates CDN$5 billion annually.[2] Most of Canada'scoal mining occurs in the west of the country.[3]British Columbia operates nine coal mines,[4]Alberta nine,Saskatchewan three andNew Brunswick one.Nova Scotia operates several small-scale mines,Westray having closed following the 1992 disaster there.[5]
In 2005, Canada produced 67.3 million tons of coal and its consumption was 60 million tons. Of this 56 million tons were used for electricity generation. The remaining four million tons was used in the steel, concrete and other industries.[5] The largest consumers of coal in Canada were Alberta and Ontario. In 1997, Alberta accounted for 47% of Canada's coal consumption at 26.2 million tons, and Ontario accounted for 25% at 13.8 million tons. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also use coal to generate electricity to varying degrees.[6]
In 2016, The Government of Canada, with the support of all provinces except Manitoba and Saskatchewan, decided to phase out the use of coal-fired power plants by 2030 in order to meet itsParis climate agreement commitments as declared in thePan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The decision affected 50 communities dependent on a nearby coal mine or power plant for its economy, and 3,000 to 3,900 workers who worked in the 13 power stations and nine nearby mines that were still active in 2016 across Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.[7] In November 2017, the Government of Canada co-founded thePowering Past Coal Alliance. As of June 2024, only eight operationalcoal-fired power stations remained inCanada.
Canada exports both the higher and lower grades of coal—metallurgical coal and thermal coal.[8] According to a February 2015Natural Resources Canada report, in 2013, "Canadian coal exports totalled $5.5 billion."[8] Ninety-three percent of coal exports were the higher-grade coking coal.[8] In 2013 there were only two coal mines in Canada producing the lower grade thermal coal for export—Westmoreland Coal Company's Coal Valley and Hillsborough Resources Limited's Quinsam mine.[8] A third thermal coal for export mining project—the Vista Coal Project in northern Alberta—had received regulatory approval in the 1980s, and again in 2014, but the price of thermal coal had dropped dramatically from 2011 to 2014 and the project stalled. The project was revived in 2015 when American billionaire coal investor purchased Vista. Thermal coal was exported from Vista in 2019.[8]
For several years, coal production decreased as provincial and federal governments sought to phase out its use in favor ofrenewable energy in order to combatglobal warming.[7][9]
By 2018, there was an increase global coal prices and improvements in thermal coal mining, which led to an increase in coal mining activity.[10]Most of Canada's coal reserves are located in Alberta.[11]
In 2010, Canada ranked15th in the world in coal production, with a total production of 67.9 million tonnes.[11]
Coal was first mined in Canada in 1639 when the first mine was opened inGrand Lake, New Brunswick.First Nations would identify deposits, and the mined product would be used for tasks such as burning and trading. During theNew France period, a large mine was built inCow Bay, Nova Scotia onCape Breton Island to supply toLouisbourg fortress.[7][9]
In the late 18th century, industrial mining begun in Canada, which helped propel Canada'sindustrialization. Infrastructure for its transportation and shipping was built. Cape Breton suppliedBoston and other American ports in Coal and had 21 coal mines by 1871, but they were all abandoned in the early 20th century.[7][9]
InWestern Canada, coal was first mined onVancouver Island in the mid-19th century. The development of theCanadian Pacific railway led to mines being built in towns along its route inAlberta. By 1911, Western Canada was producing most of the country's coal, and Alberta was the country's largest producing province.[7][9]
Working in Canadian coal mines was very dangerous. Deadly mine disasters occurred in multiple locations, includingHillcrest, Alberta andSpringhill, Nova Scotia. Harsh working conditions in Coal mines and coal-powered factories led to the establishment ofCanada's trade union movement. Major coal strikes occurred in Cape Breton in the 1920s andEstevan, Saskatchewan in the 1930s.[7]
Following theSecond World War, economic sectors that previously used coal such as domestic heating, industrial energy, and transportation energy started usingpetroleum. However, Canada's coal production remained relevant due to the exportation ofmetallurgical coal toJapan. Following the1970s energy crisis, Canada's coal production grew rapidly as it became more cost-competitive and new export markets emerged in other Asian countries.[7][9]
In 2016, "mining, processing, and related services from thermal and metallurgical coal contributed an estimated $4 billion to Canada's economy, or roughly 0,2%. of Canada's GDP," according toNatural Resources Canada. NRC reported that about 50 percent of this "GDP contribution came from metallurgical coal" and, in comparison, "clean energy accounted for 1.3% of Canada’s GDP."[7]
In 2018, coal mining in Alberta accounted for $10 million in royalties for the province, according toAlberta Energy's Coal and Mineral Development Unit's "2018 Year in Review".[10] In 2018, Alberta's coal production totaled approximately 20 million tonnes. Coal production had reached a peak 2016−approximately 25 million tonnes, representing about $20 million in royalties.[10]
Coal formations in what is now the province of Alberta, originated approximately 140 and 65 million years ago.[12] The collision between the two immense plates had pushed up the Rocky Mountains while depressing the North American continent's interior.[12] New layers of growth crushed and buried layers of peat, shale, and sandstone, compressing them into coal beds.[12] The oldest coal deposits were pushed closer to the surface about 80 to 55 million years ago, forming part of the Rocky Mountains's foothills and Front Ranges.[12]
