{"id":917422,"date":"2026-10-02T04:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917422\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T04:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:48:13","slug":"alberta-ottawa-advance-pacific-link-under-building-canada-act-okotoksonline-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917422\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta, Ottawa advance Pacific Link under Building Canada Act – OkotoksOnline.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

The federal government has listed the proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline<\/a> as a project of national interest, bringing it under the streamlined federal review process established by the Building Canada Act.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the designation Thursday<\/a> in Fort McMurray.<\/p>\n

Related Stories:<\/p>\n

\u201cPacific Link is critical to this mission. To seize this opportunity, we are building together \u2013 boldly, sustainably, and in true partnership with Indigenous Peoples,\u201d Carney said in a federal release.<\/p>\n

The proposed pipeline would have capacity to transport one million barrels of Canadian crude per day from Bruderheim, Alta., to a deepwater port near Delta, B.C., for export to global markets.<\/p>\n

Ottawa says the pipeline will follow a southern route, but the precise alignment is still being developed. The proposed corridor would largely follow disturbed land and existing infrastructure, including the Trans Mountain system.<\/p>\n

The listing does not itself issue the federal permits and authorizations that the later conditions document is intended to replace.<\/p>\n

Under the Building Canada Act, every determination, finding and opinion required for those authorizations is deemed in favour of permitting a listed project. The proponent must still complete required measures, and an authorization cannot be granted solely because of that provision.<\/p>\n

The later conditions document will replace federal permits and authorizations that would otherwise be required under authorities listed in Schedule 2 of the Act and will be legally equivalent to them. The federal decision record says the project cannot proceed if those conditions are not met.<\/p>\n

The Major Projects Office says it will work to finalize those conditions by Sept. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

Established in 2025, the Major Projects Office serves as a single federal point of contact for referred major projects, coordinating work across federal departments, other governments and project participants.<\/p>\n

Alberta estimated Pacific Link could cost between $35.2 billion and $43.7 billion in its July submission to the Major Projects Office. The full construction financing plan and precise route are still being developed, while the July filing gives different timelines for a final investment decision.<\/p>\n

Alberta submitted the pipeline proposal to the Major Projects Office on July 2, following a Nov. 27, 2025, Canada-Alberta memorandum of understanding and a May 15, 2026, implementation agreement. Ottawa listed the project Thursday.<\/p>\n

Cost and financing remain unsettled<\/p>\n

In its July 2 submission to the Major Projects Office, Alberta estimated the project would cost between $35.2 billion and $43.7 billion in today\u2019s dollars.<\/p>\n

The estimate includes contingency but excludes future cost escalation and an allowance for funds used during construction. Alberta\u2019s accompanying plain-language summary says the lower end assumes savings from regulatory reform and other opportunities.<\/p>\n

The July summary also says the Alberta government had invested $18.3 million in the project by that point.<\/p>\n

The Nov. 27, 2025, Canada-Alberta memorandum of understanding called for one or more private-sector constructed and financed pipelines to Asian markets.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s federal decision record says funding commitments from Canada and Alberta to support early work are advancing, while a plan to finance full construction is still being developed.<\/p>\n

It does not disclose the size or form of those government commitments.<\/p>\n

The federal record also says several key governance and commercial agreements remain under development.<\/p>\n

Ownership agreements not final<\/p>\n

The current Major Projects Office description says Trans Mountain Corporation, Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission and Pembina Pipeline Corporation will form and lead a new jointly owned company.<\/p>\n

Pembina\u2019s economic interest through construction is described as 10 per cent, with an opportunity for up to another 10 per cent once Pacific Link enters commercial operation. Trans Mountain and APMC would hold equal shares of the balance.<\/p>\n

A minimum 10-per-cent ownership interest will also be offered for purchase to Indigenous communities. The terms of that offer are to be settled before construction.<\/p>\n

The federal ownership description does not specify how the minimum Indigenous stake would affect the other ownership shares.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s July submission said the revised ownership structure remained subject to definitive agreements to be negotiated. Thursday\u2019s federal record separately says key governance and commercial agreements remain under development.<\/p>\n

July filing says firm shipping commitments required<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s July filing said long-term firm shipping commitments would have to be in place for Pacific Link to be financeable and proceed to construction.<\/p>\n

It also said the required commitments would have to be secured before a final investment decision.<\/p>\n

The filing said rules, service standards and other key terms would be negotiated with prospective shippers during project development and concluded around a final investment decision.<\/p>\n

A detailed annual throughput forecast would be developed once transportation service agreements were executed.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s July plain-language summary reported that preliminary engagement with potential shippers and international buyers had shown strong interest, particularly in Asia.<\/p>\n

That reported interest was not the same as the firm long-term shipping commitments Alberta\u2019s filing said would be required before financing and a final investment decision.<\/p>\n

July filing gives different final investment timelines<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s July project submission gives different timelines for a final investment decision.<\/p>\n

One schedule puts the decision between the first quarter of 2028 and the fourth quarter of 2029, with early work between 2027 and 2029 and completion between 2032 and 2034.<\/p>\n

But another schedule in the same filing puts the final investment decision between December 2027 and April 2028.<\/p>\n

That schedule assumes an approval milestone in September 2027, early construction as soon as October 2027 and authorization for full construction in September 2028.<\/p>\n

The submission does not explain the different timelines.<\/p>\n

The July filing also contemplates some construction before a final investment decision. It says early construction could include access and clearing, major trenchless crossings, and marine-facility work and pilings.<\/p>\n

