Ontario Premier Doug Ford is joining the call for new pipelines by tying Canada’s growth and export strategy to “pipelines in every direction,” built by Canadian workers using Canadian steel to reach customers beyond North America.
Ford’s intervention lands as Canadian bank CEOs publicly argue Ottawa must accelerate “nation-building” approvals after the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, an event they say should change Canada’s decision calculus on energy infrastructure and rebuild urgency.
At an event, Bank of Nova Scotia CEO Scott Thomson said the expected return of Venezuelan crude over the next five to 10 years makes another pipeline in Canada “really important,” explicitly linking the timeline to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “Build Canada” agenda.
Thomson’s core market argument is refinery fit, not just volume. Venezuelan oil and Western Canadian production are both heavy crude, and US Gulf Coast refineries specialize in running heavy barrels, creating a direct substitution risk once Venezuelan supply normalizes back into global systems.
National Bank of Canada CEO Laurent Ferreira sharpened the framing from competition to confrontation, calling the moment an “economic war” and warning Canada must speed up building if it wants to be part of a “new world order,” with ideology and bureaucracy positioned as the main blockers. 
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith publicly endorsed Ford’s push and translated it into approvals-and-investment language, urging “swift, decisive” greenlights for major economic projects to “get Canadians back to work.”
Smith also pointed to work underway on a new Indigenous co-owned pipeline to Asian markets.
Ottawa’s near-term reference point is the Trans Mountain expansion, which is already operating and routing Alberta barrels to British Columbia’s coast for seaborne shipments, strengthening the case that incremental export optionality can be built inside Canada’s existing system footprint.
Information for this briefing was found via Financial Post and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
