ICBA to Ottawa: List the West Coast Pipeline — and Tender Every Contract Fairly

ICBA filed its submission today with Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of One Canadian Economy, urging Ottawa to list the West Coast Oil Pipeline in Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act by October 1 — so construction can start by September 2027.

The work is enormous, and B.C. contractors need it now. WCOP would direct $29 to $38 billion in construction spending into British Columbia between 2026 and 2038 and create up to 140,000 jobs nationally, as many as 70,000 of them here. ICBA's 2026 Construction Wage and Benefit Survey found one in five member companies expect less work this year, and those bracing for a decline forecast an average 25 per cent drop.

It's a trade story, too. Roughly 90 per cent of our crude exports by value still go to a single customer. TD Economics says WCOP would "more than double the volume of oil able to reach tidewater for overseas shipment."

One condition: every contract must be tendered open, competitive and labour-neutral. More than 85 per cent of B.C.'s construction workforce, and 88 per cent of Alberta's, don't belong to a building trades union. Shutting them out of a national-interest project would be indefensible.

Read ICBA's full submission HERE.