Growing global demand for secure, reliable energy is creating a major opportunity for Canada, according to experts who say Asia’s growing needs underscore the case for more export capacity on the West Coast.

“I wish there were a few more Canadas in the world, so that we can have a much more reliable and sustainable global energy system,” the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s executive director Fatih Birol said during a recent trip to Canada.

Even before recent disruptions tied to conflict in the Middle East, the need for more Canadian energy in global markets was clear.

Growing shipments to Asia

The evidence can be seen in growing shipments from two newly completed pieces of export infrastructure: the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion and the LNG Canada natural gas export terminal.

In April, LNG Canada reached a key ramp-up milestone with its first exports of one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a single month. Since start-up in June 2025, every shipment from the facility in Kitimat, B.C., has gone to Asia, led by South Korea, according to the Canada Energy Regulator.

Meanwhile, Trans Mountain reports that since May 2024, more than half of ocean exports from its expansion project have gone to Asia, primarily China and South Korea.

Demand growth for decades

But it’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to energy analysts and researchers who argue that rising global consumption — particularly in Asia — means Canada needs another oil pipeline to the Pacific coast, alongside new LNG export terminals under construction.

“The Pacific Basin is still underserved. Asia is the world’s biggest energy market, and Indian and Southeast Asian growth is just taking off,” said Heather Exner-Pirot, senior fellow and director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.  

That presents a major opportunity for both Canada’s natural gas and oil resources. 

Asian markets will continue to drive growth in oil and gas demand for decades, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects.

Asia’s need for both oil and natural gas

By 2050, natural gas demand in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to be nearly 60 per cent higher than it is today, according to the IEA’s latest outlook.

Meanwhile, regional oil demand is projected to grow by close to 20 per cent.

Globally, demand for extra-heavy oil and bitumen like what Canada produces is expected to rise by nearly 40 per cent over the next 25 years.

Many Asian refineries are configured to process heavier crude grades like those produced in Canada.

China, the world’s largest oil importer, alone represents enormous potential for export growth.

Mutually beneficial energy supply

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF) argues that Canada is well positioned as China looks to diversify its suppliers and reduce reliance on Russia and the Middle East to feed its refineries and petrochemical sector.

In addition to being more politically stable than many global suppliers, Canada can ship oil and gas to Asia in about half the time it takes from the U.S. Gulf Coast through the Panama Canal.

“The result is mutually beneficial: Canada secures better revenues and greater market diversification while China gains a stable, low-cost oil supply,” wrote APF’s Xiaoting (Maya) Liu and Rachael Gurney.

A new oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast should be viewed as insurance, providing options in an uncertain world for both Canada and crude oil buyers, wrote Jackie Forrest, executive director of the ARC Energy Research Institute, in The Globe and Mail. 

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

A new agreement between Alberta and Ottawa aims to address long-standing concerns about how major projects including oil sands, pipelines and carbon capture are reviewed.

It supports recently introduced provincial legislation to ensure approvals for qualified projects are completed within 120 days.

By reducing duplication without compromising environmental protection, the intent is to make Alberta projects more attractive to investors, says Brad Gilmour, partner in the Regulatory, Indigenous and Environmental Group of Osler’s Calgary office.

Here’s what Gilmour had to say about what the agreement means.

CEC: What is environmental assessment, and how does it apply to major projects?

BG: Environmental assessment is a process right at the beginning stages to gather information about a project and incorporate that into [regulatory] decision-making, but it’s not the end of the process in terms of protection of the environment. It is really the beginning. 

There has historically been a problem where we’ve got comprehensive environmental assessment legislation at the provincial level and at the federal level, and both statutes apply. You’re inevitably reviewing the same types of issues, and that creates significant inefficiencies and adds to delays, uncertainty and complexity of the process. 

The key is who really regulates these activities, generally, on a day-to-day basis. In so many cases, it’s the province, so that’s where the expertise is. We have expert regulatory authorities that oversee the life cycle of these activities, not merely at the environmental assessment stage.

