Carney and Smith fast-track "Pacific Link" West Coast oil pipeline as a national interest project

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith held a joint news conference in Fort McMurray, Alberta, on Thursday 1 October 2026 to make a major announcement about the proposed West Coast pipeline. 1 2 Canada listed the pipeline, known as "Pacific Link", as a project of national interest; the National Post said 1 October was the deadline for that designation, which would fast-track the project's regulatory process. 2 1 Carney said Ottawa aims to complete the single federal regulatory review by 1 September 2027; AFP said Pacific Link is the first initiative classed as national interest by his Major Projects Office. 3 4

Carney said 90% of Alberta's oil currently goes to the US and that Pacific Link would allow an additional 1 million barrels a day to be exported to growing Asian markets, which he said means more customers, more choice and higher prices for Canadian producers. 2 1 The BBC described Pacific Link as a 1,250km pipeline from Bruderheim, Alberta, to a deep-water port near Delta, British Columbia, and said Ottawa expects it to cut Canada's dependency on the US to about 65-70%. 5 Carney said Canada and Alberta agreed that the project proponent will offer Indigenous communities at least a 10% ownership stake, financed through federal and provincial Indigenous loan guarantee programs, along with Indigenous contracting and employment opportunities. 2

Reuters and Al Jazeera reported that the pipeline will be built by government-owned Trans Mountain Corp in coordination with Pembina Pipeline Corp, with the federal and Alberta governments as majority owners; Alberta estimates the cost at C$35.2 billion to C$43.7 billion. 6 4 The Prime Minister's Office said the pipeline would create 140,000 jobs across the country, generate over $20 billion in GDP per year and $100 billion in government revenue by 2060, and support Carney's goal of doubling non-US exports over the next decade; the National Post, by contrast, cited a government figure of 150,000 jobs. 2 1 The BBC reported a GDP boost of up to C$30 billion a year, higher than the over C$20 billion in the Prime Minister's Office statement, and AFP quoted Carney as saying "hundreds of thousands of good jobs"; AFP also noted furious reactions from environmental groups and the resignation of a cabinet member who was a leading climate advocate. 5 3

Al Jazeera and Reuters noted that Canada's only east-west oil export pipeline, the 890,000-barrel-a-day Trans Mountain, is already at capacity, and that filling a new line would require oil sands expansions of a kind no company has undertaken in over a decade; Fort McKay First Nation Chief Raymond Powder said his community is interested in an equity stake. 4 6 The National Post noted the announcement came less than three weeks before an Alberta referendum on separating from Canada, and said Carney and Smith hoped it would help make the case for federalism. 1 Smith said she would vote to keep Alberta in Canada, called roughly 22% support for separation in a recent poll "still too high for my liking", and said the pipeline showed how "cooperative federalism can work in action"; asked about separatists, Carney said it showed "Canada is working". Al Jazeera says the 19 October vote is on whether to hold a referendum on leaving, while AFP calls it a non-binding referendum. 4 3