Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Coal Country Notes

Canada has considerable coal resources, with proved reserves, according to the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), of about 6.6 billion tonnes. Bituminous coals (including anthracite) are evaluated as 3.5 billion tonnes, sub-bituminous grades are put at approximately 0.9 billion tonnes; and lignite at 2.2 billion tonnes.

Estimates of the tonnages of coal that are considered to be additional to the 'proved' amounts of each rank total almost 190 billion tonnes. While these figures are approximate, they do serve to underline Canada's large coal endowment.

Canadian coal reserves are mainly located in the western provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, with smaller deposits in the eastern provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Bituminous deposits are found in the two eastern provinces together with Alberta and British Columbia; Alberta also possesses sub-bituminous grades, while lignite deposits are found only in Saskatchewan.

Western Canada dominates coal production, accounting for over 95% of the total. Alberta is the largest coal-producing province, mainly of thermal grades. British Columbia is the second largest, producing mainly metallurgical coals. Saskatchewan produces lignite. About 40% of Canadian coal production, principally metallurgical, is exported.

Around 90% of Canadian coal consumption is used for electricity generation, 7% in the steel industry and 3% in other industries. Alberta is the largest coal-consuming province, Ontario the second. Ontario and Nova Scotia rely on coal imports.

The Canadian coal industry is privately owned. Output is mainly from surface mines: there are two operating underground mines, Campbell River, British Columbia and Grande Cache, Alberta. Production from these operations is relatively small, about 1 million tonnes of coal annually. The potential exists to reopen the underground mine at the Donkin coal resource in Nova Scotia.