West Coast oil pipeline becomes 1st project designated in national interest

The federal and Alberta governments have announced that a proposed pipeline carrying one million barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the B.C. coast has become the first project designated in the national interest.

Classification under Building Canada Act will fast-track approval process, environmental assessments

Peter Zimonjic · CBC News

· Posted: Oct 01, 2026 11:11 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

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A proposed pipeline carrying one million barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the B.C. coast has become the first project designated in the national interest, the federal and Alberta governments have announced. 

Listing the West Coast oil pipeline on Schedule One of the Building Canada Act means the federal government has moved from considering whether it should be built to how it will be built. 

A senior government official told reporters in advance of the announcement that the pipeline is expected to boost Canada's GDP by up to $30 billion annually — $20 billion of that coming from the pipeline itself. 

By diversifying Canada's exports away from the U.S., officials said Canada will be able to charge a higher price for the oil it currently ships south of the border, providing what could be an additional $10 billion a year in revenues.

The federal government also said that once approved, the project once will create up to 140,000 jobs.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Zimonjic is a senior writer for CBC News who reports for digital, radio and television. He has worked as a reporter and columnist in London, England, for the Telegraph, Times and Daily Mail, and in Canada for the Ottawa Citizen, Torstar and Sun Media. He is the author of Into The Darkness: An Account of 7/7, published by Vintage.