Pipeline Push: Majority of Canadians, including B.C. residents support the idea of a pipeline to the north coast

Fewer say it should receive a “fast-track”, but support outpaces opposition from coast-to-coast

October 9, 2025 – A pipeline-related spat is playing out on social feeds in real time as B.C. Premier David Eby and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith send volleys back and forth about the value and risk of a pipeline from Alberta to the north coast of British Columbia. While no route has yet been suggested, the thought of project has been enough to rankle many on both sides of the debate.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians – including, importantly, B.C residents – largely on the same side in agreeing that a pipeline project has value and should be supported. That said, the devil may be in the details including how and if the project is fast-tracked.

On the pro side of the argument, a firm majority (59%) of Canadians, including majorities in every region, say they support the idea of a pipeline running from northern Alberta to the northwest B.C. coast. These data may challenge the stance of Eby, who has been steadfast that the project is, to this point, a pipe dream, without financial backing and counter to the law prohibiting tankers on the portion of the B.C. coast assumed to represent the terminus. In Eby’s province, support significantly outweighs opposition (56% to 33%).

That said, there are evidently also a plurality of Canadians (46%) and a majority of British Columbians (52%) who say B.C., or indeed any province on whose land a pipeline is built – should have veto rights unless its conditions are met. This sentiment is equally strong in Quebec (57%), and the inverse carries in Alberta (58% say the province should not be able to block a project) and Saskatchewan (56%).

As to the idea of this project being deemed in “the national interest”, here support wanes slightly. In nearly all groups, support for the project is higher than support for granting it a “fast-track” status by the federal government’s Major Projects Office, suggesting that the regulatory environment may continue to represent a challenge to construction.

Another of the biggest obstacles to construction is the tanker ban itself. Smith has suggested that this project should receive a “carve-out”, or that the ban itself should be lifted. A close to equal number of Canadians would lift the ban completely (23%), allow a carve-out for this project (26%), or keep the ban in place (29%). One-in-five are not sure (21%).

More Key Findings:

Among 2025 Liberal Party voters, a plurality support the idea of a pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. north coast (44% support, 36% oppose). The inverse is true, however, when asked about fast-tracking the project (39% support, 47% oppose)

In developing energy policy, Canadians would prioritize economic growth over environmental concerns, a key shift from prior years where the opposite was true. In 2016 and in 2021 when Angus Reid Institute asked, a majority said they prioritized the environment. Now 57 per cent prioritize the economy.

INDEX

Concept of Alberta to B.C. northern pipeline supported across the country

Pushback for fast-tracking among some

Provincial veto rights draw support unless conditions met

Tanker ban carve-out?

Shifting priorities from environment to economy

Concept of Alberta to B.C. northern pipeline supported across the country

Pipelines have once again become the topic du jour as U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic animosity towards Canada has shifted the national conversation towards economic development.

Canada’s expansion of Trans Mountain, a project taken across the finish line by the federal government, has been a boon for Alberta, leading towards a growth in oil production. But it’s expected that the expanded capacity brought by the Trans Mountain expansion will be filled by 2030. In order for Alberta’s oil output to continue growing, the province will need more pipes.

With that in mind, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the province are proposing a new pipeline that would take oil from the oil sands to the northern B.C. coast, emulating the long-cancelled Northern Gateway pipeline. That previous pipeline failed to launch after resistance in B.C. from both the provincial government and First Nations, and a federal law which banned tankers in the province’s northern coastal waters. Alberta’s new proposal faces similar obstacles.

Nearly a decade after the federal Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected Northern Gateway, a similar concept of a pipeline finds the support a majority of Canadians (59%) and a majority in every province in the country except Quebec, where half (50%) are in favour of such a pipeline: