Coal in Canada
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also use coal to generate electricity to varying degrees.
[8] According to a February 2015 Natural Resources Canada report, in 2013, "Canadian coal exports totalled $5.5 billion.
[8] For several years, coal production decreased as provincial and federal governments sought to phase out its use in favor of renewable energy in order to combat global warming.
During the New France period, a large mine was built in Cow Bay, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island to supply to Louisbourg fortress.
Deadly mine disasters occurred in multiple locations, including Hillcrest, Alberta and Springhill, Nova Scotia.
Harsh working conditions in Coal mines and coal-powered factories led to the establishment of Canada's trade union movement.
Following the 1970s energy crisis, Canada's coal production grew rapidly as it became more cost-competitive and new export markets emerged in other Asian countries.
[7][9] In 2016, "mining, processing, and related services from thermal and metallurgical coal contributed an estimated $4 billion to Canada's economy, or roughly 0,2%.
[12] The collision between the two immense plates had pushed up the Rocky Mountains while depressing the North American continent's interior.
[12] The oldest coal deposits were pushed closer to the surface about 80 to 55 million years ago, forming part of the Rocky Mountains's foothills and Front Ranges.
[12] The coal beds that lie under the prairies are of an inferior, impure grade, which is not capable of firing blast furnaces essential to steel-making.
[12] The Coalspur Formation in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the foothills of southwestern Alberta,[13] has large quantities of high-quality coal.
[17] The Siksika —Blackfoot and the Kainai—Blood people, called an area on the banks of the Oldman River the Sik-ooh-kotoki or "place of the black rocks.
[14] In 1793, Hudson's Bay Company surveyor, Peter Fidler identified a seam of high-quality coal near the Red Deer River.
[14] In 1882, a large mine became operational, leading to the formation of towns, such as Coalbanks, now known as Lethbridge, then Coaldale, Coalhurst, and Black Diamond.
[14] In 1976, the Progressive Conservative government under then Premier Peter Lougheed restricted open-pit mines in most of Alberta's Rocky Mountains and Foothills through the Coal Development Policy.
[14] In 2003, the McGuinty government of Ontario set a goal of closing all coal-fired power stations, to be replaced with healthier and more environmentally-friendly energy sources.
[24] According to a 2014 article, long-term health problems caused by coal made it twice as expensive as wind energy.
[29] Also in 2016, the government of Canada announced the goal of phasing out the use of coal-fired power stations across the country in favour of less polluting alternatives for electricity generation by 2030.
