Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson says the Trans Mountain oil pipeline is mostly complete and will be done in the months ahead.

In September, the Canada Energy Regulator approved an application from Trans Mountain Corp. to modify the pipeline’s route. In an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Friday, Wilkinson gave an update on the project. 

“The expectation is that the project is going to be completed in the coming months,” he said. “I don't have the specific date in front of me in terms of when the corporation expects to complete it, but the project is over 90 per cent complete.” 

“And certainly we expect that it will come on stream over the course of the 2024 period.”

Wilkinson said the project has taken “some time” for various reasons, which include the importance of engaging Indigenous communities.

The Trans Mountain Expansion Project, which twins the existing pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., will increase Canada’s crude capacity by 300,000 barrels per day.

The federal government bought the pipeline from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion bank in 2018 and the project has since faced a series of delays and cost overruns. 

Latest estimates show the project may cost the federal government more than $30 billion, while the Parliamentary Budget Officer suggests the government may never turn a profit on the pipeline.