FORT MURRAY, Alta. — Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a proposed new oil pipeline to Canada’s West Coast is in the national interest, formally advancing the project known as Pacific Link.
The proposed pipeline is expected to carry about one million barrels of crude per day to overseas markets and has the support of the governments of Canada and Alberta, along with private-sector partners.
Once completed, Pacific Link is expected to generate more than $20 billion in GDP for Canadians.
The designation moves the project forward under the federal government’s Building Canada Act and marks a major step toward expanding Canada’s access to international energy markets.
The project is part of a broader effort by Ottawa and Alberta to diversify Canada’s trading relationships and reduce the country’s reliance on the United States as its primary customer for crude oil.
That need has taken on greater urgency during the ongoing trade dispute with the United States and has been a priority for the Carney government since the prime minister took office on March 14, 2025.
The pipeline proposal grew out of a memorandum of understanding signed by Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Nov. 27, 2025, setting out the intention to pursue national-interest designation for a new Pacific oil pipeline.
Alberta formally submitted the West Coast pipeline proposal to the federal Major Projects Office on July 2.
The federal government then published a 30-day notice in the Canada Gazette on Aug. 1 as part of the process toward formally designating the project in the national interest.
Oct. 1 was the deadline established for that decision.
Pacific Link is expected to have capacity of about one million barrels per day, providing Alberta producers with greater access to customers beyond North America.
Greater market access has also been a recurring priority for Smith.
During a recent fireside chat at the Oil Sands Expo at MacDonald Island Park in Fort McMurray, the premier again emphasized the importance of expanding the customer base for Alberta oil and reducing dependence on a single major export market.
The national-interest designation does not mean construction can begin immediately.
The project will still require detailed regulatory work, Indigenous consultation and continued private-sector investment before moving into construction.
Ottawa and Alberta have said the broader strategy is intended to increase Canadian energy exports while giving producers greater access to global markets and reducing the country’s vulnerability to changing trade relationships.
