Ottawa opens up 15% Trans Mountain equity stake to Indigenous groups on pipeline path

“The government’s position on economic reconciliation is long-standing and clear: Indigenous communities must be able to participate in and directly benefit from the projects shaping Canada,” Fragos said in a statement.

He added that each Indigenous nation that invests in Trans Mountain is set to receive $2.5 million, intended to compensate for revenue they might have earned had Indigenous ownership been put in place years earlier.

“We’re making up for lost time,” he said in a followup call.

Meanwhile, the letter said Ottawa will provide eligible groups with up to $100,000 for participation costs, while separately covering independent advisers to assist with due diligence.

Details of the offer will be shared during a series of in-person meetings in Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops and Edmonton planned for late October, the letter added.

Ottawa bought the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, its expansion project and related assets for $4.5 billion in 2018 after Kinder Morgan investors raised concerns that regulatory uncertainty made the investment too risky.

It later committed to exploring Indigenous economic participation in the expansion with the 129 Indigenous communities potentially affected by the project.

The expansion began operations in 2024 and increased the Trans Mountain system’s capacity to about 890,000 barrels per day from roughly 300,000 barrels per day.

Finance documents released that year said Ottawa planned to provide Indigenous groups with access to capital to acquire a stake in Trans Mountain.

The documents said the Indigenous stake could be held collectively through a special-purpose vehicle, giving participating groups governance rights and a share of cash generated by the pipeline.

Until now, however, the government had not publicly specified the size of the ownership stake it was prepared to make available.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2026.

Brett Bundale, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Ottawa opens up 15% Trans Mountain equity stake to Indigenous groups on pipeline path

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