Canada Advances New Pacific Coast Oil Pipeline After C$150bn Investment

The governments of Canada and the province of Alberta will advance a major new oil pipeline following an agreement to address concerns raised by British Columbia and First Nations along the Pacific coast.

Prime Minister Mark Carney toured British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday to announce over C$150 billion in new investments across the two provinces, part of a strategy to lessen dependence on U.S. trade and strengthen Canada’s foothold in global markets.

Building on the narrative of an increasingly volatile and fragmented world, Carney pledged to bolster domestic industries, emphasizing in Vancouver that Canada must “move faster, build bigger, and work together.”

He pledged billions of dollars for a Vancouver port expansion, enhanced power infrastructure for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, and funding for additional protections for the endangered southern resident killer whale.

The flagship project involves a new pipeline that follows the existing Trans Mountain route before branching off to a new terminal. The Alberta government says it will move up to one million barrels per day.

Carney said Canada and Alberta would be “equal partners” in the pipeline, granting “a meaningful ownership stake for Indigenous communities,” and that the partners would pursue “substantial” methane reductions. Consultations with Indigenous groups, provinces, and territories will commence immediately.

Carney affirmed that his government would maintain the longstanding federal ban on tankers loading or unloading oil along British Columbia’s north coast — a safeguard long demanded by First Nations and deemed non‑negotiable.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who previously championed the northern route — a path that would have required lifting the tanker ban — said on Wednesday that the proposed southern route represents “the fastest, most cost‑effective path to expanding Canada’s energy exports.” She is also facing mounting pressure from a separatist faction in her province to prove that Alberta can secure major energy agreements with the federal government.

The shift from a northern to a southern route reflects a significant policy change in Alberta and acknowledges that Indigenous opposition could substantially delay any new project.

British Columbia Premier David Eby said his government would not oppose the pipeline, having learned from a costly court battle over the original Trans Mountain expansion. He noted that the new agreement includes strong safeguards and that residents would be “fairly compensated for the environmental risks associated with any new pipeline project.”

Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations and elected chief of the Heiltsuk Nation, described the announcement as a “good day” after learning that the tanker ban would remain in place.

“British Columbians, Canadians, and the First Nations who call this region home want it protected. No technology can fully clean up an offshore oil spill, and a single spill could devastate our way of life,” she said. “Protecting our coast is not an obstacle to economic prosperity; it is the foundation of it.”

Several First Nations had previously pledged to withdraw support for multibillion‑dollar LNG projects should the 50‑year tanker ban be lifted.

The Climate Action Network said it concurs with Carney’s assessment that Canada is in a “treacherous moment of geopolitical instability,” but it argues that climate change, not trade partners, is the primary source of risk. “Continuing to expand fossil‑fuel production while Canadians grapple with climate chaos is simply dangerous,” the group stated.

Expanding the Trans Mountain pipeline is among the largest and most costly infrastructure overruns in Canadian history. Although the project is strategically valuable, it remains uncertain whether taxpayers will ever recoup their investment. “If this were a sound economic venture, a private company would have financed it,” said Chris Severson‑Baker, executive director of the Pembina Institute, an independent Canadian clean‑energy think tank. “Instead, Albertan and Canadian taxpayers will now bear roughly 90% of the cost, which is expected to reach tens of billions of dollars,” he added.

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