The Biden administration’s pause on LNG export licenses may have opened the door for competing projects in Canada to gain ground after years of lagging behind.

Canadian officials this month have been playing up their lower emission bonafides in the wake of their southern neighbor’s pause on licenses, in a bid to push for Canada’s liquefied natural gas export projects that have long been stymied by the hurdles of building in remote, rugged areas and the competing economics of abundant U.S. gas supply.

“I note, with interest, that the Americans have said that they might be pausing on their LNG export,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Bloomberg TV earlier this month. “I look at that as an opportunity for us. If we can be an additional supplier to the world of...