Resource Works welcomes Cooperative Prosperity Agreement and new oil pipeline proposal as landmark day for Canada’s resource economy

Article content

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Resource Works welcomes the Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement signed July 2 by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier David Eby, calling the deal — which the prime minister says will help unlock more than $200 billion in new investment — the most significant federal commitment to British Columbia’s resource economy in a generation.

Article content

The same day, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that Trans Mountain Corporation and Pembina Pipeline will partner with the province to build the new west coast route — a million-barrel-per-day oil pipeline from Bruderheim, northeast of Edmonton, to the southern B.C. coast, at an estimated cost of $35 billion to $44 billion. The project has been submitted to the federal Major Projects Office and is expected to be listed as a project of national interest by October 1, 2026.

Article content

Article content

Article content

“This is a landmark day for Canada’s resource economy,” said Stewart Muir, President and CEO of Resource Works. “The Prosperity Agreement puts natural resources at the centre of the national economic strategy in a way we have not seen in decades — LNG, critical minerals, port infrastructure, energy transmission. And the west coast pipeline proposal, with Trans Mountain and Pembina as partners, is the clearest signal yet that Alberta and British Columbia are building together rather than fighting apart.”

Article content

Article content

Together with the Pathways carbon capture project, the new project alone will create approximately 175,000 new jobs.

Article content

The agreement also commits the federal government to accelerating the permitting, financing and construction of LNG Canada Phase 2, Ksi Lisims LNG, Cedar LNG and Woodfibre LNG. It invests $500 million to expand the Red Chris copper mine, increasing Canada’s annual copper production by more than 15 per cent. It provides $3.9 billion for the North Coast Transmission Line. And it invests in expanding Roberts Bank Terminal at the Port of Vancouver, unlocking over $100 billion in new trade capacity.

Article content

Article content

The combined impact represents an unprecedented partnership binding the federal government, provinces and territories, Indigenous peoples, and the private sector.

Article content

“The scale is striking,” said Muir. “Four LNG projects accelerated. The largest copper mine expansion in the country. A transmission line that will power the north coast for generations. Roberts Bank expanded to reach new export markets. And $250 million for whale protection. This is what it looks like when a government decides that resource development and environmental stewardship are the same agenda, not competing ones.”

Article content

Muir said the agreement reflects the leadership of Prime Minister Carney and the willingness of two neighbouring provinces to find common ground.

Article content

“British Columbia and Alberta have spent too many years on opposite sides of resource debates that should be unifiers, not dividers. This agreement shows what happens when the two provinces that are most consequential to Canada’s energy future decide to cooperate rather than compete. It builds not just individual provinces but the whole country.”