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Construction is starting on the Enbridge Sunrise pipeline expansion near Prince George, B.C.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson announced that the $4-billion project is underway, just three months after it was approved by the Canadian government.
“The Sunrise Expansion project has gone from approval to groundbreaking in just three months, showing how in 2026 Canada has gone from delay to delivery,” Hodgson said on Monday.
Enbridge and 38 First Nations own the expansion to the existing West Coast natural gas pipeline and 139 km of new pipeline and 11 looping segments will be built between Chetwynd and the U.S. border.
“It’s a 42-inch pipe; it’s as big as they build, and it’s going to connect the north of B.C. where we have abundant, practically unlimited natural gas, to the south, where we use more of that gas than anywhere else,” Stewart Muir with Resource Works, said.
The pipe itself is being built in Saskatchewan, and the project will create about 2,500 new jobs in B.C., including 1,300 in the region.
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This announcement comes days after Canfor announced it will be closing the Northwood pulp mill in Prince George, affecting 300 jobs.
The province is calling on Ottawa to do more to help the forestry sector; the minister says those pleas are not being ignored.
“We’ve provided almost $2 billion to the industry across Canada in the last year and a bit and we’ll continue to monitor the situation,” Hodgson said.
“The key is we need to find sustainable pathways forward.”
The pipeline expansion project should provide a much-needed boost to the regional economy, and with work underway, completion is expected by the end of 2028.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
