Canada Fast-Tracks West Coast Oil Pipeline Approval

A proposed pipeline carrying one million barrels of oil per day from Alberta to the B.C. coast has become the first project designated in the national interest, the federal and Alberta governments announced. Listing the West Coast pipeline on Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act means the federal government has moved from considering whether it should be built to how it will be built by fast-tracking and consolidating the approval process.

Before the Building Canada Act, proponents would have to spend years and potentially billions of dollars doing this work before even knowing where the federal government stood on the project. The risk was not worth it for many builders, so Canada stopped building projects like these.

The Major Projects Office will work with stakeholders to finalize conditions by September 1, 2027, allowing construction to begin with a view to having the pipeline up and running by 2032-33.