\u201cAll that was done, and with amazing speed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It took just 22 months to lay the 1,000-kilometre pipeline; it would take just nine months to abandon it. By 1947 the war was over and the oil link was no longer needed. Canol was dismantled, its steel repurposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But its short-lived presence made a permanent mark on the North.<\/p>\n
Before Canol, Finnie said, there were no airports, no roads longer than 15 kilometres, and certainly no oil infrastructure. The project proved to governments, business and engineers that the harsh northern terrain, with its unyielding granite and ice, could be tamped down with concrete and steel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the decades since, two more major pipelines have been built in the northern reaches of the continent: Enbridge\u2019s Line 21, from Norman Wells to northwest Alberta, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System that cuts the length of the northernmost American state.<\/p>\n
The Trans-Alaska pipeline, a four-foot-wide, 1,200-kilometre-long pipe that zigzags through Alaska\u2019s mountain valleys from an oilfield at Prudhoe Bay to a marine terminal at Valdez, was also built in just two years. It had previously been stalled for several years due to legal and environmental challenges, but was ultimately approved when the 1973 Arab-Israeli war thrust America into an oil crisis.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP-Alaksa-Deadhorse-Kane-WEB.jpg\"\/)
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System originates at a pump station on the state\u2019s north coast, pictured here. It pumps oil to a marine port on the state\u2019s south coast more than 1,000 kilometres away. Photo: Jenny Kane \/ The Associated Press<\/p>\n
Now, a new oil crisis is renewing old interests.<\/p>\n
Amid what the International Energy Agency called \u201cthe largest supply disruption in history,\u201d Canada has agreed to contribute<\/a> 23 million barrels to global emergency oil supply. Despite being the world\u2019s fifth-largest producer of both crude oil and natural gas, pundits and politicians argue a lack of pipelines is stymying the country\u2019s export capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must build new pipelines west, east, north and south \u2014 without delay and without hesitation \u2014 to supply Asian, European and American markets with safe, reliable and responsibly produced energy products,\u201d Alberta Premier Danielle Smith<\/a> wrote in an op-ed for the Financial Post this month<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Manitoba\u2019s Port of Churchill is now being heralded as a potential trade hub allowing the country\u2019s resources more rapid access to eastern markets. Momentum is building in support of an energy corridor that could carry oil, natural gas, potash or hydrogen from the Prairies to Hudson Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n In January, Premier Wab Kinew announced multiple energy companies are interested in backing the proposal, while a November agreement with the federal government pledges to simplify regulatory approvals for a port expansion.<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n In the 2026 budget<\/a>, the NDP announced a further $10 million to \u201ckeep building the momentum on this project and attract even more private sector interest in a potential energy corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n Under these political conditions \u2014 and with significant investments from either the private or public sector \u2014 pipelines can be built quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just an idea that we don\u2019t do enough in the Arctic,\u201d Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said in a late February interview. Canadians periodically worry the country does not have enough presence in the Arctic, or is under-utilizing its resources, she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those fears are \u201cbased on a very superficial understanding\u201d of the Arctic, she said. But coupled with a desire to diversify exports and opposition to an east-west pipeline through B.C. to the Pacific Ocean, they have made the prospect of a new northern pipeline more enticing.<\/p>\n But in reality, she said, building in the North \u2014 over Manitoba\u2019s muskeg and permafrost \u2014 is an expensive and dangerous logistical challenge.<\/p>\n [Back to top]<\/a><\/p>\n Step 2: Get to know the region\u2019s permafrost \u2014\u00a0and assume \u2018the ground is going to move\u2019<\/p>\n When Canol was first proposed, scientists knew so little about building infrastructure in the Arctic, they had yet to come up with a term for its characteristic, perennially frozen ground. It was Stanford University professor Siemon Muller who first coined the term permafrost after being sent to investigate<\/a> where the Alaska Highway and Canol pipeline would be built.<\/p>\n In simplest terms, permafrost is a term for ground that remains frozen year-round, though it is formally defined<\/a> as \u201cearth materials that remain below 0 C for two or more consecutive years.\u201d<\/p>\n Permafrost is typically described as either continuous (appearing over more than 80 per cent of the ground), discontinuous (covering between 30 and 80 per cent) or sporadic (less than 30 per cent). Almost half of Canada\u2019s land area is underlain with permafrost, predominantly across the Territories.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the top layer of soil, called the active layer, thaws briefly in the summer, the permafrost below remains at a relatively stable freezing temperature. Gravelly, rocky soil is often considered \u201cice-poor,\u201d and is able to maintain its stability even when the ice thaws. Finer soil tends to create \u201cice-rich\u201d permafrost, where frozen moisture is necessary to the structural integrity of the surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n Understanding these nuances is a prerequisite to designing any pipeline infrastructure in the North, University of Alaska Fairbanks geophysicist Vladimir Romanovsky said in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s present, the second very important question is: how much ice is in that permafrost?