Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have unveiled the proposed route for the 'Northern Shield' mega-pipeline, a 3,300-kilometre crude oil pipeline that will run entirely within Canada. The pipeline, stretching from Hardisty, Alberta, to Sarnia, Ontario, is designed to transport up to 500,000 barrels of oil per day, with potential expansion to 800,000 barrels. This project marks the first pipeline to carry western oil to eastern Canada without crossing the United States.
Premiers Announce All-Canadian Route
Speaking at a press conference in Calgary on Monday, Smith emphasized Alberta's goal to double oil production over the next 10 to 15 years and diversify export markets. “Alberta’s aim is to double our oil production in the next 10 to 15 years, and to diversify our export markets,” Smith said. “That means not only reaching global customers, but ensuring Canadians can benefit from our resources here at home.” She framed the project as a recovery from Canada’s “lost decade” of economic stagnation under federal Liberal policies.
The pipeline route leaves Hardisty, about 180 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, and heads southeast through the Prairies to Winnipeg via Regina. It then crosses into Ontario, meandering through northern Ontario from Kenora, skirting north of Thunder Bay east to Kapuskasing and the Cochrane area, dipping south along the Ontario-Quebec border through North Bay, curving west around Georgian Bay north of the GTA, and ending in Sarnia.
Energy Security and Sovereignty
Smith noted that the project stems from an agreement signed last year between Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario to build new pipelines through a west-to-east economic corridor. “This project would pave the way for barrier-free access to domestic refineries and markets in eastern Canada,” she said. “Energy security is essential for all countries, and this new corridor will include the concept of a strategic petroleum reserve that will store vital Alberta oil reserves in the Sarnia refinery area to ensure key refined products like diesel, jet fuel and gasoline are uninterrupted.”
Currently, Canada lacks a direct route to ship western oil eastward, relying on cross-border pipelines or rail transport via tanker cars. The Northern Shield aims to protect Canadian sovereignty by avoiding reliance on U.S. infrastructure, especially given threats of arbitrary tariffs from the White House. Most western oil now flows through hubs in northern Wisconsin and Michigan via Enbridge Line 5 before re-entering Canada.
Future Expansion and Funding
Future plans include extending the pipeline east to the Atlantic, enabling Canadian oil exports to Europe. The project also leaves the door open for Manitoba and the Manitoba-Crown Indigenous Corporation to explore a connection to the Port of Churchill on Hudson Bay. As for funding, Ford said all options are on the table, including private sector investment and federal and provincial funds. “If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s this: we need to take action now to protect Canadian jobs and Canadian families,” Ford said. “We need to move quicker, faster and immediately.”
