Canada and BC Fast-Track Four LNG Projects Adding 31.4 Million Tonnes of Coastal Export Capacity

Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Columbia Premier David Eby signed the Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement in Vancouver on Thursday. The deal commits both governments to accelerate four coastal liquefied natural gas projects. It also funds the transmission lines and ports needed to move their output to Asia and Europe.

Carney said the agreement creates the conditions to make the two economies "more resilient, sustainable, and independent." Eby described the deal as "building B.C.'s future" and framed it as an investment for "generations to come." Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said the two governments are "uniting on what we can control" during a period of global trade uncertainty.

LNG Canada Phase 2, Ksi Lisims, Cedar and Woodfibre Lead the Fast-Track List

The four named projects sit at different stages of development. LNG Canada in Kitimat shipped its first cargo in 2025 from two trains rated at 14 million tonnes per year. Phase 2 would add two more trains and double the plant to 28 million tonnes. Shell operates that joint venture with a 40 percent stake, alongside Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi and Kogas.

Ksi Lisims LNG on Pearse Island targets 12 million tonnes per year. The Nisga'a Nation leads that project with developers Rockies LNG and Western LNG, supplied by the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline. Cedar LNG in Kitimat is owned 50.1 percent by the Haisla Nation and 49.9 percent by Pembina Pipeline, with a 3.3 million tonne nameplate and a late-2028 start. Woodfibre LNG near Squamish, owned 70 percent by Pacific Energy and 30 percent by Enbridge, is roughly 60 percent built and rated at 2.1 million tonnes.

The Four Projects Add 31.4 Million Tonnes to Canada's Export Reach

The four projects carry a combined 31.4 million tonnes of new annual capacity. That figure breaks down to 14 million tonnes from LNG Canada Phase 2, 12 million from Ksi Lisims, 3.3 million from Cedar and 2.1 million from Woodfibre. Added to LNG Canada's operating 14 million tonnes, British Columbia's coast would reach 45.4 million tonnes. Hodgson has said publicly that Canada could grow toward 100 million tonnes and rank among the world's largest LNG suppliers. The accelerated slate covers close to a third of that ambition on its own.

An $11.47 Henry Hub to TTF Spread Underpins the Economics

The push lands while the gap between North American and overseas gas prices stays wide. Henry Hub traded at $3.23 per MMBtu on the CME front-month contract in late-morning trading Thursday, per CME Group quotes. Oil Authority reported last week that the gross spread between Henry Hub and Europe's TTF benchmark reached $11.47 per MMBtu. That arbitrage is the commercial case for shipping Montney and Duvernay gas from the Pacific coast. It also explains why Ksi Lisims signed an offtake deal with Germany's state utility SEFE.

North Coast Transmission Line and the Alberta Pipeline Question

The agreement pairs the LNG slate with $3.9 billion for the North Coast Transmission Line. That line would carry power to the LNG plants and mines, and the governments estimate it could unlock $10 billion in economic activity. The deal also references a trans-provincial pipeline under a separate bilateral agreement with Alberta. Ottawa kept the federal North Coast tanker ban in place, which restricts oil tankers but not LNG carriers.

Beyond energy, the pact funds a $3 billion George Massey Tunnel replacement and a $3 billion expansion at the Roberts Bank terminal that Ottawa says adds $100 billion in trade capacity. Both governments committed to recruit and certify up to 100,000 Red Seal trades workers to staff the build-out. The federal government also tied $630 million in child care funding to the deal.

For British Columbia, the four projects anchor the province's coastal industrial pipeline for the rest of the decade. For Ottawa, the pact is a bet that Pacific export capacity can diversify trade away from the United States. The pace now depends on final investment decisions still pending at LNG Canada Phase 2 and Ksi Lisims.