The federal government has approved a $4-billion plan by Enbridge Inc. to expand an existing natural gas pipeline in British Columbia, a move one executive says demonstrates a greater “sense of purpose” from Ottawa toward bolstering Canada’s status as a global energy exporter.
The Sunrise project would add 300 million cubic feet per day of transportation capacity on Enbridge’s 3.6-billion-cubic-feet-per-day Westcoast system, which connects gas fields in northeastern B.C. and northwestern Alberta to the Canada-U.S. border.
The project involves adding almost 140 kilometres of new pipe by constructing 11 looping segments parallel to the existing line.
The gas that would flow through the expanded line is not bound for any particular destination, but “some of the capacity will no doubt go offshore,” Matthew Akman, who leads Enbridge’s gas transmission and midstream business, told reporters Friday.
Sunrise was not reviewed under federal legislation passed last year meant to speed along new infrastructure deemed in Canada’s national interest. Nonetheless, Akman said he appreciates the improved tone under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government.
“There’s more of a sense of purpose and an intent and a prioritization, which is what we need to see in Canada,” Akman said.
“Going forward, though, I think we all need to work more closely together to make this even faster. And there are ways to have just as rigorous a consultation process, just as rigorous an environmental review process and community engagement process, but do it faster.
“We’ve been at this project almost four years already and still don’t have a shovel in the ground.”
On Friday, Energy Minister Tim Hodgson announced Ottawa’s approval of Enbridge Inc.’s $4-billion Sunrise natural gas pipeline project in British Columbia. ‘This project — owned by Enbridge and, most importantly, 38 First Nations — is approved today and scheduled to start construction this summer,’ Hodgson said.
The approval is part of the government’s effort to get more projects moving and faster, said Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson during a speech in Toronto on Friday.
“For too long, we became accustomed to mistaking delay for seriousness. But seriousness is not measured by how long a country takes to make decisions; it is measured by whether those decisions are thoughtful, credible and made in a time frame that actually matters.”
He said the Sunrise project will provide more supply for heating buildings, provide gas for electric power generation and industrial and manufacturing processes, as well as ensure enough supply of LNG.
The project will add more than $3 billion to Canada’s GDP and create some 2,500 jobs at peak construction, said Hodgson.
He added that the government will be ushering more projects ahead to actually being built. By spring 2027, there will be not only more projects added to the major projects office, but at least five to 10 new projects reaching a final investment decision or breaking ground.
“Canada is building again,” he said.
B.C. Premier David Eby said the expansion is good news for jobs in his province.
“At a time of uncertainty and global instability, this is how we create the prosperity needed to pay for the public services that make us all better off,” he said in a news release.
But Alex Walker, energy analytics program director with Environmental Defence Canada, called Ottawa’s approval “a disastrous climate decision that prioritizes fossil fuel industry growth over Canada’s climate commitments.”
Construction on the pipeline is expected to begin this summer, with startup targeted for late 2028.
All of the soon-to-be built space on the Sunrise project has been spoken for, Akman said, noting the company is also expanding gas infrastructure in the northern part of B.C.
Last year, Enbridge inked a partnership with an alliance of three dozen First Nations in B.C. for a 12.5-per-cent ownership stake in the existing Westcoast pipeline. Akman said those groups are not obligated to take on equity of the pipeline expansion, but have the option to do so.
Akman said there is opportunity to build even more gas pipeline capacity — from scratch or by expanding existing infrastructure — under the right conditions.
One is to ensure a speedy review process “because we can’t tie capital up forever doing these things.”
Another is to ensure Canadian investments can compete with projects being pursued in the United States, where Enbridge has a substantial presence and has been seeing better returns.
“We’re a large company with investors all over the world,” Akman said. “So if we see competitive returns on capital in British Columbia, then we could do any of those types of investments.”
Project better positions Canada as supplier to U.S.
While the expanded pipeline will help Canada meet the broader goal of reducing its reliance on the United States as a customer, it also helps position Canada as a necessary supplier to the United States.
“For a long time, the shale revolution in the United States was flooded with natural gas, and now we’re starting to pick up again where the United States is importing more from Canada and wants more from Canada,” said Heather Exner-Pirot, a senior fellow and director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
“They need more AI. They need more data centres. And they are exporting more LNG than they’ve ever exported, and we’re talking about non-renewable resources.”
The federal government says it’s approved Enbridge Inc.’s Sunrise project, expanding a natural gas pipeline in B.C. It’s expected to cost $4 billion and increase capacity by up to 300 MMBtu (million British thermal units) per day.
Jay Khosla, the executive director of economic and energy policy with the Public Policy Forum and a former assistant deputy minister in the Privy Council Office, added that expanding Canada’s export capacity could put it in a better position as it prepares to formally begin negotiations on the mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
“I know for a fact, and we’ve heard that, the president is not really thrilled that we’re supplying Chinese markets with our oil right now because he knows he needs all of that,” Khosla said.
“Like, we give them pretty much 25 per cent of their source supply. All of these moves are very, very helpful to give us some leverage — and we don’t have a lot, let’s be honest.”
‘Easy win’ for Carney government
Carney has promised to build big and build fast as he tries to shore up Canada’s economy in the face of U.S. protectionism and tariffs. But approving a new pipeline is a complicated process fraught with political landmines and opposition from environment groups and many Indigenous communities.
While Exner-Pirot said the expansion itself isn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things — she described Enbridge’s $4-billion investment as “table stakes” — she sees this as an easy win for the Carney government because it’s natural gas, and British Columbia isn’t opposed to it.
“It’s good that we’ll have construction. That’s going to be very helpful for the B.C. economy, so it’s absolutely not nothing,” Exner-Pirot said.
“And there was Indigenous support. So a very easy thing for them to do and to say, ‘We are building and we are being an energy superpower.'”
