Lessons and Challenges of Bitumen Mega-Developments for Canada’s Economy in an Age of Climate Change
The failure to carefully regulate the bitumen industry is putting Canada on a dangerous economic and environmental trajectory. This study shows that the current bitumen path is creating the double threat: a “staples trap,” whereby the faster Canada exports its bitumen, the less diversified, productive and resilient the economy becomes;” and a “carbon trap,” which locks Canada into an carbon dependent development path, making the costs of future climate adaptation much more difficult. It presents a wealth of empirical data indicating the negative side effects of unregulated bitumen developments for Canada’s trade, exchange rate, productivity, and income distribution performance and proposes a two-track approach to steer away from the “bitumen cliff.”
About the authors
Diana Gibson
Brendan Haley
Jim Stanford
Jim Stanford is an economist and the director of the Centre for Future Work.