Ottawa will invest $200 million to expand Woodfibre LNG capacity near Squamish, while financing terms remain undisclosed
SQUAMISH, B.C. — National News Service – The federal government is investing $200 million in Woodfibre LNG to increase the export project’s planned production capacity and explore a possible second phase.
Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson announced the funding Friday. The project, now under construction southwest of Squamish, was designed to produce 2.1 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year. Ottawa says the investment could raise that target to between 2.5 million and 2.6 million tonnes, an increase of 19 to 24 per cent.
The federal release did not specify whether the investment is a grant, loan, equity stake or another financing instrument, and it did not publish repayment, performance or clawback terms. Those details require confirmation before the public can fully assess the cost and risk.
Project carries Indigenous oversight and 25 conditions
The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, or Squamish Nation, approved Woodfibre LNG through its own environmental assessment process. Its agreement includes 25 legally binding conditions and an ongoing oversight role covering the project and its environmental management.
Squamish Nation council chairperson Sxwíxwtn Wilson Williams said the federal investment shows what can happen when Indigenous decision-making is respected, while stressing that the Nation’s conditions will continue to apply to every part of the project.
The facility is expected to employ about 1,500 people a day during construction and about 100 workers once it is operating, according to the federal government. Operations are planned for late 2027, but construction schedules can change.
Low-emissions claim depends partly on offsets
Woodfibre LNG will use B.C. hydroelectricity for compression and liquefaction. The company says the plant’s emissions intensity will be about one-ninth of the global average for LNG export facilities.
Ottawa and the company describe the project as on track to be the world’s first net-zero LNG export facility from its first day of operation. The federal release says that claim includes the purchase of local, nature-based carbon offsets for emissions that remain during construction and operations.
The government argues the expansion will diversify Canadian energy exports and reduce global emissions by supplying lower-emissions LNG. The release did not provide a life-cycle comparison, name buyers or establish that Canadian gas will replace higher-emitting fuels rather than add to overall energy supply.
The project holds a 40-year Canadian natural-gas export licence issued in 2017. The new federal money is intended to improve reliability, efficiency and output at the existing facility while allowing work on a potential second phase; it is not an approval of that second phase.
