Note: This is the first story in a two-part look at the proposed East-West Canadian Energy Corridor project. CBC Sudbury’s followup story will look into environmental concerns from Indigenous leaders and scientists.
Ontario’s recent announcement it’s requesting proposals to study the feasibility of a new east-west energy corridor has sparked sharp debate.
Those in favour of the potential pipeline project — known as the East-West Canadian Energy Corridor — say it could create thousands of jobs and secure Canada’s energy future.
But it’s also been criticized, including by Sudbury member of provincial parliament (MPP) Jamie West, who said the request for proposals left out key elements.
“There’s no announcement of any sort of agreement with First Nations. There are several First Nation territories to go through,” said West, with the Opposition New Democratic Party. “It’s also missing any sort of agreement with Manitoba.”
Ontario’s call for proposals was announced Aug. 7, after Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, later joined by Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, signed a memorandum of understanding in July to build pipelines and trade infrastructure across provincial borders.
In February, the natural resources minister at the time, Jonathan Wilkinson, said Canada should explore building a new west-east pipeline because the country’s energy infrastructure was vulnerable to U.S. tariffs.
Ford said in a news release earlier this month that the pipeline is needed to respond to economic threats from the south.
“The last few months have shown that Canada can no longer rely on energy infrastructure that lies outside of our borders and can be shut down at a moment’s notice by another country,” he said.
“It’s time for us to build cross-Canada infrastructure within our borders so we can protect our energy security, find new markets for Canadian energy and resources, and create new jobs and opportunities for Canadian workers. Together, we’re building a more competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy.”
Energy industry on board
Michael Gallagher, business manager for Local 793 of International Union of Operating Engineers, said the pipeline proposal is “very positive” for his members.
“It gives our membership some hope that there may be some jobs constructing pipelines, not just in the West, but also back here in Ontario and hopefully right across the country,” Gallagher said in an interview.
He said there’s a strong business case for the idea.
“We need independence from the U.S. on energy. We’ve all been rudely shaken here recently by the president of the United States referring to us as a 51st state.”
Gallagher said pipeline construction would generate prosperity at a time when tariffs and trade disputes are straining workers. He added the project could also stimulate Canada’s steel industry, which, according to Ontario’s proposal, would construct the pipes.
On environmental concerns, Gallagher said workers take protection seriously.
“People don’t realize that every day they might be boating across or driving over areas where there’s already pipelines constructed. When you look, all you see is water undisturbed, and trees and everything else,” he said, adding that pipeline technology has evolved with thicker steel and stricter standards.
Gallagher warned that Ontario’s reliance on Michigan’s Line 5 pipeline makes the province vulnerable as it’s faced threats of being shut down by state officials.
Line 5, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac in northern Michigan, connects western Canadian oil to refineries in Ontario and moves half a million barrels of oil a day.
Gallagher said that if Michigan cuts off the tap, it “would completely devastate us.”
Evan Bahry is executive director of Energy Connections Canada, a non-profit organization that represents the energy pipeline industry.
Bahry said he’s encouraged by Ontario’s proposal.
“We see a number of needs for further pipeline development in Canada,” Bahry said. “We know that electricity demand is expected to increase dramatically in Canada, thanks to electrification of things, AI demand and everything else.”
He pointed to studies that project the country will need to increase its electricity capacity by 75 per cent in the next 25 years.
“Natural gas generation is an incredibly quick supply to add most anywhere in the country. It’s scalable and again can be easily built much more rapidly than large-scale hydro facilities or nuclear plants. So we see the need for more electricity generation to meet that growing demand.
“We’re in need of a heck of a lot more electricity generation. And natural gas is the quickest supply you can add that’s reliable and dispatchable, and that is obviously going to require more natural gas pipelines and natural gas consumption.”
The case for a natural gas power plant
Pierre-Olivier Pineau, chair of energy sector management at HEC Montréal, said that while natural gas can be a primary fuel for electricity generation, decarbonizing the grid requires a shift to sources such as nuclear power plants, hydro dams, wind and solar farms.
