Overview
- The Canada Gazette notice published on Aug. 1 started the Building Canada Act process and triggered a 30-day waiting period that leads to a public comment deadline on Sept. 18.
- The proposal is for an about 1,250-kilometre pipeline carrying up to one million barrels per day from Bruderheim, Alberta, to a deepwater port near Delta, B.C., with Alberta estimating costs of $35.2 billion to $43.7 billion.
- Trans Mountain Corporation and the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission are named as owners and Pembina Pipeline Corp. holds a provisional 10 percent construction stake with an option for another 10 percent, while broader private-sector backing is not yet secured.
- If the project is formally listed as a ‘national interest’ project under the Building Canada Act it would fast-track approvals and allow Ottawa to set a single conditions document in place of separate reviews under laws such as the Impact Assessment Act and the Species at Risk Act.
- Environmental groups and some Indigenous leaders have objected to the timing and speed of the move, consultations with rights-holders are underway, and Ottawa targets an Oct. 1 decision under the Canada–Alberta implementation timetable.