Guest post: Lizette Parsons Bell, Lead, Stakeholder Engagement and Communications

Trans Mountain has a long history of community connections and we are proud of the relationships we’ve built throughout our more than 60 years of operation.

We value our relationships and want to invest in all the communities along our pipeline corridor to ensure the benefits from the Expansion Project can reach as many people as possible. There are many ways we plan to bring direct benefits to the Kamloops area.

Beyond compensation for landowners along the pipeline route, we will pay approximately $2.9 million in annual property taxes to the City of Kamloops for the expanded line. There will be local economic activity generated by construction of the pipeline – business for hotels, restaurants, local suppliers and contractors, and additional spending by workers in the area.  The construction workforce is forecast to spend in communities along the route approximately $480 million on accommodations, meals and other expenditures.

The Expansion Project also means new short- and-long-term job and training opportunities for job seekers, and we are committed to providing job opportunities to Aboriginal, local and regional people. The estimated peak workforce in the fall of 2018 for Kamloops will be 550 workers.

We have signed a $700,000 Community Benefit Agreement with the City of Kamloops and the TNRD will see an additional $845,000 investment for the communities impacted by construction or operation. To date, Trans Mountain has 18 agreements worth $8.5 million with local governments along 95 per cent of the pipeline route. These investments include improvements to local emergency management to enhancements to trails, parks or infrastructure, or support for local education programs.

In addition, a contribution of $500,000 to Thompson Rivers University will help fund awards for students in Trades, Social Work and Applied Research programs, and the Environmental Science graduate program. The annual gift helps meet the growing need for education in BC’s Interior.

On a larger scale, the Project means more taxes paid to all levels of government throughout the lifetime of the pipeline. Approximately $46.7 billion will find its way into the Canadian economy in the form of taxes and royalties. Following completion of the Project, our property tax payments will exceed $1 billion dollars for local governments along the entire pipeline route over 20 years.

We are proud of working closely with the communities along the pipeline to maximize local and direct benefits of the Project, and we remain committed to continuing to do so throughout construction and operation.

Find more information on Project benefits here.