Prime Minister Carney lists the West Coast Oil Pipeline, now known as Pacific Link, as a project of national interest to unlock Canada's full potential as a global energy superpower

FORT MCMURRAY, AB, Oct. 1, 2026 /CNW/ -- Today, the world faces an energy crisis across three dimensions: our cost of living, our climate, and our sovereignty increasingly depend on our nation's ability to supply and control its own energy. More than any other country, Canada is positioned to become the leading supplier of clean and conventional energy to ourselves and the world. To seize this opportunity, which will create hundreds of thousands of good jobs at home while reinforcing our independence and sovereignty, Canada needs to build fast and build together.

That is why Canada's new government launched the most significant regulatory reforms in generations to fast-track nation-building infrastructure. Through the Building Canada Act, the federal government can further accelerate approval processes for major projects that are determined to be in Canada's national interest. The federal government has already referred 28 nation-building initiatives to the new Major Projects Office (MPO). This includes a new crude oil or oil pipeline to the West Coast, which Canada and Alberta are advancing in partnership.

Over the past three months, the MPO conducted rigorous consultations on the pipeline proposal to determine whether this project is in Canada's national interest, as defined by the core factors outlined in the Act. The MPO consulted with more than 130 Indigenous communities near or along potential routes in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as with federal departments and the Government of British Columbia.

Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, announced that the Government of Canada is officially listing the new West Coast Oil Pipeline, now known as Pacific Link, as a project of national interest.

Canada and Alberta will share equal ownership of Pacific Link. Indigenous communities will be offered a minimum of 10% ownership interest, financed through Canada and Alberta's Indigenous Loan Guarantee Programs. Pembina Pipeline Corporation is a private sector investor and is offering its expertise to project development, which is being led by the Trans Mountain Corporation – the company that just built the largest oil pipeline to Canada's West Coast. The pipeline will follow a southern route which protects British Columbia's North Coast and avoids highly sensitive ecosystems, including the Great Bear Sea.

Over the next year, the MPO, supported by the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), will lead the federal review process and consultations with all stakeholders on the conditions for this project – including the ownership, benefits, respect for Indigenous rights, environmental protections, and local hiring and oversight – with Indigenous Peoples involved from the start. The MPO will work to finalise those conditions by September 1, 2027, clearing the way to get shovels in the ground. This means that as the project proponents work over the next year to develop a final concept – from community consultations to route mapping, ecological surveys, cost estimates, procurement, and workforce planning – they will do so with confidence that the federal government supports this project. This will transform the way Canada builds major infrastructure by giving investors and builders the certainty they need to drive projects forward.

Pacific Link will reduce our dependence on the United States by allowing Canada to export anadditional one million barrels a day to growing markets in Asia. It will create140,000 jobs across the country and generate over $20 billion in GDP per year, and $100 billion in government revenue by 2060 – revenue that will help build the infrastructure and homes Albertans, British Columbians, and all Canadians need, and protect the social programs they rely on every day, from health care and dental care to child care.

This pipeline is one part of the Government of Canada's broader mission to transform our economy – to double our non-U.S. exports over the next decade, create tens of thousands of good jobs, attract billions in new investment, and unlock our full potential as a global energy superpower.

Pacific Link is a transformative project, but its full potential will only be unlocked by the initiatives the Government of Canada is leading across the country. We are working to expand the container terminal at Roberts Bank to export crude from Pacific Link. We are advancing new measures to protect our oceans as maritime traffic grows. And we are working with the Government of Alberta to advance the Pathways Project, one of the world's largest carbon capture and storage projects, to keep Albertan oil competitive for the long term.

Together with the governments of Alberta and British Columbia, Indigenous communities, and the private sector, we are building a strong Canada that works – a Canada where growth and conservation go hand in hand, and where prosperity is shared. Pacific Link will help unlock Canada's potential as a global energy superpower, transform our economy, diversify our trade, and strengthen our strategic autonomy – ensuring Canadians can continue to live our lives as we choose.

Quotes

"Canada has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to become a global energy superpower. To create hundreds of thousands of good jobs. To transform our economy. To diversify our trade. To become less reliant on a single trade partner. To achieve greater strategic autonomy, so we can continue to live our lives as we choose. Pacific Link is critical to this mission. To seize this opportunity, we are building together – boldly, sustainably, and in true partnership with Indigenous Peoples. In a more dangerous, divided world, Canada is working."

-- The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

"Today marks a significant victory for Alberta's and Canada's energy future. The listing of Pacific Link as a project of national interest demonstrates what can be achieved when governments work together to advance nation-building infrastructure. Today marks an important step toward expanding market access, strengthening our economy, and reinforcing Alberta's position as a reliable global energy supplier."

-- The Hon. Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta

Quick facts

• The West Coast Oil Pipeline, now known as Pacific Link, has now been listed as a project of national interest under Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act.
• Listing enables the project to proceed through a single federal regulatory review process that will inform the development of a conditions document.
• The Building Canada Act includes a dedicated listing consultation phase that gathers information from Indigenous communities whose rights may be affected, provinces and territories, federal departments, and interested parties.
• The listing consultation process is intended to identify issues early and support the development of mitigation measures before the regulatory review advances.
• The Government of Canada remains committed to fulfilling its duty to consult and respecting Aboriginal and treaty rights throughout the project's review process.
• Over the next year, the MPO – supported by the CER – will undertake the federal review process and development of a conditions document, which would serve as the CER certificate including Fisheries Act authorisations and Species at Risk Act permits, among other federal permits, that would otherwise be issued by separate ministers.
  • This review process will include Indigenous consultation; public hearings led by the CER on the technical, environmental, social, cultural, health, safety, and security elements of the project, as well as potential adverse effects on the rights of Indigenous peoples; and coordination by the MPO with other federal permitting departments to integrate all permits into the final conditions document.

Related product

• Order in Council – Amending Schedule 1 to Add the West Coast Oil Pipeline Project: Explanatory Note

Associated links

• Canada and Alberta advance west coast pipeline project proposal and Pathways Project Carbon Capture Initiative – to build a stronger, more resilient Canadian economy
• Canada and British Columbia strike new cooperative prosperity partnership to build a stronger, more sustainable economy
• Canada and Alberta strike agreement to diversify our exports, reduce emissions, and build a stronger economy
• Canada and Alberta strike new partnership to lower emissions, unlock our natural resources, and build a stronger, more sustainable, and more competitive economy

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

PMO Media Relations: [email protected]