Infrastructure for Enbridge’s Westcoast pipeline system near Loon Lake, B.C. The Canadian government approved an expansion program in April.Chris Helgren/Reuters
Enbridge Inc. ENB-T has started construction on the $4-billion expansion of its pipeline system for transporting natural gas in British Columbia, with Ottawa touting the economic spinoffs from Canada’s energy industry.
Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson marked the construction milestone at a ceremony on Monday in Prince George, on the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation.
“Investment is flowing and Canada is building again,” Mr. Hodgson said during a news conference.
In April, the federal government approved the Sunrise expansion program, which includes upgrades to the infrastructure of Enbridge’s T-South system. The project will increase capacity by 17 per cent to T-South, focusing on Southern B.C. but also bolstering supply to the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
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Westcoast Energy Limited Partnership, an affiliate of Calgary-based Enbridge, operates that B.C. transmission network for natural gas.
“This is how we strengthen Canadian energy security, support affordability and prove once again what being an energy superpower looks like,” Mr. Hodgson said in a statement.
The Sunrise expansion project is forecast to provide employment for about 2,500 workers during construction and produce economic spinoffs for local communities and Indigenous groups.
“We’re proud to be working alongside Indigenous groups, local communities, contractors and labour across British Columbia as we move this project from approval to construction and deliver lasting benefits for Canadians,” Enbridge chief executive officer Greg Ebel said in a news release.
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The pipeline expansion project could be in service by late 2028 and will utilize Canadian-made steel, led by InterPro Pipe and Steel in Saskatchewan.
The improvements to pipeline and related infrastructure are meant to help an array of customers, notably supplementing natural gas in the market that will be directed to Woodfibre LNG. Woodfibre is a project under construction near Squamish, B.C., that hopes to start exporting liquefied natural gas to Asia by late 2027.
Enbridge acquired a 30-per-cent stake in Woodfibre in 2022, while the remaining 70 per cent is held by Pacific Energy Corp. Ltd.
A decade ago, there were more than 20 competing plans to ship LNG from British Columbia to Asia. So far, only one LNG export terminal is up and running in Canada. LNG Canada became this country’s first export facility for the fuel in mid-2025, when it began shipping to Asia from Kitimat, B.C.
In sharp contrast, the U.S. has been the largest exporter of LNG in the world for the past three years.
Climate groups say the focus on fossil fuels such as LNG ends up delaying the global transition to renewables, notably wind and solar. They are urging Ottawa and the B.C. government to halt any subsidies for LNG development on the West Coast, citing climate and health effects.
But during Monday’s news conference, Mr. Ebel envisaged Enbridge having a bright future, arguing that natural gas will be needed in the long term.
The Official Opposition Conservative Party said Canada has been too slow to develop LNG export projects.
Last year, the federal Liberal government referred LNG Canada’s Phase 2 expansion plan to the Major Projects Office, which is seeking to identify ventures of national interest to be considered for fast-tracking. Ottawa also referred the Nisga’a Nation-backed Ksi Lisims LNG proposal in northwest B.C. to the MPO for potential fast-tracking.
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Woodfibre plans to export 2.1 million tonnes a year of LNG to Asia, or roughly one-seventh of the capacity for LNG Canada’s first phase in Kitimat.
Lheidli T’enneh First Nation is part of the Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance Limited Partnership, which acquired a 12.5-per-cent interest last year in Enbridge’s Westcoast pipeline system consisting of T-South and T-North.
“The Sunrise expansion project demonstrates what’s possible when First Nations, industry and government work together with a shared commitment to building a stronger future,” Dolleen Logan, the elected chief of the Lheidli T’enneh, said in a statement.
Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth, said the Sunrise project’s economic spinoffs will help strengthen the provincial economy, including bolstering Indigenous groups.