The more the province and the federal government can work together to avoid duplication, create a higher degree of certainty and reduce timelines, the more that’s going to incentivize investors to look at doing projects in Alberta.

CEC: What kinds of projects does this agreement impact?

BG: It would include oil sands projects, electrical generation projects, things like carbon capture and storage projects and mining projects. 

It’s pretty much everything we do in the natural resources and energy sectors in Alberta, with the exception of things like pipelines that cross provincial boundaries or international boundaries, which are areas of federal jurisdiction. In those cases, the federal government will also cooperate with the province. 

CEC: What does this agreement change?

BG: Number one, it signals greater cooperation between the province and the federal government in terms of environmental assessment, which is ultimately a good thing. 

The regulation of environmental assessment between the two jurisdictions has been contentious over the last several years, including ongoing litigation with respect to the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act. 

Importantly, the agreement creates a single environmental assessment process. It follows that one-project, one-assessment model that both levels of government have been talking about. 

It makes Alberta the lead on environmental assessments for projects that are primarily regulated by the province. It places the responsibility primarily in the appropriate jurisdiction, and with the regulators that have the greatest degree of expertise over those activities. 

There are other provinces that have similar agreements with the federal government: Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, New Brunswick and British Columbia.

CEC: Does the agreement make environmental protection requirements more lenient?

BG: It doesn’t, in my view, do anything to take away from environmental protection. What it does is it focuses the environmental assessment process, avoids duplication, and lets the jurisdiction with the primary expertise lead the process.

For most of what we do in the energy and natural resources sector, the environmental effects are not a mystery, and often our environmental assessment processes treat them as if they are a mystery. But they’re well understood, as well as the means to mitigate them throughout the entire life cycle of the activity. 

CEC: Does the agreement change consultation with Indigenous communities?

BG: Both levels of government are very clear in the agreement that they will continue to be committed to meaningful participation of Indigenous groups in the assessment process and to respect their rights that are protected under Section 35 of the constitution. 

What it signals is a bit of a change that is consistent with the idea that the primary regulatory authority takes the lead. It recognizes that where a project is primarily regulated by the province, that the province is best placed to undertake the consultation with Indigenous peoples in relation to that activity. 

CEC: Does the agreement impact Alberta’s constitutional challenge of the federal Impact Assessment Act?

BG: It does not. In fact, the agreement specifically acknowledges that Alberta is challenging the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act and that the matter is before the courts. 

The province’s concern – that the federal government was overreaching in terms of its jurisdiction over environmental matters through the Impact Assessment Act – was validated in the October 2023 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, and now the Act has been amended. 

That is now again being challenged by the province, being heard by the Alberta Court of Appeal. A decision in that regard is pending.

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

The Port of Vancouver has emerged as a lifeline for Asian oil refiners amid disruption of the vital shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, according to ATB Cormark Capital Markets.

Tankers calling at the port’s Westridge Marine Terminal now have access to an expanded, reliable supply of oil from Alberta, thanks to the Trans Mountain pipeline. 

Not only do these barrels have clear sailing to Asian ports, analysts say they’re just the type of oil Asian refiners are increasingly looking for. 

About half the oil flowing through the pipeline is considered “heavy,” one of the grades most affected by the Strait of Hormuz closure, ATB said.

“Canadian heavy oil could become a premium global asset,” managing director of institutional equity research Patrick O’Rourke wrote on Mar. 2.

SAGD oil sands project in northern Alberta. Photo courtesy Cenovus Energy

Stability in a volatile market

It’s a sentiment that was building before the new conflict in the Middle East.

“Beyond price, Canada offers something increasingly valuable — a large, stable and reliable supply of heavy crude,” Studio.Energy director of research Carmen Velasquez wrote in November. 

“At a time when geopolitical risk is reshaping energy trade flows…this reliability is becoming a strategic differentiator, not just a commercial one.” 

Why heavy oil matters

Exported mainly from Alberta’s oil sands, heavy oil is one of Canada’s biggest energy assets. 

