Carney set to designate Alberta-to-coast pipeline as national interest project

Prime Minister Mark Carney was scheduled to announce Thursday in Fort McMurray that a proposed oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast will be designated a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act, with Premier Danielle Smith expected to join him. It would mark the first project to receive the designation since Bill C-5 passed more than a year ago, giving Ottawa special powers over a dozen federal laws to help the project move forward.

The decision follows a November 2025 energy pact between Ottawa and Alberta and a May implementation agreement that set the October 1 deadline. That agreement also tied the pipeline's construction to the Pathways carbon capture project, calling the two "mutually dependent." Ottawa signalled its intent to proceed in an August Canada Gazette notice, which said Indigenous consultation was already underway.

No private company has committed to fully fund the pipeline. Pembina Pipeline Corp. has a non-binding agreement for a 10 per cent construction-phase stake, with an option for another 10 per cent once the pipeline is operating. Ottawa and Alberta would split the remaining cost through Trans Mountain Corp. and the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission.

An EY Canada analyst noted a "chicken and egg" dynamic between building the pipeline and expanding oilsands production to fill it, saying producers have held off on major investments due to limited pipeline capacity. He said smaller oilsands expansions are already being planned, though large-scale mega-mines are unlikely to return. The announcement comes two days after LNG Canada's partners approved doubling the capacity of their Kitimat natural gas export facility.