\u201d<\/p>\n Romanovsky has been working with permafrost since the mid-\u201970s \u2014 right around the time the Trans-Alaska pipeline was built. Understanding of permafrost was still limited then, but would grow as engineers planned a route across the Arctic.\u00a0<\/p>\n In January 1969, representatives from some of North America\u2019s largest oil and gas producers and mining operations met at the University of Calgary for the third Canadian conference on permafrost, where a session was dedicated to discussing the challenges of building pipelines over the frozen ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n By this point, scientists understood the permafrost \u201cis in a very delicate state of thermal equilibrium with its environment, and any disturbance will cause thawing and degradation,\u201d T. A. Harwood, chairman of the National Research Council\u2019s permafrost subcommittee, said in a presentation. This is further complicated by the discontinuous nature of much of Canada\u2019s permafrost layer, he added, which makes the ice \u201cpatchy and unpredictable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Understanding the ice content helps engineers assess how the permafrost will change under the temperature stresses created by a pipeline, Romanovsky said. Oil pipelines are usually transporting a heated product, while gas pipelines are often chilled.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of them impact the environment in terms of permafrost. The heated oil pipeline will thaw permafrost if it\u2019s placed into the ground; the chilled gas may actually create new permafrost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When permafrost thaws, a layer of water forms under the ice, which can cause the ground to shift \u2014\u00a0a phenomenon called subsidence. The problem is exacerbated on slopes, where the soil can become oversaturated and form landslides. Newly frozen areas can swell or heave, posing infrastructure risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPermafrost, generally, is not just frozen dirt. It\u2019s a highly sensitive, temperature-dependent foundation,\u201d Alireza Bayat, professor of civil engineering and director of the Canadian Underground Infrastructure Innovation Centre at the University of Alberta, said in an interview.<\/p>\n As the active layer thaws and freezes, the changing grounds can cause pipes to either sink into the soil or be pushed up out of the ground, Bayat said.<\/p>\n \u201cEssentially you\u2019re assuming the ground is going to move. How can we build or design a pipe that\u2019s able to handle that?\u201d<\/p>\n To make a pipeline work in the discontinuous permafrost seen in northern Manitoba, Romanovsky said scientists and engineers will need to consider the extent of the ice layer and calculate the degree of cooling needed to keep the frost stable through the pipeline\u2019s lifespan. Extra margin should be built in to account for climate change, he said, which is rapidly warming the Arctic.<\/p>\n [Back to top]<\/a><\/p>\n Step 3: Prepare to build a pipeline above-ground \u2014\u00a0or chill the oil<\/p>\n After finding a major oilfield at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the 1960s, oil and gas executives were consumed with \u201cthe problem of deciding on the best means of transporting this oil to market.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In his presentation, Harwood suggested a couple possible routes: either straight across the permafrost to Alaska\u2019s south shore, or through the Mackenzie River Valley. The latter seemed the more sensible option to Harwood, given the pipe could either link up with existing infrastructure in Alberta or be carried on to the Port of Churchill \u2014 which was being used for seasonal grain shipments at the time \u2014 where \u201cit appears reasonably certain that it would be possible to ship oil \u2026 to any continental port throughout the year.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision would ultimately be made to run the pipeline across Alaska, allowing easier access to western markets and fewer regulatory challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the question of how to lay a pipeline carrying either hot, liquid oil or pressurized, cold gas was still unanswered.\u00a0<\/p>\n At that point \u201cno one [had] actually constructed a pipeline in the North and operated it,\u201d Harwood said.<\/p>\n He proposed three solutions: building a road with a large crown \u2014 effectively a peak in the centre \u2014 along which a pipeline could be nestled in insulating materials, laying the pipe in a trench dug into the active layer of the permafrost or suspending the pipeline above ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n The original design for the Trans-Alaska pipeline was drawn up by a Texas company that planned to use the same methods it had for its southern lines, Romanovsky said: \u201cDig a trench, put the pipe in, cover it and everything will be good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat would be a disaster if that would have happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The design was reviewed by Arthur Lachenbruch, a permafrost scientist at the United States Geological Survey, who determined the proposal to bury a four-foot-wide pipe the length of the state would likely thaw the surrounding permafrost.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere the ice content of permafrost is not high, and other conditions are favorable, thawing by the buried pipe might cause no special problems. Under adverse local conditions, however, this thawing could have significant effects on the environment, and possibly upon the security of the pipeline,\u201d Lachenbruch wrote in a 1970 report.