Carney and Eby sign a BC framework Ottawa says could unlock $200 billion in new investment
Alberta submitted a proposal Thursday for a west coast oil pipeline that would move more than 1m barrels of crude a day from Bruderheim, Alberta, to British Columbia's southwest coast.
The province named Trans Mountain Corporation and Pembina Pipeline as the partners that would design, build and operate the line.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the preferred route and interested parties together in Calgary, CTV News reported.
BNN Bloomberg reported that earlier the same day in Vancouver, Carney, and BC Premier David Eby signed a memorandum of understanding that Carney said could unlock more than $200bn in new investment, with the province acting as the "linchpin."
Alberta chose a southern corridor over a northern one, largely following the existing Trans Mountain route to a deep-water port capable of handling very large crude carriers, the province said.
It framed the choice as the fastest, most cost-effective path and noted the corridor would fall outside the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, known as Bill C-48, which bans oil tankers along BC’s northern coast.
Under the Vancouver framework, BC agreed to help raise throughput on the existing Trans Mountain line to about 1.2m barrels a day, up from 890,000, through drag-reducing agents and mainline optimization, CTV News reported.
In return, the province would receive an annual royalty from the pipeline’s operator and a share of the optimization project’s benefits.
The deal also creates an environmental liability and emergency response fund, which BNN Bloomberg reported would be held in trust by the province and First Nations.
CTV News reported that Carney's office said the Canada-Alberta agreement depends on building the Pathways Carbon Capture and Sequestration project and on the duty to consult First Nations.
The agreement keeps the northern tanker ban in place and commits Ottawa to compensating BC for environmental risk if a pipeline proceeds.
An energy agreement Alberta and Ottawa reached in May set a goal of listing the project in the national interest by Oct 1, 2026, and securing the permits needed to begin construction as early as Sept 1, 2027.
Alberta faced a July 1 deadline to file with the Major Projects Office and made the announcement a day later, after the Canada Day holiday, CBC News reported, citing Smith’s press secretary, Sam Blackett.
The pipeline also hinges on Pathways, a carbon capture and storage network proposed by Alberta’s largest oil producers, who have said they should not shoulder the multi-billion-dollar cost alone, according to CTV News.
Alberta, Ottawa and the Oil Sands Alliance are finalizing a three-way agreement of regulatory changes and incentives meant to lift oilsands output and build the network, which the province said aims to cut emissions from participating operations by about 16m tonnes a year.
Alberta holds the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves at 177bn barrels and wants to double output to 8m barrels a day within a decade, the province said.
It reported that net crude export receipts climbed from $6bn in 2000 to $130bn in 2024, and pointed to demand in Japan, Korea, China and India as the market for added west coast capacity.
The proposal lands as Alberta prepares a referendum this fall on whether to stay in Canada.
Smith has said the deal shows the federation can work, BNN Bloomberg reported, while those pushing the province to leave Confederation say such agreements cannot fix long-standing grievances, according to CTV News.
Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, welcomed both announcements in comments to Wealth Professional, saying they reinforced British Columbia's role in the national effort and expanded a proven route.
New pipelines would lift Asia-bound exports and deliver on Canada's diversification agenda, she said, and the country's economic security depends on BC and Alberta "moving together."
She called the outcome proof that "cooperative federalism can work."
Eby said BC does not have to support the project but will not fight it in court, describing pipelines as an area of federal jurisdiction.
“We learned this the hard way on the last pipeline,” Eby said, per BNN Bloomberg.
Documents obtained earlier by CBC News had pointed to possible routes to BC’s North Coast, where the Haisla and Nisga’a First Nations have said no oil pipeline can proceed; Alberta’s southern route avoids that zone.
Des Nobels, a North Coast fisherman who fought the earlier Northern Gateway proposal, told CBC News he was ready to oppose a pipeline again. “But here we are, not all that long afterwards redoing what we have previously done,” he said.