“The wind doesn’t blow all the time. And when the wind doesn’t blow, we still need electricity. And if we don’t have backup supply that can quickly come online and produce electricity, then we’ll have a problem. And that is where a natural gas power plant can play a role in the future,” Pineau said.
He doesn’t think there’s a strong business case for additional pipelines because Canada already has natural gas pipelines that supply electricity to some natural gas power plants.
“If wind wouldn’t blow in Ontario, we could get some additional supply from Quebec and vice versa. Same thing for Atlantic provinces. If they don’t have enough wind at one particular moment, they can have transmission lines providing hydropower from Labrador or Quebec if enough transmission lines are available,” Pineau explained.
“So there are multiple sources of flexibility. Natural gas is really the one that is important, but not significant enough to really just make the case for an additional pipeline.”
Despite holding the world’s third-largest oil reserves — around 170 billion barrels — Bahry explained that Canada still imports roughly half a million barrels of crude oil per day, with 75 per cent coming from the U.S.
Roughly 2.5 million barrels of Russian oil have entered Canada since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to a January investigation by CBC News’s visual investigations team and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
“As we contemplate where the oil is coming from, and geopolitical issues and of course the dynamic with the American approach to the trade, there’s a compelling need for Canada to consider using Canadian oil first,” Bahry said.
Opposition MPP says plan not ‘fully fleshed out’
Due to a lack of upfront consultations, Manitoba did not sign the recent memorandum of understanding with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario to explore the feasibility of a west-east pipeline.
On the issue of Indigenous input, Ontario has said it will “develop an Indigenous engagement roadmap to help ensure decisions will be made in a manner consistent with the recognition and affirmation of existing Aboriginal and treaty rights” as part of the study.
However, West stressed, the province should have made such an agreement prior to the announcement launching its request for proposals.
“It just sort of caught my eye that this sort of seems like a plan that’s hobbled together. And it reminds me of that [Highway] 401 tunnel where it’s an idea and it’s great to have an idea, but it doesn’t seem like a fully fleshed out plan,” the NDP MPP said.
“There’s no announcement of any sort of agreement with First Nations. There are several First Nation territories to go through…. It’s also missing any sort of agreement with Manitoba. If you look at the map, there’s no way to get to James Bay,” he said, adding there’s also no agreement with the federal government, which would be required for the project to proceed.
West said those gaps make the plan look “hobbled together.”
“I have a feeling if you look at what happened with the [Ontario] Greenbelt, what happened to Ontario Place and the Science Centre, there always seems to be some donors, some generous donors who are going to be the main beneficiaries,” West said.
He also questioned the government’s focus on a James Bay outlet, given longstanding evidence that building a deep-sea port there is not feasible.
“I have a feeling that the main beneficiaries of these are the oil and gas companies who will do really, really well because our taxpayers will pay for the study of this, probably pay for the pipeline of this, but won’t reap the benefits.”
What West wants most is clarity, adding that it’s contradictory for the province to promote oil and gas development while also spending on electrification and decarbonization.
Bahry said building a west-to-east pipeline would be a multi-year process that would require concept development, a regulatory process and then construction. He added that a project of this scale would cost tens of billions of dollars.
“Companies have to deploy that capital in areas where they think they can have likelihood of success. So Canada has to ensure that its investment climate remains attractive for those companies compared to other jurisdictions,” he said.
Bill C-5, passed into law in July, aims to remove interprovincial trade and expedite national interest projects, including energy development, by exempting “designated projects” from some federal regulations.
“The federal government is working on addressing its legislation and its commitment for Canada to become an energy superpower and for Canada to move from delay to delivery,” Bahry said.
“We need predictable and timely regulatory processes, ones that are judicially sound, can’t be challenged afterwards to again provide that confidence. Included, of course, in that is the need to understand the business case.”
Bahry said pipelines are massive employers during construction, adding the Trans Mountain pipeline — which runs through Alberta and British Columbia — employed 15,000 people during construction. The Coastal Gas Link project within B.C. employed 6,000 people.
“We’re talking about employment on a scale that few industries can provide.”
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