The coal beds that lie under the prairies are of an inferior, impure grade, which is not capable of firing blast furnaces essential to steel-making.[12] TheCoalspur Formation in theWestern Canada Sedimentary Basin in the foothills of southwesternAlberta,[13] has large quantities of high-quality coal.[14][15] The Coalspur Formation runs from south of theWapiti River to theNorth Saskatchewan River.[16] The Coalspur coal zone is about 120 metres (390 ft) to 200 metres (660 ft) thick.[17]
TheSiksika —Blackfoot and theKainai—Blood people, called an area on the banks of theOldman River theSik-ooh-kotoki or "place of the black rocks."[14] This was the site of the first commercial coal mine, opened in 1874 by an entrepreneur from New York City.[14]
In 1793,Hudson's Bay Company surveyorPeter Fidler identified a seam of high-quality coal near theRed Deer River.[14]
In 1882, a large mine became operational, leading to the formation of towns, such as Coalbanks, now known asLethbridge, then Coaldale, Coalhurst, and Black Diamond.[14]
In 1976, the Progressive Conservative government under then PremierPeter Lougheed restricted open-pit mines in most of Alberta's Rocky Mountains and Foothills through the Coal Development Policy. Alberta's last open pit mine closed in 1983.[14]
In 2016, then NDP PremierRachel Notley announced the elimination of all coal-fired power stations in the province by 2030.[18]
Coal mines closed in the Crowsnest Pass, Canmore, Nordegg, and Grande Cache, among others.[12]
By 2020, coal-fired power stations in operation in Alberta included theBattle River,Genesee,H.R. Milner,Keephills,Sheerness, andSundance stations.
According toAlberta Energy's 2018 'Review, there was an increase in bituminous coal mining activity following a decrease for several years. In 2018, mining operations have restarted, new greenfield operations began, and new mining projects were proposed.[10] According to theReview two major factors contributed to the increase in coal mining activity−an increase in global coal prices and recent improvements in thermal coal.[10] By 2019, the Grande Cache mine reopened.
As of June 2024, Alberta had phased out all coal fired electrical generation, with the remaining plants converting over to natural gas generation.
In 2019, coal sales reached $5.08 billion US,[19] making coal the province's "most valuable mined commodity".[19] About 85% of B.C.'s coal is a higher grade of coal, known asmetallurgical coal or coking coal.[20] It is used to produce good-qualitycoke. which is essential inblast furnaces used to makesteel from iron ore.[21][22][23] Most coal from British Columbia mines is exported on the international markets through coal ports near Vancouver or Prince Rupert.[19]
Major coals mine fields in the province include a field in the Kootenay Mountains in southeastern B.C., and Peace coalfields in northeastern B.C.[19] British Columbia's largest producing coal field is inElk Valley (British Columbia), which is located in theKootenay Mountains, about 60 kilometres from the borders ofMontana and Alberta. It has had operational coal mines for over a century. By 2020,Teck Resources owned all five coal mines in that region including Elkford Operations, an open-pit mine just west of the Alberta border with British Columbia.[14]
In 2003, theMcGuinty government of Ontarioset a goal of closing allcoal-fired power stations, to be replaced with healthier and more environmentally-friendly energy sources. As part of the coal phase-out, the provincial government agreed forBruce Power to refurbish units 1 and 2 of Bruce A of theBruce Nuclear Generating Station to replace lost generating capacity.[24] According to a 2014 article, long-term health problems caused by coal made it twice as expensive as wind energy.[25][26] The OPG Atikokan Generating Station, coal-fired power generation plant, which had been in operation for 27 years, was shut down in 2012. Work on a $170 million biomass conversion project—the firstbiomass conversion project in Ontario, was undertaken at that time.[27] It was anticipated that the project would "create 200 construction jobs and help protect existing jobs at the plant" and provide "new economic opportunities for Ontario's forestry sector, which will provide the biomass fuel to the plant".[27] As part ofOntario's phase out of coal-fired electricity generation, theThunder Bay Generating Station (TBGS)—the final coal plant in Ontario—stopped burning coal in April 2014.[28] The TBGS underwent a biomass conversion to run on advanced biomass—wood pellets. It was recommissioned on 9 February 2015.[28]
In 2016, theGovernment of Alberta announced the elimination of all coal-fired power stations in the province by 2030.[18] TheGovernment of New Brunswick made the same announcement the following year.[29] Also in 2016, the government ofCanada announced the goal of phasing out the use ofcoal-fired power stations across the country in favour of less polluting alternatives for electricity generation by 2030.[30] In response, companies such asTransAlta andCapital Power began planning the conversion of theircoal-fired power stations to burningnatural gas.[31][32]
Only eight operationalcoal-fired power stations remained as of June 2024 inCanada.
List of former electrical generating facilities in Canada that were coal fueled. Only facilities that have permanently shut down all of their electricity generating units are included.
The Quinsam mine on Vancouver Island ceased operations in June.
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