Why fast-track approval is only the beginning for the West Coast pipeline - Toronto Star

Alberta’s proposed West Coast pipeline is widely expected to get a national interest designation Thursday to fast-track its construction, but it will face plenty of hurdles before oil can flow to the B.C. coast.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announce a proposed pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast, in Calgary on July 2, 2026. 

OTTAWA — Alberta’s proposed West Coast pipeline is widely expected to get a national interest designation Thursday to fast-track its construction, but it will face plenty of hurdles before oil can flow to the B.C. coast.

Under the deal Prime Minister Mark Carney signed with Alberta earlier this year, the federal government had until Thursday to decide whether the project should be designated in the national interest. That label would give the project the federal cabinet’s backing and commit the government to fast-tracking it. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she hopes to break ground by the end of next year. 

With Carney scheduled to make the pipeline announcement in Alberta on Thursday, a government source, who spoke on the condition that they not be named, suggested the prime minister will confirm widely held expectations that the project will get that designation under the Build Canada Act. 

The Liberals have in many ways tipped their hand on the project. Not only is the federal government committed to covering up to 45 per cent of the pipeline’s potential $43 billion cost, but on Tuesday Carney talked up its economic potential, saying it could “diversify our economy, create almost 150,000 new jobs across Canada and make us much less dependent on the United States.” 

First Nations must be equal partners in the new fervour for building, write Frances Abele and Lloyd Axworthy.