The Canadian government has guaranteed billions of dollars in fresh commercial loans to fund the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline project, despite rising fears about massive cost overruns.
In 2018, the government nationalized the project, which runs from Alberta to the Pacific coast.
The additional loan guarantees, worth up to Can$3 billion ($2.25 billion), were agreed to in late July but did not appear on the Export Development Canada (EDC) website until late Friday.
This was the EDC’s third announcement of fresh commercial loan guarantees for the project this year.
The cost of the pipeline extension, estimated in 2017 at Can$7.4 billion, had risen to Can$30.9 billion by March.
With expenses rapidly growing, the federal government approved a new loan guarantee of Can$10 billion last year.
At the time, Parliament’s budget officer determined that the project had become a “net loss” for Canada, with building expenses expected to exceed its value.
