Canada has a secret sauce, and it’s not maple syrup. It’s a product all Canadians have an intimate connection to and it’s an integral part of our transportation network. It’s made from a uniquely Canadian resource and is highly sought after by roadbuilders because of its stickiness. It’s asphalt binder.

Asphalt binder constitutes roughly five per cent of the paving hot mix used to build and repair roads and other paved surfaces. It’s like the egg in a cake and its adhesive and tensile properties are critical to binding aggregates and the longevity of roads.

Some of the best asphalt binder is made from Western Canadian bitumen and it is especially well suited for colder climates such as those found in most of Canada and the northern United States.

Given asphalt binder’s importance to our infrastructure, it’s surprising that most of the asphalt binder supplied around the world is a waste product of the refining process and much of it in Eastern Canada is imported from the U.S.

Almost a decade ago, the Ontario auditor general issued a value-for-money

audit

, called the Ministry of Transportation — Road Infrastructure Construction Contract Awarding and Oversight, which focused on premature cracking of Ontario roads and the resulting increased cost to taxpayers.

A newly paved road in Ontario should last 15 years before cracking appears and repairs are required, the audit said. The auditor general’s sample testing found several roads were cracking after five years and cost taxpayers an extra 16 per cent to repair based on the initial investment required to build the road.

As a bonus, less construction means fewer idling cars and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. The auditor general specifically cited the inferior nature of the hot mix asphalt used — of which asphalt binder is a key component — as the main culprit for the reduced quality.

The problem is that existing refining companies have adjusted their operations to squeeze out the last bit of molecules for oil and chemical products at the expense of asphalt binder quality. That process yields a thick residue, or gruel, to be disposed of in the asphalt binder market.

As a result, roadbuilders must use expensive additives to upgrade the adhesive qualities of their asphalt mix. Using asphalt binder made from high-quality Western Canadian bitumen could help solve this problem and reduce costs.

In response to U.S. President

Donald Trump

’s

tariffs

, there have been daily headlines from Canadian politicians of all stripes about fast-tracking projects of “national interest.” Ontario Premier

Doug Ford

and Alberta Premier

Danielle Smith

just signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together on resource development and other mutually beneficial initiatives.

The MOU is a step toward making good on the recent Council of the Federation meeting between the federal and provincial governments, during which premiers extolled the “One Canada” campaign and working together. Why not start with a plan for domestic production of a widely used, value-added, high-quality asphalt binder?

Ontario alone uses more than 400,000 tonnes of asphalt binder annually. While yearly quantities vary, a significant amount of the asphalt binder used in Ontario is imported from the U.S.

This asphalt binder is mainly sourced from nearby U.S. refiners, many of which process Canadian crude oils. These refineries typically operate their facilities to maximize the production of fuels, often at the expense of asphalt quality destined for Ontario.

Expanding Ontario’s road network is a major plank of the Ford government. In 2024, Ontario spent $3.4 billion on road infrastructure and the 10-year capital plan allocates $27.4 billion on highway expansion and rehabilitation. Given that most of Ontario’s roads are paved with asphalt, a high-quality, Canadian-sourced-and-produced asphalt binder makes a lot of sense.

As Smith recently highlighted, all Eastern Canada crude delivery comes through Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Canada does not have a pipeline that delivers Canadian crude to the eastern part of the country. However, Canadian rail infrastructure between Western Canada and Sarnia, Ont., could be used to deliver undiluted bitumen to the Eastern Canadian market as a stopgap for a pipeline.

The development of an Eastern Canadian asphalt binder production hub would substantially reduce Ontario’s dependence on U.S. asphalt imports, make a 100 per cent Canadian value-added product in Ontario, create jobs and intellectual property in the province and support the growth contemplated in Build Ontario.

This type of project could be a quick win for the One Canada campaign because a mini-hub for asphalt binder production could be up and running in 24 months at a cost of tens of millions versus the billions other projects could cost.

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Ford and Smith’s MOU outlines good intentions for interprovincial collaboration. Prioritizing a strategy that uses Western Canadian bitumen to produce asphalt binder in Ontario is a good start and would build better roads in Ontario and the rest of Eastern Canada.

Susan McArthur is a shareholder in Carbovate Development Corp., an Ontario company that developed IP for modular asphalt binder plants. She is a former venture capital investor, investment banker and current corporate director.