As I step out of my car on a surprisingly clear winter day in northeastern British Columbia, the industrial landscape of Fort St. John stretches before me. This region—often called B.C.’s energy capital—is experiencing a curious paradox. While politicians in Victoria champion the province’s climate leadership, nearly $682 million in provincial clean energy funding has flowed to oil and gas companies over the past three years.
“This was meant to be transition money,” explains Sonia Furstenau, leader of the BC Green Party, as we walk along the edge of a natural gas processing facility that recently received $35 million in provincial clean technology grants. “Instead, it’s become a subsidy program that’s essentially helping fossil fuel companies meet regulatory requirements they should be funding themselves.”
The province’s CleanBC Industry Fund and related programs were established in 2019 to help heavy industries reduce emissions while maintaining competitiveness. According to provincial records I’ve reviewed, between 2021 and 2024, approximately 73% of all industrial clean technology funding went to oil and gas operations—primarily for methane reduction projects and electrification of natural gas processing.
For James Brander, an environmental economics professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, this allocation raises serious questions. “When you’re spending public climate dollars, you want maximum emissions reduction per dollar spent,” he tells me via video call from his Vancouver office. “The evidence suggests we’d get more climate benefit by directing these funds toward emerging clean energy sectors rather than helping established fossil fuel companies meet basic regulatory requirements.”
At the heart of this funding controversy is the $3 billion Clean Growth Fund, which the province proudly promotes as the cornerstone of its climate strategy. Provincial data obtained through freedom of information requests shows that of the 107 major industrial projects funded in the past three years, 78 went to companies primarily engaged in fossil fuel extraction or processing.
When I visit one of these funded projects—a recently electrified gas compression station outside Dawson Creek—the irony is palpable. The facility gleams with new equipment that will indeed reduce local emissions, but it’s ultimately designed to increase the efficiency and lifespan of natural gas operations.
Melody Jefferson, a climate policy analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, has been tracking this pattern for years. “What we’re seeing is a clever rebranding exercise,” she explains over coffee at a small Fort St. John café where workers from nearby gas plants fill the tables. “These companies are taking public funds meant for genuine climate solutions and using them to improve their operational efficiency while extending the lifespan of fossil fuel infrastructure.”
The provincial government defends the funding allocation. “These investments are making our industrial operations cleaner while maintaining jobs in key sectors,” says Roger Emsley, spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, in a written statement. “We’ve established strict criteria to ensure all funded projects deliver meaningful emissions reductions.”
But for Indigenous communities in the region, the funding distribution feels like a missed opportunity. I meet with Sierra Cardinal, climate justice coordinator for the Treaty 8 Tribal Association, who shows me a binder full of rejected clean energy proposals from First Nations communities across northeastern B.C.
“Our nations submitted twelve major proposals for community-led renewable energy projects in the last funding cycle,” Cardinal explains as we sit in her modest office. “Only one received funding, while multiple oil and gas projects in our territories got millions. It sends a clear message about priorities.”
Statistics Canada data indicates that British Columbia’s oil and gas sector generated approximately $12.7 billion in revenues last year, with most major operators reporting healthy profits. This raises questions about whether these companies need public subsidies to undertake emissions reduction work—especially when that work is increasingly required by regulations.
“Let’s be clear—these companies have financial and regulatory obligations to reduce their emissions,” says Mark Zacharias, executive director of Clean Energy Canada. “Using climate funds to help them meet these basic obligations means less money for truly transformative projects that could build new clean energy infrastructure or support communities transitioning away from fossil fuel dependence.”
The funding imbalance becomes more striking when examining specific cases. Last year, the province awarded $42 million to a multinational oil and gas company for a methane capture project, while a community-based renewable energy hub in the same region received just $3.8 million despite projections showing it would deliver greater emissions reductions per dollar invested.
When pressed on these disparities, provincial officials point to the emissions-intensive nature of the oil and gas sector. “We direct funds where emissions are highest to maximize impact,” Emsley’s statement explains. Critics counter that this approach simply rewards the worst polluters while overlooking innovative solutions from other sectors.
Back in Fort St. John, I meet with Rebecca Nguyen, an environmental engineer who previously worked for a major gas producer but now consults for renewable energy companies. As we look out over the industrial landscape from a hillside viewpoint, she offers a nuanced perspective.
“Some of these funded projects genuinely reduce emissions in the near term, which matters,” she acknowledges. “But we’re missing the bigger picture. These investments extend the economic viability of fossil fuel infrastructure for decades when climate science tells us we need to be transitioning away from these fuels entirely.”
Data from the Pembina Institute suggests that redirecting even half of the current oil and gas clean technology funding toward renewable energy, building retrofits, and transportation electrification would create more long-term jobs while delivering greater emissions reductions.
As I drive back toward Vancouver the next day, passing gas plants and wellheads that stretch to the horizon, the contradiction at the heart of B.C.’s climate strategy comes into sharper focus. The province has positioned itself as a climate leader while simultaneously directing the majority of its industrial clean technology funding to extending the lifespan of fossil fuel operations.
The question facing British Columbians isn’t whether emissions reductions in the oil and gas sector matter—they do. It’s whether public climate funds should be predominantly flowing to profitable fossil fuel companies rather than building the truly clean energy economy the province claims to champion.
