Statement by Emily Hunter, Senior Program Manager, Ontario Climate, Environmental Defence

Toronto | Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – The proposed 3,300- kilometre pipeline is a divisive distraction from the infrastructure Canadians actually need. Ontario does not have an oil-supply shortage. This is clearly about expanding oil production and exports, not protecting Ontario families.

If private investors are unwilling to finance a pipeline to the West Coast, Premiers Ford and Smith need to explain how an even longer pipeline to Ontario could possibly make economic sense. Canadians should not be forced to bankroll another speculative fossil-fuel megaproject. Real energy security means investing in renewable power, an east-west clean electricity grid, public transit and electric transportation—not pillaging the public purse to expand oil exports.

In Ontario, the proposed Northern Shield route would traverse the lake-rich Canadian Shield and could affect Muskoka, the Niagara Escarpment and Bruce Trail corridor, and productive southern Ontario farmland before reaching Sarnia. Construction on this scale could involve extensive clearing, trenching and blasting in rocky areas, fragmenting habitat and creating long-term spill risks for lakes, rivers, wetlands, drinking-water sources and agricultural soils. This is not simply a line on a map—it could put the lands and waters Ontarians depend on at risk.

Background

  • The proposed Northern Shield Energy Corridor would transport crude oil approximately 3,300 kilometres from Hardisty, Alberta, through Saskatchewan and Manitoba to Sarnia, Ontario.
  • Northern Shield would initially carry 500,000 barrels per day and could expand to 800,000 barrels per day.
  • Ontario’s four refineries have a combined processing capacity of approximately 402,000 barrels per day—about half of the pipeline’s proposed maximum capacity.
  • Western Canadian crude already supplies most of Ontario’s refinery needs.
  • Sarnia’s three major refineries have a combined processing capacity of approximately 270,000 to 285,000 barrels per day.
  • Governments have not explained what type of crude the pipeline would carry or demonstrated that existing Ontario refineries could process the proposed volumes without major new investments or refinery modifications.
  • The Ontario government’s announcement explicitly identifies exports, access to new markets and possible extensions to ports as central objectives of the project.
  • Canada’s crude oil exports remain overwhelmingly dependent on buyers in the United States.
  • The governments involved have not identified an existing pipeline that Northern Shield would replace or allow Canada to retire.
  • No construction cost, private-sector proponent, committed shippers, financing model or independent gasoline-price analysis has been disclosed.
  • The estimated cost of the publicly funded Trans Mountain expansion increased from $5.4 billion to more than $34 billion.
  • A preferred route has been announced across Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Indigenous territories while consultation with affected Indigenous Nations is only beginning.

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Tamara Latinovic, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca