Alberta's Smith lauds new major Canada-U.S. oil pipeline permit, citing advocacy

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says a key approval for a cross-border oil pipeline project to deliver more of the province’s crude to the United States is coming after years of advocacy from her government.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a presidential permit authorizing the Bridger Pipeline expansion, considered a partial revival of the Keystone XL pipeline project.

The Keystone XL pipeline proposal was repeatedly killed and resurrected, and at one point cost Alberta taxpayers $1.3 billion.

Smith says the new joint venture between Calgary-based South Bow and U.S.-based Bridger, utilizing existing assets, would deliver more than half a million barrels per day of Alberta oil to facilities and refineries throughout the U.S.

The Bridger Pipeline expansion would carry oil from the border down through eastern Montana and Wyoming, where it would link with another pipeline.

The project requires additional state and federal environmental approvals before construction, which company officials expect to start next year.

Smith, in a social media post Thursday, also pointed to the signing of a Canada-Alberta energy agreement last year and Ottawa’s decision to abandon its oil and gas production cap.

“This means Alberta producers will be able to produce more of the oil that the world needs. It’s incredible to see that work already paying off with announcements like this,” said Smith.

“The U.S. is our most important trading partner and we will continue to deliver energy to help secure North American energy dominance.”

Environmentalists hope to stop the project over worries the pipeline could break and spill.

At peak volume, the 1,050-kilometre pipeline would move two-thirds as much oil as Keystone XL, which was partially built before former U.S. president Joe Biden canceled its permit the day he took office in 2021. Biden cited climate-change concerns for the move.

“Slightly different from the last administration. They wouldn’t sign a pipeline deal. And we have pipelines going up,” Trump said after signing the Bridger Pipeline expansion cross-border approval.

In 2020, during his first term as president, Trump approved the Keystone XL project over concerns from Native American tribes about possible spills and from environmental groups about the contribution of fossil fuels to climate change.

Biden’s permit cancellation the following year frustrated Canadian officials, including the prime minister at the time, Justin Trudeau.

Sometimes called “Keystone Light,” the Bridger Pipeline expansion wouldn’t cross any Native American reservations.

More than 70 per cent would be built within existing pipeline corridors and 80 per cent on private land, Bridger Pipeline LLC said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2026.

-- With files from The Association Press

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press