Poll shows most Albertans support mining coal for steelmaking amid tariff turmoil

OTTAWA — A new poll shows that most Albertans support the mining of steelmaking coal in the province, as Canada’s steel industry continues to get hammered by U.S. sectoral tariffs.

The province-wide poll, conducted in July and August by Janet Brown, shows that six in 10 Albertans believe that Alberta should allow the mining of steelmaking coal. Support rises to 74 per cent when mining companies show they can protect waterways and the environment.

Respondents were more than 10 times more likely to say they supported the mining of coal for steelmaking than for the generation of heat and electricity.

The poll was commissioned by Northback Holdings , the Australia-based proponent of the Grassy Mountain steelmaking coal project in southwest Alberta.

Brown told National Post that her findings hinted that Albertans are looking at ways to bolster economic linkages to steel hubs in central and eastern Canada, amidst continued trade turbulence with the U.S.

“I think the threat of (U.S. President Donald) Trump has given Albertans a sense of common cause with an eastern steel industry that’s in jeopardy … Providing Canadian resources to Canadian steel mills may be one way we strengthen the industry,” said Brown.

Major Ontario steel manufacturers like the Hamilton-based Stelco have historically sourced much of their industrial coal from the Appalachia region of the U.S.

Brown say that Canadians as a whole are starting to pay more attention to supply chains, and where the things they use every day come from.

“We all know that there are steel plants in Hamilton, but how many people in Hamilton really thought to stop and think about how those steel plants were fuelled? Now I think people in Southern Ontario are beginning to think a bit more about this sort of thing,” said Brown.

Provincial leaders seem to be making some of these same connections, as Ontario notably struck a deal with Alberta and Saskatchewan in July to build new oil and gas pipelines using Ontario steel.

Respondents across all regions of Alberta, including in Calgary and Edmonton, supported the mining of steelmaking coal. Those in Calgary were most likely to say they supported the mining of steelmaking coal but not thermal coal.

Alberta completed its phase-out of thermal coal for domestic electricity generation in June 2024.

Seven in 10 respondents also said they supported Grassy Mountain, which was approved by 72 per cent of voters in nearby Crowsnest Pass, Alta. in a late 2024 local plebiscite .

The Alberta Energy Regulator approved Northback’s application for coal exploration , drilling and water diversion at Grassy Mountain in May. The company announced this week that it would be submitting a new plan for reducing the mine’s ecological impact.

Alberta’s government lifted a moratorium on coal exploration in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in January.

The lifting of the ban came with new rules for coal mining, including a ban on open-pit mines, but the open-pit Grassy Mountain project was exempted from the new restrictions as an “advanced project.”

The poll was taken between July 21 and August 8, using a random sample of 1,400 Albertans contacted by phone (30 per cent landline, 70 per cent cell phone), carrying a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.6 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

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