A proposed one-million-barrel-per-day pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia's southern coast has become the first project listed under Canada's Building Canada Act, placing the line — now officially named Pacific Link — into an accelerated single-track federal review.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the designation in Fort McMurray on October 1, standing alongside Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. The project, roughly 1,250 km according to Reuters, would run from the Bruderheim area near Edmonton to a marine terminal near Delta, B.C., opening additional capacity for Canadian crude to reach Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

"Canada has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to become a global energy superpower," Carney said. "To transform our economy. To diversify our trade. To become less reliant on a single trade partner."

He said Pacific Link is "critical to this mission" and that Canada intends to build the project "boldly, sustainably, and in true partnership with Indigenous Peoples."

The designation is not construction approval. It consolidates into one federal review the approvals that would otherwise be spread across multiple departments and pieces of legislation. The Major Projects Office, supported by the Canada Energy Regulator, will lead the process, covering Indigenous consultation, public hearings and reviews of the project's technical, environmental, social, cultural, health and safety impacts. Ottawa is targeting September 1, 2027 for completion of the conditions required to move the project toward construction.

For Alberta, the announcement marks a shift in the federal-provincial relationship on energy infrastructure after years of regulatory delay.

"For too long, we've watched projects with enormous transformative potential get mired down in uncertainty and delay, and today we're turning the page," Smith said. She called the listing "a significant victory for Alberta's and Canada's energy future" and said it demonstrates what governments can achieve together on nation-building infrastructure.

The market-access case

Canada currently exports more than 90 per cent of its crude to the United States. The Trans Mountain Expansion, completed in 2024, substantially increased Pacific access but is already operating at or near capacity.

"Today, 90 per cent of Alberta's oil goes to the U.S.," Carney said. "Pacific Link will materially reduce that dependence by allowing us to export an additional one million barrels a day to growing markets in Asia."

Ottawa estimates the project could create approximately 140,000 jobs, generate more than $20 billion annually in Canadian GDP, and produce roughly $100 billion in government revenues by 2060. Current cost estimates run from $35 billion to $44 billion, with detailed engineering, route work and procurement still ahead.

Ownership structure departs from private-pipeline convention

Canada and Alberta intend to hold equal ownership, with the federal government participating through Trans Mountain Corporation and Alberta through the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission. Indigenous communities will be offered a minimum 10 per cent ownership interest, supported by federal and provincial Indigenous loan-guarantee programs.

Pembina Pipeline Corporation joins as private-sector partner, contributing engineering, development and project-execution expertise. Pembina currently expects to hold a 10 per cent economic interest through construction, with an option to acquire a further 10 per cent once the line is operating. The company stressed Thursday that any final investment decision remains subject to its own financial and capital-allocation requirements. Trans Mountain Corporation is expected to lead the regulatory process, Indigenous and stakeholder engagement, construction and eventual operation.

Part of a wider strategy

Pacific Link sits within the broader Canada-Alberta energy agreement. Ottawa says it is advancing the proposed Pathways carbon capture and storage project alongside the pipeline, with expanded marine infrastructure and environmental protection measures on the B.C. coast intended to accommodate increased exports. Earlier this week, Carney announced $1.2 billion in new federal spending for ocean protection, marine traffic monitoring and spill-response capability.

"A pipeline to the West Coast is part of our mission to transform our economy, to double our non-U.S. exports over the next decade," Carney said.

Major hurdles remain: Indigenous consultation, detailed engineering, environmental conditions, financing, shipper commitments and final regulatory requirements. The October 1 designation converts an Alberta proposal into a formally sanctioned national project — but the September 2027 conditions deadline, Pembina's FID gate and open-season shipper commitments are the milestones that will determine whether steel reaches the ground.