Canada Designates Pacific Link Oil Pipeline as National Priority Project

The federal government has designated the proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline as a Project of National Interest under the Building Canada Act, moving it onto a faster review track.

The new pipeline, which would carry an additional one million barrels of crude a day to overseas markets, would take a southern route through British Columbia, avoiding sensitive coastal areas where a tanker ban remains in place.

Prime Minister Mark Carney aims to finalize the project's conditions for construction by September 2027, and estimates that it could support up to 140,000 jobs at its peak of construction, with another 50,000 jobs annually in operations, oil production, maintenance, and trade.

The federal government expects Pacific Link to contribute more than $20 billion per year to Canada's gross domestic product, and generate $100 billion in government revenue by 2060. Alberta's provincial government estimates that the project could also generate more than $265 billion in extra provincial royalties over its expected operating life of more than 50 years.