Report shows taxpayers on the hook for Trans Mountain Pipeline construction delays

Parliamentary Budget Office says Canadian federal government overpaid for pipeline; construction delays will further devalue purchase price

Unceded Coast Salish Territories (VANCOUVER, BC) — The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) report released Thursday on Canada’s purchase of the Trans Mountain Pipeline says the federal government may have overpaid for the project by $1 billion, and that any construction delays will further devalue the purchase price. 

The report pegs the value of the existing pipeline and proposed expansion project at $3.6 billion to $4.6 billion. The government paid $4.5 billion.

The PBO report based its estimates on construction timelines set before the Federal Court of Appeal quashed permits for the project and suspending construction. Because the Canadian federal government now owns the pipeline, these construction delays leave taxpayers on the hook for any cost increases, said international environmental organization Stand.earth. 

“Today’s report confirms that the Trans Mountain Pipeline’s cost to taxpayers will continue to rise. Construction delays on the project are ongoing — delays that are the direct result of the Canadian federal government’s failure to adequately consult First Nations on the project,” said Sven Biggs, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Stand.earth. “This report underlines the need for the Trudeau government to come clean about the full cost of this project to Canadian taxpayers.”      

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Media contact: Sven Biggs, sven@stand.earth, 778-882-8354