Pacific Link pipeline designated national priority, targets 2027 completion of federal review
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the Edmonton-to-Metro Vancouver project will move through an expedited federal review, with capacity for one million barrels of crude daily.
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Canada will fast-track approval of the Pacific Link pipeline, a proposed route from near Edmonton to Metro Vancouver designed to carry an additional one million barrels of crude daily to overseas markets. Prime Minister Mark Carney designated the project a Project of National Interest under the federal Building Canada Act today, triggering an accelerated federal review process rather than the standard timeline.
The pipeline will terminate at a major new storage and marine export terminal planned for Tsawwassen in the Strait of Georgia, featuring a new causeway peninsula. The route largely follows the same corridor as the existing Trans Mountain Pipeline and traverses southernmost areas of Metro Vancouver, avoiding North Coast and other sensitive coastal areas subject to a federal tanker ban.
Detailed route planning and environmental studies remain ahead. Alberta's provincial government has already conducted preliminary planning and identified a route preference. Federal coordination with British Columbia is underway on Roberts Bank 2, a container terminal also in Tsawwassen, alongside the planned marine export facility.
The federal Major Projects Office and Canada Energy Regulator will oversee a single unified review process. Federal conditions to be addressed include environmental protection, Indigenous considerations, project ownership, economic benefits for Canada, local hiring commitments, and oversight mechanisms.
Carney framed the project as essential to Canada's economic strategy. "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," he said. The pipeline is part of a federal effort to double Canadian exports to countries other than the United States, giving Alberta producers another outlet beyond the U.S. market.
The federal review process targets completion of all conditions by September 2027. No named companies have yet been publicly identified as involved in the Pacific Link project. Neither the BC provincial government, the Tsawwassen First Nation—which is seeking consultation on the pipeline and terminal—nor environmental groups have publicly responded to the designation.
Which oil companies will fund and operate the Pacific Link pipeline?
What is the total estimated cost, and how much federal funding or guarantees will be provided?
Will Tsawwassen First Nation's consultation requirements delay the September 2027 timeline?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
By the numbers
What is the capacity of the Pacific Link pipeline?
The Pacific Link pipeline is designed to carry one million barrels of crude daily to overseas markets.
When is the federal review targeted for completion?
The federal review process targets completion of all conditions by September 2027.
Where will the Pacific Link pipeline terminate?
The pipeline will terminate at a major new storage and marine export terminal planned for Tsawwassen in the Strait of Georgia, featuring a new causeway peninsula.
