NATIONAL PULSE – Most, including British Columbians, support pipeline
(Image: Mel Rothenburger file photo)
60% could support an Alberta-BC pipeline nationally, but sign-off in Canada’s westernmost province no sure thing
53 per cent of British Columbians could support a pipeline, but tanker anxiety remains significant hurdle
By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE
November 27, 2025 – Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith were all smiles as they put their signatures to an energy co-operation agreement that specifies the conditions that must be met for a new bitumen pipeline to the Pacific to be approved under the federal major projects law.
But new public opinion polling data collected November 26 and 27 from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute shows the path from paper to pipeline completion far more complex.
Nationally, there is majority support (60%) for a hypothetical pipeline project from Alberta to the northern coast of British Columbia. One-quarter oppose the idea (25%), while 15 per cent are unsure or have no opinion.
Support outweighs opposition in B.C. (53% to 37%), representing a significant increase in amenability compared to the prior decade. These data are also similar to results from seven weeks ago. Current support is unsurprisingly highest in Alberta and Saskatchewan at an identical 74 per cent.
The project itself needs a proponent, something these conditions and clarifications from the federal government are designed to encourage. As Prime Minister Carney stated on Thursday morning in so many words, no private sector proponent, no pipeline.
While Ottawa and Alberta may be aligned, the support and sign off of First Nations, to say nothing of the broader British Columbian population, will require making the case for the pipeline to a population voicing anxiety around lifting a more than 50-year-old moratorium on tanker traffic along BC’s north-west coast.
The agreement includes a carveout for federal environmental laws including an “adjustment” to the tanker ban. Nearly half (47%) either say a carveout is the right policy (26%) or that the tanker ban needs to go entirely (21%). Two-in-five British Columbians (38%) say they would leave the tanker ban in place. Among this group, opposition to the pipeline is near unanimous (88%). A key segment of 15 per cent are unsure and hold the sway of the majority either way.
Indigenous buy-in and co-ownership were a big focus of the memorandum announcement from Smith and Carney and is likely to have a positive impact on how this issue is viewed by some. Three-in-five nationally and a slight majority in B.C. say that these need to be a part of any potential pipeline project.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
This makes no sense now that Eby has said that he’d welcome an expansion of Trans Mt and he’s willing to dredge Vancouver Harbour to allow larger tankers into the Port of Vancouver. This expansion would be cheaper, faster and has no opposition, so why is there a push for a northern port?
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Now that the lines are being drawn in the roofing tar wars it might be time to ask Alberta if it is prudent to build another pipeline when the present one is being subsidized by the taxpayers with no one rushing in to buy it. No buyer, no new line . Simple.
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