Majority of Canadians don’t want Ottawa to sell Trans Mountain pipeline, despite $34B cost: poll

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announce the submission of the West Coast Pipeline Project, which would run along the existing Trans Mountain corridor, in Calgary on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Photo by Gavin Young/Postmedia

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Most Canadians say the federal government should hold on to ownership of the Trans Mountain pipeline corridor, according to a new poll.

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Data from the Angus Reid Institute found that 54 per cent of Canadians surveyed believe Ottawa should remain as owner of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX), which runs from Edmonton to the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C. This is compared to 23 per cent who would sell to the private sector to recoup taxpayer funds.

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Support for government ownership was highest in Atlantic Canada, at 62 per cent, and lowest in Quebec, at 44 per cent. When split by federal vote, all groups expressed majority support for Ottawa keeping TMX, with past Liberal voters most enthusiastic at 65 per cent, while 50 per cent of past Conservative voters also agreed, as well as 52 per cent of NDP voters.

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The research foundation adds that long-term ownership by Ottawa has been made more palatable by Canadians’ broader attitudes toward public infrastructure ownership, with more than half (56 per cent) of survey respondents saying it is appropriate for governments to invest in or own pipelines. In comparison, 21 per cent said they should be owned and operated exclusively by the private sector.

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B.C. Premier David Eby, left, and Prime Minister Mark Carney at a news conference in Vancouver regarding a pipeline deal, on July 2, 2026. Photo by Government of B.C.

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There is a notable shift in attitude on this point among past Conservative voters, with Angus Reid Institute polling from 2019 finding that 85 per cent of Conservative supporters said the economy should be left more to the free market. In contrast, half of CPC voters today say there’s a role for government ownership in pipeline infrastructure, with sovereignty amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term cited as a key factor.

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This, the Angus Reid Institute says, partly explains an upward shift in the proportion of Canadians who say the federal government made the right decision when it purchased Trans Mountain for more than $4.5 billion in 2018. This figure now sits at 42 per cent, up from 34 per cent in February 2025 and 37 per cent in 2018.

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At a Canadian Club Toronto luncheon in May, CDEV president and CEO Elizabeth Wademan said the pipeline “has incredible value,” adding, “There’s absolutely a case to be a long-term holder … I personally would love to see it owned by Canadians.”

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An oil tanker loads at the Westridge Marine Terminal, the ocean terminus of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in Burnaby. Photo by Trans Mountain Corporation /Trans Mountain Corporation

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Trans Mountain Corp., which owns and operates the pipeline, is a subsidiary of CDEV, which manages investments on behalf of the Canadian government and answers to the finance minister.