By our count, 335 days separate the October 1, 2026 order that listed Pacific Link as a project of national interest from September 1, 2027, the date Ottawa has agreed to try to deliver its federal conditions document. The pipeline is rated at 1 million barrels a day. The federal project page gives that rating, a proponent and three dated steps, and no date for the first barrel.
On paper the line runs 1,250 kilometres from Bruderheim, about 50 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, to Delta, about 35 kilometres south of Vancouver, with 11 pump stations along the way, according to the notice the federal government published in the Canada Gazette on August 1, 2026. None of that steel is in the ground. The federal page says the final route is still to be settled.
Key facts
- The Governor in Council listed the West Coast Oil Pipeline, now called Pacific Link, as a project of national interest on October 1, 2026, according to the Major Projects Office project page.
- The Canada Gazette notice of August 1, 2026 describes a pipeline of about 1,250 kilometres, with 11 pump stations and a capacity of 1 million barrels a day, running from Bruderheim, Alberta to Delta, British Columbia.
- Under the Canada-Alberta implementation agreement of May 15, 2026, as summarized by the law firm Torys LLP in May 2026, Canada will make best efforts to provide the conditions document by September 1, 2027.
- The Major Projects Office page records an official referral of the project on July 2, 2026 and names the Government of Alberta as proponent.
The Order Lists The Project And Issues No Permit
The Building Canada Act works in two moves. Under section 5, the Governor in Council, meaning cabinet, can add a project to Schedule 1 by order once it forms the opinion that the project is in the national interest, after notice in the Canada Gazette. That is the step taken on October 1. The second move sits in section 7, which requires the Minister to issue the proponent a document that stands as each authorization named in it, with conditions set out for each one.
Section 6 then draws the limits. Deeming the required findings in the project’s favour does not excuse the proponent from the measures any other enactment requires, and no authorization is granted solely because of that deeming provision. The listing moves the job to the front of the shop queue. The part still has to be machined. The sections we read set no deadline for the Minister to issue the document, and they say nothing about financing or construction.
Only One Step Has A Date On It
The 335 days come from the Canada-Alberta implementation agreement, not from the Act. By a law firm’s summary of the agreement text, Canada will “make best efforts” to provide the conditions document by September 1, 2027 if the project is designated. A best-efforts clause is a target.
Compare the step that just finished. The agreement had Alberta’s application at the Major Projects Office by July 1, 2026, the office records a referral on July 2, and the listing followed on October 1. That is 91 days from referral to order, by our count. The conditions step has been given 335 days, 3.7 times as long, and it is the step that names the authorizations the project will hold. Sequencing the federal work this way is sound. A listing that arrives three months after referral says little about a document that has 11 months to write.
A Capacity Rating Is Not A Throughput
Operators size a line before they sell it time. The project page gives 1 million barrels a day as capacity and Alberta as proponent. It states no contracted volume and no construction date, and as of October 1, 2026 no final investment decision and no in-service date had been announced.
Federal permitting, financing, engineering and construction are separate jobs, and the Act’s own text keeps the first apart from the rest. The next date on the record is September 1, 2027, 335 days from the order.
Sources
- Major Projects Office, West Coast Oil Pipeline project page (October 1, 2026)
- Canada Gazette, Part 1, supplement (August 1, 2026)
- Building Canada Act, Justice Laws Website (current to November 27, 2025)
- Torys LLP, summary of the Canada-Alberta implementation agreement (May 2026)
- Prime Minister of Canada, news release (July 2, 2026)
- Global News (October 1, 2026)
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