<\/p>\n Lachenbruch\u2019s report changed everything, Romanovsky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pipeline was already facing pushback in the courts from both environmental organizations and Indigenous Alaskans. It was the first major test<\/a> of the newly passed National Environmental Policy Act, and led to lengthy environmental impact assessment hearings, where critics used Lachenbruch\u2019s report to support their case.<\/p>\n Construction stalled while the pipeline owner, now called the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, was forced back to the drawing board.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of burying the line, engineers decided to suspend more than half of the 1,200-kilometre link on H-shaped support beams, a novel construction method for the time.<\/p>\n The 78,000 beams were each fitted with an innovative technology, called thermosyphons, designed to regulate the temperature of the permafrost.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very smart engineering design,\u201d Romanovsky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The thermosyphons (also called thermopiles) don\u2019t require any energy. Instead, the space-age technology consists of sealed tubes inserted several metres into the permafrost that contain a small amount of pressurized gas.<\/p>\n In the summer months, when the permafrost is colder than the air, the thermosyphons don\u2019t have much work to do. But in the winter, when the temperature below ground is warmer than the atmospheric temperatures, the gas condensates into a liquid and drips to the bottom of the tube. Below ground, the liquid absorbs heat from the surrounding ice and evaporates, drawing the heat up and out to the surrounding air.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis convection goes on all winter long, taking heat from the ground, bringing it to the atmosphere and releasing it,\u201d Romanovsky said.<\/p>\n Years after the Trans-Alaska pipeline came online, Canadian oil companies returned to the idea of laying a pipe through the Mackenzie Valley, this time connecting the oilfield at Norman Wells, N.W.T., to existing infrastructure in Zama, Alta.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unlike the Trans-Alaska line, Enbridge\u2019s 869-kilometre Line 21, which came online in 1985, is the first Canadian Arctic pipeline to be buried in the permafrost.<\/p>\n To mitigate the risk of subsidence, the Norman Wells pipeline runs cold. The oil is chilled<\/a> before entering the line to mirror the average ground temperature throughout the year, averaging between 0 C and -1 C. (Oil in the Trans-Alaska line is kept between 38 C and 63 C).\u00a0<\/p>\n Because clearing the ground for a pipeline right-of-way removes some of the natural insulation on the permafrost, several thaw-sensitive slopes along the route were insulated with woodchips to prevent melting. Monitoring technology was installed in strategic locations to measure ground temperature, check for pipe movement and estimate thaw depths.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pipeline has not been without incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n 1,500 barrels of oil spilled after the pipe failed in 2011. Two years later, the federal pipeline regulator found 77 buried lines<\/a> in the region were at risk of failure; the town of Norman Wells ranked as the community with the highest number of federally regulated pipeline incidents in 2013. In 2016, the pipe was shut down for nearly two years due to risks posed by a shifting permafrost slope.<\/p>\n Imperial Oil plans to \u201cwind down\u201d operations<\/a> at the Norman Wells oilfield this fall, citing declining production.<\/p>\n [Back to top]<\/a><\/p>\n Step 4: Expect cost overruns, especially as the climate changes<\/p>\n Regardless of whether the pipe is to be built above or below ground, designing and constructing infrastructure able to withstand shifting permafrost is, above all, \u201cvery expensive,\u201d Romanovsky says.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the earliest stages, a feasibility study estimated<\/a> the Trans-Alaska pipeline would cost between US$863 million and $1.05 billion, depending on its capacity. By 1975, after re-working the design to factor in the permafrost, the budget was $6.4 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the end, it cost more than US$8 billion \u201410 times the original estimate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Similarly, Canol came with an initial estimate of $500 million (in 2025 CAD) but in the end cost $3.2 billion. After the war, American cabinet members criticized the project<\/a> as \u201cuseless and a waste of public funds.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n These ballooning costs are often attributed<\/a> to the limited permafrost expertise during initial designs; they do not account for the additional costs of maintenance and repair.<\/p>\n Bayat, at the University of Alberta, said Arctic pipelines require specialized materials, design characteristics and construction methods to withstand the forces caused by moving permafrost while mitigating the pipe\u2019s risk to the environment \u2014 all of which can be costly.<\/p>\n The remote location can also add to the cost, as it leaves operators reliant on winter roads and other temporary infrastructure when building and maintaining the pipe.<\/p>\n \u201cYou will spend some money to keep it in good shape,\u201d Romanovsky, at the University of Alaska, said of Arctic pipelines.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, the company tries to survey the pipeline by helicopter every day, weather permitting.<\/p>\n When the Alaska project was being designed in the mid-\u201970s, Rom\u0192anovsky said, engineers and geophysicists were concerned about how the pipeline could impact the permafrost, but few were aware of the long-term risks a warming climate could pose to the pipe itself.