Ottawa offers $2.5-million to Indigenous communities that buy into Trans Mountain pipeline

The government first suggested Indigenous communities would have an equity stake in the pipeline when Ottawa purchased it in 2018, and the finance minister said the payment is making up for lost time. 

“In fact, it’s to compensate First Nations,” he said. “The $2.5-million component is really a calculation of what it would mean on average if we had completed the negotiation earlier.” 

The government sent letters to 129 Indigenous communities on the route of the pipeline with the offer to take a 15 per cent equity stake in it.

Ottawa bought the pipeline in 2018 for $34 billion and expanded it to carry 890,000 barrels per day to an oil tanker terminal in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Since the expansion went into operation in May 2024, the government has received a total of $2.6 billion in debt repayments and dividends as owner. 

A government source familiar with the offer, who spoke on background because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the letter offered the $2.5 million to Indigenous communities that agree to take part of the 15 per cent equity stake in the pipeline. It has not yet been decided how much communities will have to pay for the equity stake.

Champagne said the government is standing true to its word and giving Indigenous communities an opportunity to invest in a major project. 

“I would say it’s a very meaningful offer. You’re talking about an existing asset which has been de-risked very much in line with market practice,” he said. 

The Star reached out to several B.C. Indigenous leaders on Tuesday, but none of them wanted to speak about the government’s proposal. 

Assembly of First Nations Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said she would defer to B.C. leaders on whether the proposal works for their communities.

“I look forward to hearing more from them and their thoughts on that proposal that they have before their communities, but I’m sure they’re going to make the right decision,” she said.

Several major energy projects have now moved ahead with major equity stakes taken by First Nations. In June, seven First Nations took a $700-million equity stake in the Darlington nuclear project in Ontario, backed by federal and provincial loans. The Coastal Gas Link Pipeline and the LNG Canada export terminal have also taken on equity partnerships with First Nations that are impacted by those projects. 

When the Trudeau government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline, it suggested it would eventually sell it. On Tuesday, Champagne suggested that may no longer be the case.

“We need to think about the framework we have with respect to public assets,” he said. 

The government is currently evaluating a proposed West Coast pipeline for possible designation as a project in the national interest. Its current ownership structure is a split between the Alberta and federal governments, with a 10 per cent stake for the Pembina Pipeline corporation, but the government has said it would seek an Indigenous equity stake for that project as well. The proposed pipeline would largely follow the existing TMX right of way, but end south of Vancouver instead near the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project.