The Build-Out is On: Pipelines, Critical Minerals and a Wave of Major Project Work

The first week of July made the national direction unmistakable. On July 2, Canada referred Alberta's West Coast Oil Pipeline to the new Major Projects Office. The line would move about one million barrels a day to the BC coast, largely along the existing Trans Mountain corridor, at an estimated cost between $35 and $44 billion, with a reserved Indigenous equity stake and construction possibly starting in September 2027. Four days later, Alberta and Ontario proposed the Northern Shield line, roughly 3,300 kilometres from Hardisty to Sarnia. That one is earlier stage, with a feasibility study underway and no federal backing or private proponent yet, so it is best read as a proposal rather than a plan. Then on July 7, Ottawa committed up to $400 million through the Canada Growth Fund to Teck's Trail smelter in southern BC, the first deal under the new Canada Critical Mineral Accelerator, supporting an $850-million expansion to lift production of germanium, antimony, and gallium.