Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a proposed 1,200-kilometer crude oil pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast during an event in Calgary on Thursday, July 2, 2026.
The project aims to catalyze energy investments through heavy public sector funding.
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The pipeline will follow the existing Trans Mountain right-of-way to southern British Columbia, terminating at the Roberts Bank Terminal in Delta.
The federal government, via Trans Mountain Corporation, and the Alberta government, through the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission, will initially control 90 percent of the $35 billion project.
Just 10 percent will go to the private sector via Pembina Pipeline Corporation.
The proposal has been submitted to Ottawa's Major Projects Office for fast-tracked regulatory approvals.
Alongside the pipeline, the federal government committed $10 billion to upgrade infrastructure at the Delta port terminal, which faces criticism from environmental advocates regarding its impact on endangered orcas.
Economic and Political Support
University of Calgary economist Kent Fellows noted that while pipelines face regulatory profit limits, they generate widespread economic benefits through employment and government royalties.
"Pipelines do make money, but the amount of money that they make is limited by regulation and legislation," said Fellows, an associate professor at the university's School of Public Policy.
Fellows stated that infrastructure funding helps establish well-functioning markets, though he expressed a preference for market-driven solutions.
"As a fundamentalist free market economist, I am a little bit disappointed that we can't let the market take care of this one," Fellows added.