Thick and gooey, it requires diluent for transportation and complex processing to produce gasoline, jet fuel and petrochemicals used in everyday items.

The large-scale petrochemical refineries in Asia that are driving oil demand growth can pair well with Alberta’s heavy oil, Velasquez said.

“In recent years, [China] has invested heavily in new mega-refineries and upgraded existing ones to handle heavier and more complex crude slates,” she said.

Zhejiang Petrochemical Complex in in Zhejiang, China. Photo courtesy Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co.

Asia’s growing appetite

China is Asia’s “heavy oil hub,” RBC director of energy policy Shaz Merwat wrote in a November research note. 

“China is sharply pivoting into petrochemicals, aiming to take Japanese and Korean market share,” Merwat said. 

“India, too, is expected to see oil imports grow 1.5 million barrels per day by 2035 as both countries seek steady supplies of heavy and sour crude,” he said. 

“Today, that supply originates from the Middle East, Russia and Venezuela, creating an opening for a stable, Western entrant.”

Canadian barrels gaining a foothold

Canadian heavy oil has started building a footprint in Asia thanks to the Trans Mountain expansion and “re-exports” — Western Canadian barrels shipped from terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Both China and India have purchased Canadian oil from Trans Mountain since the expanded pipeline went into service in May 2024, the company reports.

Courtesy Trans Mountain Corporation

While China leads overseas sales from Trans Mountain, India is a regular buyer of U.S. Gulf Coast re-exports, according to RBN Energy.

Courtesy RBN Energy

Demand keeps climbing

“Besides ongoing efforts to expand the Chinese customer base, India and Southeast Asia are the most promising growth markets for Canadian crude,” Studio.Energy’s Velasquez said. 

“And this is no small opportunity.”

The International Energy Agency projects oil demand in the Asia-Pacific region will rise to 41 million barrels per day by 2050, up from 35 million barrels per day in 2024.

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

On frigid winter nights in northern Alberta, the glow from the outdoor hockey rink warms Tyler Letendre’s heart. 

This year more than ever, the lights are bright, the ice is smooth, and the boards are solid — built to last, not patched together year after year like they used to be.

For Letendre, the operations manager and economic development officer for Peerless Trout First Nation (PTFN), the rink is more than a place for friends and families to get together to skate. It’s proof that something fundamental has changed in his community.

“Two years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible,” Letendre says. “Now, it’s something our kids can rely on.”

The transformation didn’t come from a one-time grant or a short-term program. 

It came from equity ownership in energy infrastructure — a model that is quietly reshaping how Indigenous communities build wealth, plan for the future, and assert economic self-determination.

Why ownership matters in remote communities

Photo courtesy Peerless Trout First Nation

Peerless Trout First Nation is a rural, semi-isolated community in northern Alberta. Its two main settlements sit 29 kilometres apart, meaning the Nation must often build and maintain two of everything, from roads to recreation facilities.

“In communities like ours, location matters,” Letendre explains. 

“If you’re near a major city, like Tsuu T’ina or Enoch, business development is easier. If you’re not, it’s very hard to generate own-source revenue.”

For PTFN, oil and gas development in the region created opportunity.

In 2023, the Nation and 11 other communities acquired an 85 per cent stake in $172 million in oil and gas pipeline assets operated by Tamarack Valley Energy in the Clearwater play. The deal was supported by the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.

Since closing, the 12 First Nations and Métis communities have secured stable revenue streams that have proven more valuable than traditional impact benefit agreements (IBAs), long central to Indigenous engagement in the energy sector.

Photo courtesy Tamarack Valley Energy

“IBAs fluctuate with oil and gas prices,” Letendre says. “You can’t borrow against them. Banks won’t look at you.”

Equity ownership, by contrast, creates a tangible asset.

“With equity, you have ownership and predictable returns,” he says. “Banks recognize that.”

A ‘significant shift’ in energy development

Indigenous ownership of oil and gas projects has surged in the past five years, according to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER).

