Canada Names West Coast Oil Pipeline Its First Project of National Interest as Carney Speeds Up Major Builds
On October 1, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney's government in Ottawa designated the proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline to Canada's West Coast as the first project of national interest under its new building rules. The Prime Minister's Office formally announced the listing, and Pembina Pipeline Corporation confirmed the designation the same day, in what Carney cast as a new, faster way of building in Canada.
According to the Prime Minister's Office and Dow Jones Newswires reporting on October 1, the pipeline would carry Alberta crude to the British Columbia coast and add about one million barrels a day of export capacity. Alberta earlier estimated the cost at at least C$35.2 billion, while the provincial project registry lists an estimate of C$43.7 billion. Companies signing on will spend the coming year on route mapping, ecological surveys, cost estimates, procurement and workforce planning. Carney said builders previously had to spend years and potentially billions before knowing where the federal government stood.
As a prerequisite, Ottawa has insisted on a companion carbon capture and storage development using absorption towers to capture carbon dioxide and store it deep underground. Carney said the Pathways carbon project would itself create an additional 40,000 jobs and more than C$16 billion in GDP. The designation came days after the Shell-led LNG Canada consortium decided to expand its British Columbia liquefied natural gas operations, doubling capacity; Carney said that decision will unlock C$33 billion in private investment and more than 4,000 direct construction jobs.
The push comes as Canada grapples with U.S. tariffs. In September the government unveiled draft legislation to cut major-project review times to about a year, running federal impact assessments and permit reviews simultaneously. Supporters say the pipeline would help diversify energy exports toward Asia and Europe, while critics note that Indigenous consultation and environmental review are still required, and that a national-interest listing is not a final investment decision.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 输油管道设施在日落时分。摄影：shannonpatrick17，CC BY 2.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
