With fiscal mismanagement in Victoria, shifting global geopolitics and increasingly bizarre policy decisions by the B.C. government, the northeast might be the most important region of the province. Yet people continue to underestimate and misrepresent the region.
Most British Columbians can be forgiven for not thinking about the northeast too often. North easterners only make up about one per cent of the province’s population and they live pretty far from much of the other 99 per cent.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Unfortunately, when the northeast does come up in public discourse, it’s often maligned or mischaracterized.
In recent marketing materials produced by the David Suzuki Foundation, the organization shared decade-old pictures of Wyoming’s dense, blackened gas fields, falsely inferring they were of activities in the Montney Formation. Several northern residents filed a complaint with the competition bureau.
Instead of the hellish image portrayed, operations in the Montney Formation and elsewhere are spread out and integrated into the local environment to prevent disruption. In the summer, the area is green and lush, with natural gas facilities tucked away.
This dishonesty by activists and NGOs creates confusion about a place whose real story is one of innovation, Indigenous leadership and economic transformation.
In reality, northeastern B.C. is far from a barren industrial wasteland. It’s a beautiful region, dubbed “a gift from the gods,” with abundant resources and a strong economy vital to the province’s growth in the years to come.
Northeast an economic anchor for BC
The northeast produces almost all of the province’s natural gas, and about a third of Canada’s total. More than 30 per cent of B.C.’s hydroelectric power is generated there, mostly from major projects like the WAC Bennett Dam, Peace Canyon and the new Site C dam.
These are not only sources of clean energy but critical components of B.C.’s climate plan.
The region is also home to thriving metallurgical coal mines near Tumbler Ridge with huge potential for critical minerals like lithium, niobium and other rare earth elements. These minerals are key to the world’s growing demand for clean energy and technological advancements, making the region a long term economic anchor.
B.C. government data shows mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction grew 11.6 percent between 2019 and 2023, and it grew 4.7 per cent in 2023 alone. These sectors are crucial to avoiding economic stagnation especially as the province and country face complex challenges like President Trump’s tariffs.
Recent forecasts predict B.C. will avoid a recession, thanks in no small part to the strong energy and mining output of northeastern B.C. Whether the BC NDP government will say so publicly or not, natural gas has transformed the provincial economy over the past few years, and it’s largely been driven by resources in the northeast.
LNG changed the game
The 670 kilometre-long Coastal GasLink pipeline from Dawson Creek to Kitimat completed in 2023 was a game changer. Despite years of environmental activist protests and controversy around Indigenous land rights, the pipeline’s completion has enabled Canadian natural gas to get to Asian markets with groundbreaking speed.
In July 2025, the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from LNG Canada’s Kitimat facility left for South Korea.
Worth $40 billion, LNG Canada is the country’s largest private sector investment ever. The LNG Canada consortium, which includes major companies like Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi and Kogas, shows the global demand and importance of northeastern B.C.’s resources.
Next to LNG Canada in Kitimat is the Cedar LNG facility co-owned by Haisla Nation. Due to start up in 2028, Cedar LNG will be a fully electrified, low carbon intensity facility powered entirely by hydroelectricity, and an exemplary example of responsible and sustainable resource development.
Energy projects deliver economic reconciliation
Indigenous leadership and economic reconciliation play a significant role in northeastern B.C.’s story.
Despite ongoing legal battles, agreements like the Blueberry River First Nations/ government of B.C. implementation accord introduced co-management frameworks, revenue-sharing models and environmental oversight – a new standard for collaboration between industry, government and Indigenous communities.
Projects like Cedar LNG and the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline co-owned by the Nisga’a Nation show successful Indigenous leadership in big economic initiatives.
Unfortunately environmental activists continue to target economic initiatives in the northeast, often exacerbating Indigenous disputes to further their agendas. Opposition to the PRGT pipeline, which connects natural gas from Chetwynd to Pearse Island near Prince Rupert, is an example of this ongoing challenge.
Northeast crucial to Canada becoming energy superpower
What the region lacks in population, it makes up for in economic potential and growth.
Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to make Canada an energy superpower and the northeast will be a crucial part of that. The northeast is the future of B.C. and the rest of the province needs to start recognizing and valuing it. Instead of an afterthought, the region should be front and centre in the province’s economic and environmental plans.
What other industry in B.C. can match the growth and potential of natural gas production in northeastern B.C.? Where else have such major infrastructure projects like Coastal Gaslink or PRGT sprung from?
No other part of B.C. can match that ambition, prosperity, and scale.
It all goes back to Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, and Tumbler Ridge. The future of B.C. is obvious, and is there for all to see.
Rather than simply looking at the northeast as a mere resource-extraction hub that complements the urban economies of Vancouver and Victoria, it should be regarded as what it is – the economic engine of B.C.