The CER reports that since 2021, Indigenous communities have acquired ownership interests in more than 5,000 kilometres of pipelines across the country. 

This is in addition to ownership stakes in four LNG terminals in B.C. and Manitoba at various stages of development. 

Many of the agreements are supported by government loan guarantee programs like the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation. 

“Overall, the growing role of Indigenous ownership in pipelines and LNG projects in Canada marks a significant shift in how major energy projects in the country are developed, financed, and managed,” the CER said.

Turning revenue into community infrastructure

Over the past two years, PTFN and the other communities have used Clearwater equity revenues to support education initiatives, emergency preparedness, wildfire evacuations and other community priorities without the restrictions that often come with government funding.

“There are no strings attached,” Letendre says. “We decide what our community needs most.”

One of the most visible examples is the Nation’s upgraded outdoor hockey rinks — $1.4-million structures with shells, lighting, boards and higher construction standards.

“These aren’t temporary fixes,” he says. “They’re built to last.”

Letendre says the energy partnership has strengthened and diversified PTFN’s economic base. 

While the community’s locally owned construction company creates much-needed jobs and builds capacity, expansion also brings added risk and expense.

“The equity deal is straight revenue. It did in one year what our construction revenue did in three – more than $500,000 a year – and if the company does well in production, it could be more,” he says.

A pattern repeating across Canada

Peerless Trout’s experience is not unique.

At Willow Lake Métis Nation, ownership of energy infrastructure has been transformative in similar ways. 

After investing in Suncor Energy’s Northern Courier Pipeline, the Nation was able to purchase 205 acres of land near Fort McMurray — its first modern homeland — now known as Sohkastwâwin, a Cree word meaning “resilience.”

Astisiy Limited Partnership, representing eight Indigenous communities, acquired Suncor’s 15 per cent interest in the Northern Courier Pipeline. Photo courtesy Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation

Revenue from that deal has since been used to support housing, cultural programming and the purchase of a campground and RV park that Willow Lake plans to redevelop into an Indigenous tourism destination.

“For us, ownership means stability, being able to plan for the long term and invest in what matters most to each community,” says Justin Bourque, former CEO of the Nation who now leads a consulting firm specializing in negotiation and management of meaningful Indigenous-led industry partnerships. 

“Equity ownership doesn’t replace consultation requirements for energy companies. When you add the two together, it’s a deeper relationship that’s more well-rounded and more engaged.”

That same principle underpins Enbridge’s Project Rocket, a landmark partnership that saw 23 First Nations and Métis communities acquire an ownership stake in seven major pipeline assets in northern Alberta in 2022. 

One of the largest Indigenous equity transactions in North America, the deal has provided about $25 million over the last three years – steady, long-term revenue that communities are using for housing, education, elder supports and economic diversification.

Enbridge’s latest Indigenous partnership saw 38 First Nations acquire 12.5 per cent equity ownership of the company’s Westcoast natural gas pipeline system in British Columbia for approximately $736 million.

Squiala First Nation Chief David Jimmie said the deal will generate sustained economic benefits for the community from an asset that has operated within its traditional territories for more than 65 years. 

“People often ask what economic reconciliation for Indigenous Peoples looks like. This is it,” he said when the partnership was announced last May.

From ‘too good to be true’ to a new normal

Photo courtesy Peerless Trout First Nation/Facebook

For Peerless Trout First Nation, equity ownership has also unlocked the ability to think beyond immediate needs.

The Nation is now in the design phase of a fishing lodge and resort, a project aimed at diversifying the local economy and creating sustainable employment based on the fantastic fishing in the area’s lakes and rivers.

With equity in energy assets under its belt, the community is now able to leverage other financing for business ventures that were previously out of reach.

“At the beginning, it felt too good to be true, but it’s not,” Letendre says.

“Now we’re not just sitting back waiting for opportunities to arrive. We have the experience to be able to go out and approach industry on our own and pursue more partnerships,” he says.

“If we can do 10 more deals like this, it will benefit our people hundreds of times over for generations.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.