The federal government has approved the Sunrise Expansion Program, a $4-billion project in British Columbia, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said Friday.
The project, proposed by Enbridge, is a 139-kilometre expansion of B.C.’s current natural gas pipeline network and will add up to 300 million cubic feet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity to the network, Hodgson said.
The expansion project will extend the pipeline, sending natural gas all the way down to the U.S. border and is estimated by the government to generate more than $700 million in federal and provincial tax revenue.
Enbridge’s Westcoast natural gas pipeline system stretches 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) from northeast British Columbia to the Canada-U.S. border, with a total current capacity of 3.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
“This project will enable us to heat more homes, businesses, hospitals and schools while bolstering British Columbian industry, including for LNG, and creating thousands of jobs,” Hodgson said.
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Construction on the project is set to begin this summer, the ministry said.
The pipeline is “good news” for the province’s economy, B.C. Premier David Eby said.
“Approval of the Sunrise natural gas expansion project is good news for British Columbian jobs. It will also strengthen B.C.’s role as an engine for a more independent Canadian economy – delivering affordable energy people rely on and powering growth in major industries,” Eby said.
The Sunrise Expansion Program is expected to contribute more than $3 billion to Canada’s economy and involve the hiring of about 2,500 workers from local communities and Indigenous groups during construction, Enbridge said.
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The expansion will include constructing new pipeline segments along the existing system, additional natural gas compression capacity and upgrades and modifications to existing facilities.
Shares of the company rose 1.5 per cent on Friday morning.
“The multi-billion dollar Sunrise Expansion Program is a shovel-ready, critical natural gas infrastructure project that supports the advancement of Canada’s energy superpower ambitions,” Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel said Friday.
Construction on the expansion project is scheduled to begin in July 2026, with a targeted in-service date in late 2028.
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In May 2025, Enbridge said it would sell a 12.5 per cent stake in the Westcoast pipeline to Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance for $715 million, the first deal to include financing from a new federal loan program aimed at helping Indigenous groups own parts of resource projects.
— with files from Reuters
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