By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--A group of indigenous communities in Western Canada will grab a stake in a key Enbridge natural gas pipeline, securing income from an asset that has run through their traditional lands for decades.

The Canadian energy company said Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance Limited Partnership, which currently represents 36 first nations groups in British Columbia, will invest 715 million Canadian dollars, equivalent to about $511 million, for a 12.5% interest in the Westcoast gas pipeline system.

The deal comes as investors across Canada are sizing up energy-infrastructure opportunities as the country seeks to bolster its economy against the fallout from the Trump administration's trade policies and embrace of import tariffs. The federal government has pledged to make it easier for projects to push ahead as the provinces look to boost trade amongst themselves and also to seek new export markets for a broad range of goods including oil and gas.

David Jimmie, president and chair of Stonlasec8 and chief of Squiala First Nation, said Enbridge's Westcoast pipeline system is a legacy asset that has operated within traditional territories for more than 65 years.

"Now, our nations will receive sustained economic benefits from this asset, funding critical investments in housing, infrastructure, environmental stewardship, and cultural preservation," Jimmie said. "People often ask what economic reconciliation for indigenous peoples looks like. This is it."

The Westcoast system runs more than 1,800 miles from Fort Nelson in the northeast of British Columbia and from Gordondale near the British Columbia-Alberta border south to the Canada-U.S. border. It is capable of transporting up to 3.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day.

Cynthia Hansen, Enbridge's president of gas transmission and midstream operations, said the sale of a stake provides an opportunity to build on the company's existing relationships with indigenous communities and help advance reconciliation.

The transaction is expected to close by the end June, subject to the completion of required financing. The first nations partnership has reached an agreement with Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corp., a subsidiary of the federal Canada Development Investment Corp., to secure a C$400 million loan guarantee for the deal.

Other pipeline operators in the country have made similar moves. Last year, TC Energy struck what it at the time said was Canada's largest indigenous equity ownership agreement for the C$1 billion sale of a minority stake in some of its assets in Western Canada to a group of local communities. That deal included a 5.3% interest in its NGTL System and Foothills pipeline assets, providing a path for 72 indigenous communities closest to the operations to own a portion of a more than 15,000-mile network of natural-gas infrastructure.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

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May 15, 2025 07:56 ET (11:56 GMT)

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