How decisions get made

In making its decision to approve the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX), the Government of Canada took into consideration a wide variety of information, including:

• the National Energy Board’s (NEB, now the Canada Energy Regulator or CER) Reconsideration Report
• the comprehensive Crown Consultation and Accommodation Report (CCAR) (PDF, 5.2 MB)
• Justice Iacobucci’s independent advice
• evidence-based science

TMX decision timeline

November 2016

TMX was approved by the Government of Canada based on several key considerations:

1. The project was in the public interest. The new pipeline would triple the existing pipeline’s capacity and increase Canada’s ability to access international markets and receive better prices for its energy resources. This would generate new revenues for all levels of government and create thousands of good, middle-class jobs, most of them in the trades.
2. The project met strict environmental standards and fit within Canada and Alberta’s climate plans. It was subject to binding conditions from the NEB that addressed the project’s potential impacts on Indigenous groups, the protection of local wildlife, and the need to offset greenhouse gas emissions during construction.
3. Pipelines represent the safest way to get Canada’s energy resources to market and the Government of Canada was confident that it had best-in-class marine safety standards in place. The Government of Canada had previously announced a five-year, $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan — the largest investment ever to protect Canada’s coasts and waterways.

The Government of Canada had also strengthened the way the country reviewed major resource projects by introducing 5 new guiding principles to cover project proposals already in the queue.

As a result of this decision, the Government of Canada established an Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee to help oversee the safety of TMX through its entire life cycle.

Learn more about:

• Previous Indigenous consultations
• Previous public engagement
• Taking action on pipeline and marine safety
• January 27, 2016, interim approach for reviewing major resource projects
• November 29, 2016, Order in Council

April 2018

Kinder Morgan, the original owner of the pipeline, announced that it was suspending all non-essential work on the project due to political uncertainty and opposition from the provincial government in British Columbia.

The Government of Canada recognized that this made the project too risky for a private-sector company to manage. As a result, in May 2018 it announced that it had negotiated a fair-market price to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline and its related assets.

May 2018

The Government of Canada purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline and expansion project.

August 2018

On August 30, 2018, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the Government of Canada’s approval of the project on 2 grounds:

1. The NEB (now the CER) had erred in its decision to exclude consideration of the environmental impacts of project-related marine shipping
2. Canada had failed to properly execute its legal duty to consult with Indigenous peoples. This included:
   • officials simply took notes of Indigenous groups’ concerns but did not engage in meaningful two-way dialogue
   • officials appeared unwilling to depart from the NEB’s findings and conditions and consider other accommodations in response to Indigenous groups’ concerns
   • Canada had the view that it was unable to amend or impose additional conditions on Trans Mountain Corporation (TMC) to address the Indigenous groups’ concerns about impacts on their rights

The government accepted the Federal Court of Appeal’s findings and followed its guidance.

September 2018

On September 21, 2018, the Government of Canada sent TMX back to the NEB for reconsideration in order to consider the environmental effects of project-related marine shipping.

October 2018

The government relaunched its consultations with Indigenous groups potentially impacted by the project and appointed a former Supreme Court judge as a Federal Representative to oversee the consultation process.

February 2019

On February 22, 2019, the NEB published its Reconsideration Report, recommending that TMX should be approved subject to 156 binding conditions.

The NEB also made 16 recommendations related to marine shipping.

Learn more about:

• The NEB (now CER)’s Reconsideration Report for Trans Mountain Expansion Project
• The CER’s 156 legally binding conditions
• The CER’s 16 Recommendations related to marine shipping

April 2019

On April 18, 2019, the Governor in Council extended the legislated timeline to make a decision on TMX by two months (to June 18, 2019) to allow for additional time for Crown consultations. This was done to respond to what was heard from Indigenous groups and with advice from the Federal Representative.

Learn more about:

• How the consultations unfolded
• Accommodation measures
• Statement from the Minister of Natural Resources

June 2019

On June 18, 2019, the Government of Canada approved TMX and the Governor in Council directed the NEB to issue a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the Project.

Learn more about:

• June 18, 2019, Order in Council

Understanding the process