The Building Trades of Alberta has endorsed a federal-provincial partnership to build a new west coast oil pipeline to British Columbia's coast, a project announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith. The union, which says it represents 60,000 members across 18 locals in Alberta, describes the project as nation-building work that would benefit unionized trades workers.
The proposed pipeline would have a target capacity of one million barrels per day and would largely follow the existing Trans Mountain corridor. The project has been referred to the federal Major Projects Office and is intended to respect the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act. Under the announced framework, Canada and Alberta would hold equal partnership stakes, and a meaningful equity stake would be reserved for Indigenous Peoples. Trans Mountain Corporation would lead development, while Pembina Pipeline Corporation would contribute private-sector expertise.
The federal government says the pipeline and the Pathways carbon capture project together could create about 175,000 jobs. Of that total, up to 140,000 are tied to pipeline construction and operations, with jobs spanning Alberta, British Columbia and other parts of Canada. These figures are government projections and have not been independently verified in the material available.
The Building Trades of Alberta said it will press the partners at each level of government to move the project forward. A union delegation met Labour Secretary of State John Zerucelli in Ottawa as part of that effort. The union's account of the project is advocacy rather than independent reporting, and its members' interest in the work is direct: the organization's stated purpose is to secure construction employment for its members should the project proceed.
The project remains at the referral stage and has not yet been approved. The announcement did not specify a timeline or budget for construction. Questions about the route's environmental and regulatory approval, the scale of the Indigenous equity stake, and the mechanics of the equal federal and provincial ownership remain open as the proposal moves through the federal review process.
The pipeline is presented as a response to Canada's need to move Alberta crude to the Pacific coast, a long-running objective that has repeatedly stalled over opposition in British Columbia and legal challenges to earlier expansions. Any final decision will depend on federal review and on whether the partnership structure, job figures and Indigenous participation hold up under scrutiny.
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