By Marla Orenstein and Ashley Meller When the Prime Minister launched Canada’s first Defence Industrial Strategy  a few weeks ago, it was an appropriate response to a rapidly shifting geopolitical reality.  But alongside the important elements that the strategy contained, there was a conspicuous, and potentially even fatal, absence: energy. Specifically, domestic energy sovereignty didn’t merit a mention. But a Canadian defence strategy falls short if the fuel for your fighte

No single jurisdiction has all the ingredients. But by leveraging its collective strengths as a whole, the region becomes competitive. By Alison Cretney Originally published in The Hill Times , Feb. 25, 2026

The future of energy is arriving fast, and nowhere more so than in Innisfail. Here's how a year of deep community engagement with the Energy Futures Lab cultivated the culture, confidence, and capacity to seize it.

Man in a hard hat consults tablet while standing in front of a transmission line. By Marla Orenstein and Ashley Meller Originally published in Canada's National Observer , Jan. 27, 2026

By Keren Perla and Ailsa Popilian Originally published in The Hub , December 13, 2025

Think pipelines are the central feature of Alberta and Ottawa's MOU? Think again. There’s a deeper shift underway — one that could reshape Canada’s role in the global energy economy.

Lab Fellows gathered in September for the 2025 Fall Fellowship Workshop to continue to unpack investigations into cross-cutting tensions dampening energy transition efforts and put insights gleaned into action. Fellows Demetria Zinyemba and Jennifer Young recap the workshop's highlights and provide a summary of the processes that led to the creation of the Fellowship's 2025-26 portfolio of initiatives.

SERIES: PART 3 of 3 When a range of opportunities is on the table, spreading bets can lead to big wins — but success relies on the strategies used. Alberta can hedge across a number of emerging energy and resource sectors, yet the real challenge is where to place those bets to maximize future success. In the   first   and   second   parts of this series we introduced 16 low-emission opportunities and scratched the surface on ways to evaluate them, focusing on the potential si

Originally published on LinkedIn  | July 3, 2025 Contributors: Keren Perla , Ailsa Popilian SERIES: PART 2 of 3 Driving competitiveness as markets shift In the first part  of this series, we made the case that in today’s landscape diversification into low-carbon opportunities is a no regret move for Alberta and identified three categories of opportunity where Alberta has a potential edge: clean energy enablers, exportable business solutions, and low-emission product plays. Bu