Majority of consulted Indigenous communities were not prepared to support listing<\/p>\n

Ottawa says the Major Projects Office consulted more than 130 Indigenous communities near or along potential routes in Alberta and B.C. before Thursday\u2019s designation.<\/p>\n

The federal explanatory note says the majority of Indigenous communities consulted were not prepared to support listing based on the information available.<\/p>\n

That does not mean a majority opposed the pipeline.<\/p>\n

The federal record says many communities told Ottawa there was not enough project-specific information available to reach an informed position on whether they supported listing.<\/p>\n

Communities identified missing detail on routing, engineering and design, environmental effects, marine shipping, emergency response, cumulative effects, Aboriginal and treaty rights, mitigation and accommodation measures, and Indigenous participation in project oversight and decision-making.<\/p>\n

The Governor in Council also concluded Canada had fulfilled its duty to consult for the decision to list Pacific Link.<\/p>\n

Further consultation is required before the later federal authorization document is issued. The Building Canada Act requires consultation with Indigenous peoples whose Section 35 rights may be adversely affected and a process allowing their active and meaningful participation.<\/p>\n

Smith, Nenshi and UCP caucus respond<\/p>\n

Premier Danielle Smith welcomed Thursday\u2019s designation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis listing sends a clear message: Canada is ready to build again,\u201d Smith said in a written statement.<\/p>\n

Official Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi also welcomed the decision but said the southern route was one his party had pushed for over Smith\u2019s objections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very pleased that the southern route pipeline that we\u2019ve been advocating for many months, over Danielle Smith\u2019s objections, is moving forward,\u201d Nenshi said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n

Nenshi said the current proposal differs from the pipeline Smith previously promoted and that the difficult work of getting it built still lies ahead.<\/p>\n

Later Thursday, the United Conservative caucus issued a separate statement calling on Nenshi to respond to comments from Avi Lewis opposing Pacific Link.<\/p>\n

The caucus release said Lewis had called the designation \u201cabsolutely not in the national interest\u201d and said the federal NDP would oppose the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlbertans deserve a straight answer on this,\u201d Smith said in the caucus release. \u201cJust a few months ago, Naheed Nenshi\u2019s party was trying to take credit for a west coast pipeline. Today, his federal leader is promising to stop it. Albertans deserve to know whether Nenshi stands with Alberta energy workers or with Avi Lewis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jobs, royalties and emissions<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s July submission cites RBC Capital Markets modelling that estimates direct and indirect employment impacts could peak at about 140,000 jobs relative to baseline estimates in the early 2030s, when pipeline construction, upstream development and related supply-chain activity are counted together.<\/p>\n

The same modelling says direct and indirect job impacts could average around 50,000 a year relative to baseline as the project moves from construction into operation, with employment sustained through ongoing production, maintenance and trade.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s Department of Treasury Board and Finance separately estimates the province could receive more than $265 billion in additional royalties over more than 50 years of operation.<\/p>\n

That estimate was repeated in Smith\u2019s Thursday statement and is based on increased oil production Alberta says would be needed to fill the pipeline.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s July filing estimates upstream greenhouse-gas emissions from expanded crude production that could result from the project at approximately 15.5 million to 18.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year between 2032 and 2041.<\/p>\n

The estimate assumes Pacific Link starts operating in 2032 at its proposed one-million-barrel-a-day capacity and varies depending on the mix of oil transported.<\/p>\n

The filing cautions that the 10-year estimate should not be treated as a forecast over the pipeline\u2019s full operating life.<\/p>\n

The upstream estimate includes production and processing, energy used in production, transportation of marketable crude to the pipeline\u2019s origin point and the lifecycle emissions of diluent.<\/p>\n

Those figures do not represent emissions from operating Pacific Link itself.<\/p>\n

The July filing estimates pipeline operations at about 0.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year. That is a screening-level estimate based on Trans Mountain emissions and assumptions about factors including electrification, route length, terminal configuration and grid emissions.<\/p>\n

The filing also says Pacific Link could have limited or no incremental effect on Canadian upstream emissions if oil carried by the pipeline would have been produced anyway and is simply redirected from existing export routes.<\/p>\n

Earlier agreements tied Pacific Link to Pathways<\/p>\n

Earlier Canada-Alberta agreements linked the pipeline directly to the Pathways carbon-capture and storage project.<\/p>\n

The Nov. 27, 2025, memorandum of understanding described the two projects as mutually dependent and made Pathways a prerequisite to approval, commencement and continued construction of the pipeline.<\/p>\n

The memorandum also made the trilateral Pathways agreement and the approval and commencement of initial Pathways projects a precondition to starting the pipeline.<\/p>\n

A May 15, 2026, federal release continued to say the pipeline would be dependent on Pathways.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s July submission described Pacific Link as \u201cdirectly connected\u201d with Pathways through the November memorandum and May implementation agreement.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s federal decision record uses different language, saying Pacific Link will \u201cadvance alongside\u201d Pathways. It does not explain how that wording relates to the earlier mutual-dependency terms.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s listing leaves Pacific Link in the early stages of development. The Major Projects Office says it will work to finalize federal conditions by Sept. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s July filing places a final investment decision later than that in both schedules it provides \u2014 between December 2027 and April 2028 in one, and between the first quarter of 2028 and the fourth quarter of 2029 in the other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government has listed the proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline as a project of national interest, bringing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-917422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}