A proposed 1 million b/d oil pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast has become the first project designated under Canada's national interest regime, with Ottawa setting a startup window of 2032-33 and an estimated cost of $35.2-43.7 billion including contingency.

The federal and Alberta governments announced Thursday in Fort McMurray that the line — now officially named Pacific Link — will be listed on Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act. The listing shifts the federal position from whether the pipeline should be built to how it will be built, consolidating approvals and environmental assessments into a fast-tracked process.

"Before the Building Canada Act, proponents would have to spend years and potentially billions of dollars doing this work before even knowing where the federal government stood on the project," Prime Minister Mark Carney said. "For many builders, the risk was not worth it. So, Canada stopped building. Now, the federal government is making its position clear at the beginning of the process, rather than at the end."

What are the project's numbers?

• Throughput: 1 million b/d of bitumen over a 1,200-km southern route from Bruderheim, Alta., to a deepwater port near Delta, B.C., with expanded infrastructure at the Roberts Bank terminal.
• Cost: $35.2-43.7 billion, including contingency.
• Timing: conditions document due Sept. 1, 2027; construction to follow; in-service by 2032-33.
• Economic impact: up to $30 billion annual GDP boost — $20 billion from the pipeline itself, plus an estimated $10 billion a year in higher crude revenues from diversifying exports away from the U.S., according to a senior government official.
• Jobs: up to 140,000 once approved, per the federal government.

Who owns the line?

Ownership is 90 percent public through the construction phase. The Alberta government and the federally owned Trans Mountain Corporation each hold 45 percent, with Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corporation carrying a 10 percent stake. Once the line operates, Pembina can purchase an additional 10 percent. Carney said Indigenous communities will be offered a minimum 10 percent ownership stake.

A senior official, speaking on background, said private investors are watching whether Canada can deliver the Pacific Link on the 2032-33 timeline before committing capital — caution rooted in the fraught approval history and long construction of the Trans Mountain expansion.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith framed the public-private structure as a confidence-building exercise for future private-led projects. "I think in order to give the industry confidence that we can get these kinds of major projects built, we have to walk every step of the way with them until it's completed," she told CBC's Power & Politics.

How will the fast-track work?

Minister of One Canadian Economy Dominic LeBlanc must complete the conditions document by Sept. 1, 2027. The Major Projects Office and the Canada Energy Regulator will run stakeholder consultations covering environmental protections, oversight, Indigenous ownership and local hiring.

Carney also cited Canada's effective tax rate for investments, now cut to less than a third of the G7 average, as a draw for private capital. "This is the best country in the world, major economy in the world, to invest," he said.

What about emissions and opposition?

A government explanatory note says the pipeline "does not directly contribute to Canada's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets" but forms part of a plan to cut emissions intensity per barrel, anchored by the Pathways carbon capture project, which Carney said would absorb and store up to 16 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

The plan also includes a methane agreement in principle with Alberta to cut emissions 75 percent below 2014 levels by 2035, plus $1.2 billion in federal ocean protections announced Tuesday. Carney said the southern routing avoids "highly sensitive ecosystems, including the Great Bear Sea" and that oceans funding includes measures to protect killer whale habitat during the Roberts Bank expansion.

Environmental groups pushed back. "New oilsands and pipeline projects will drive emissions even higher," the Pembina Institute said in a post on X. NDP Leader Avi Lewis accused the government of rushing approvals "while sweeping aside environmental protections," calling the project "a gift to an oil industry already on track to make $100 billion in wartime profits this year alone." Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre supported the pipeline but criticized the pace: "We need a pipeline in the ground, not just on a list."

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce welcomed the up-front regulatory backing. "Getting our resources to Asia-Pacific markets is a path to more production, prosperity and a brighter future for workers, their families and communities," said the chamber's Bryan Detchou.

Watch item: the Sept. 1, 2027 conditions deadline set by the Major Projects Office — and whether private proponents commit before then.