New pipeline in Canada to proceed after C$150bn pledged to ease BC and First Nations concerns

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, and Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, announce the new pipeline on 2 July 2026. Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, and Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, announce the new pipeline on 2 July 2026. Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock New pipeline in Canada to proceed after C$150bn pledged to ease BC and First Nations concerns Port expansion and protections for whales part of BC and Alberta plan to expand country’s presence overseas The governments of Canada and the province of Alberta will move forward on a major new oil pipeline after the pair announced a plan to ease concerns of British Columbia and First Nations on the Pacific coast. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney , shuttled between British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday to announce more than C$150bn in new investments in both provinces, part of a broader project of reducing trade with the United States and expanding his country’s presence in overseas markets. Leaning on the familiar framing of a “more dangerous and divided world”, Carney pledged to strengthen domestic industries, saying in Vancouver that the country needed to “move faster, build bigger and work together”. Carney promised billions for a port expansion in Vancouver, expanded power infrastructure for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and investments in new protections for the endangered southern resident killer whale . But the marquee project is a new pipeline that follows the route of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline before diverting at the end to a new terminal. The project will transport 1m barrels a day, according to the Alberta government. Carney said Canada and Alberta would be “equal partners” in the pipeline project, and there would be “a meaningful ownership stake for Indigenous communities”. The two governments would also work to achieve “substantial” methane reductions. Consultations will begin immediately with Indigenous communities, provinces and territories. Canada may approve a new oil pipeline. First Nations fear another ‘worst-case scenario’ Read more Carney said his government would leave in place a longstanding federal ban on tankers loading or unloading oil from British Columbia’s north coast – an environmental safeguard that First Nations have long said is non-negotiable. Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, who had long advocated the northern route – which would have required overturning the tanker ban – said on Wednesday the planned southern route represented “the fastest, most cost-effective path to expanding Canada’s energy exports”. Smith is also under growing pressure from a separatist element in her province to demonstrate that Alberta can sign major energy deals with the federal government. The shift from a northern pipeline to a southern route reflects both a major shift from Alberta – and a recognition by governments that Indigenous opposition would dramatically slow any n