<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n In 2020, several supports holding the pipeline aloft began to bend<\/a> as the permafrost slope they were attached to began to thaw and shift, threatening the integrity of the pipe and forcing the ownership group to replace the beams and refreeze the slope. The same year, flood damage<\/a> cost the operators US$10 million to repair the pipeline, while preventative maintenance to safeguard sections against further flooding was expected to cost a further $10-15 million.<\/p>\n These expenses are expected to climb as warming accelerates permafrost thaw.\u00a0<\/p>\n A scientific review of research<\/a> from the last 20 years estimates as much as 50 per cent of Arctic infrastructure \u2014 including the Trans-Alaska pipeline, and some Canadian highways \u2014 are at high risk of damage by 2050. Maintenance costs, the review estimates, could increase by more than $15 billion in that time, while unavoidable damages could cost upwards of $21 billion.<\/p>\n Manitoba has already felt the impacts of shifting permafrost on infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Hudson Bay Railway, which runs more than 800 kilometres between The Pas and Churchill, was among the first major transportation projects built over Canadian permafrost. Since its construction in the late 1920s, it has required regular maintenance as the weight and heat of train traffic thaws the ice-rich permafrost over which it was built. The railway was out of service for 18 months after being washed out by floods in 2017.<\/p>\n Federal and provincial governments have spent upwards of $500 million<\/a> to purchase, repair, maintain and upgrade the railway since 2018.<\/p>\n [Back to top]<\/a><\/p>\n Step 5: Monitor in perpetuity. Adapt to a warming climate<\/p>\n As part of the environmental agreement that greenlit the Norman Wells pipeline, Enbridge and the Canadian government collaborate on research and monitoring, which provides long-term data about the impact of pipeline infrastructure on the permafrost.<\/p>\n That data is among the longest permafrost monitoring records in the country. The long view of the ice helps form a picture of how permafrost is changing alongside the global climate \u2014 and trends show the ice is warming quickly, Romanovsky said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn places where the permafrost was warmer, it\u2019s already started to thaw from the top down,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the future, with further warming, it will be happening in more and more regions, and be happening faster and faster.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2024 report from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme found permafrost has warmed by two to three degrees since the 1970s, as ground temperatures reach record highs. The thawing has substantial impacts on the landscape, causing erosion, slumping and pooling of water. That melting permafrost in turn releases trapped carbon dioxide, further fuelling the warming effect.<\/p>\n The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States<\/a> warns the standard 30-year climate data engineers typically use when planning infrastructure projects has become \u201cinsufficient,\u201d as climate change speeds up.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the past, pipe design was kind of static \u2026 they were based on the fact we know how the weather is or how the ground is,\u201d Bayat said. \u201cThose assumptions are now more dynamic and they are changing with the climate.\u201d<\/p>\n These warming trends could render existing mitigation technologies like thermosyphons ineffective, Romanovsky added.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Climate-Tuktoyaktuk-Weronika-Murray-3.jpg\"\/)
In northern Canada, the top layer of soil, called the active layer, typically thaws briefly in the summer, but the permafrost below remains at a relatively stable freezing temperature. Photo: Weronika Murray \/ Pingo Canadian Landmark \/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/permafrost-extent-map-1024x1024.png\"\/)
Approximately half of Canada is underlain by permafrost, though its characteristics (such as ice thickness and temperature) vary widely across the country. Source: Natural Resources Canada. Map: Julia-Simone Rutgers \/ Winnipeg Free Press and The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MB-WFP-24514435_DSC_0513WEB.jpg\"\/)
Plans to expand northern Manitoba\u2018s historic Port of Churchill would mean creating an important channel between the Arctic and the rest of Canada. It could also potentially include a new pipeline from Alberta. Photo: Dylan Robertson \/ Winnipeg Free Press<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Northern-Pipelines_FINAL.jpg\"\/)
There are currently two major oil and gas pipelines operating in the North. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System transports oil above ground for much of its route. Enbridge\u2019s Line 21 is buried underground, and must cool the oil that flows through it to ensure its operations don\u2019t contribute to permafrost thaw. Source: Global Energy Monitor, Canada Energy Regulator. Map: Julia-Simone Rutgers \/ Winnipeg Free Press and The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CGL-flight-May-17-2023-Simmons_37-1024x682.jpg\"\/)
Pipeline projects are prone to cost overruns. The cost of building the Coastal GasLink pipeline, seen here cutting through northern British Columbia, ballooned from initial estimates of $6.2 billion to a final price of $14.5 billion. Experts say building a pipeline on permafrost would present unique challenges and cost risks. Photo: Matt Simmons \/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"Caribou](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC03481-scaled.jpg\"\/)
In Canada\u2019s North, landscapes such as caribou habitat found in Yukon\u2019s Tombstone Territorial Park, seen here, are increasingly at risk of dramatic change as permafrost melts. As permafrost melts, landscapes become more unpredictable. Photo: Jimmy Thomson \/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n