Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have unveiled a proposed route for the Northern Shield Energy Corridor, a 3,300-kilometre crude oil pipeline running from Hardisty, Alberta, to Sarnia, Ontario.
Credit: Ontario Govt.
The project, still under study, is being framed by Ontario as a way to strengthen Canada’s energy security while moving more Canadian oil within the country. The proposed pipeline would carry about 500,000 barrels of oil per day, with possible expansion to 800,000 barrels per day.
Officials say it would support domestic refineries, reduce reliance on foreign markets and add backup capacity to existing infrastructure.
Sarnia is central to the plan because of its refining capacity and its links to energy and shipping networks. The city is already tied to major pipelines, including Enbridge Line 5, which moves crude and natural gas liquids from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, and Enbridge Line 9, which carries western Canadian crude from Sarnia toward refineries in Quebec. The Sun-Canadian Pipe Line also connects Sarnia to the Greater Toronto Area through a refined petroleum system.
Enbridge Line 5, the 645-mile, 30-inch pipeline that moves up to 540,000 barrels per day of crude oil and natural gas liquids, supplies about half of the oil used in Ontario and Quebec.
Line 5 has also been at the centre of environmental and legal debate. Its most controversial section is a 4.5-mile stretch through the Straits of Mackinac, where the pipeline splits into two parallel pipes along the lakebed. Michigan has sought to shut down that crossing, while Enbridge has proposed the $500-million Great Lakes Tunnel Project to place the pipeline deep below the lakebed. The project has Michigan Public Services Commission approval, but still faces legal challenges and needs federal permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Ontario is also looking at possible extensions to ports, including a potential connection involving Manitoba and the Manitoba-Crown Indigenous Corporation to explore access to the Port of Churchill.
Ford said the plan is about protecting workers in Ontario, Alberta and across the country. Smith said a west-east pipeline would connect Alberta energy with Canadian consumers and new markets. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe also backed the project, pointing to jobs and economic benefits.
The announcement comes after Alberta submitted its West Coast Oil Pipeline application to the federal Major Projects Office. That separate proposal would move more than one million barrels per day to Canada’s west coast, using a southern corridor from Bruderheim, Alberta, to southwest British Columbia.
The Northern Shield feasibility study is expected by the end of 2026. The feasibility study is being led by Infrastructure Ontario, with an advisory team that includes GHD Limited, EY Canada, Mokwateh, AtkinsRéalis Group Inc., Wood PLC and Turner & Townsend Limited.