A new business sentiment survey from ATB Cormark Capital Markets suggests confidence is waning in a new oil pipeline being chosen for a speedy federal review within the next year.
The investment firm canvassed executives representing 24 energy services firms, 22 exploration and production companies and 17 institutional investors on a range of topics between March 18 and April 1.
Forty-six per cent of respondents said they believed it was either highly probable or probable that a new pipeline project would be added to the list of projects deemed to be in the national interest under federal legislation passed last year.
That’s down from the 52 per cent of respondents who expressed those views in a survey done between Aug. 28 and Sept. 11 of last year — months before Alberta and Ottawa announced a sweeping energy accord laying out conditions for a new West Coast oil pipeline to move ahead.
In the spring 2026 survey, 48 per cent of respondents said they believed the Liberal government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney would actively work toward expanding the energy sector, up from 37 per cent in the fall 2025 poll.
Survey respondents also expressed more optimism about a proposal to revive part of the defunct Keystone XL cross-border pipeline — pursued by South Bow Corp. alongside Bridger Pipeline LLC — than a West Coast pipeline that so far no private-sector company has expressed interest in building.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2026.