Canadian crude oil exports shipped from the West Coast nearly doubled in 2025 to reach a new record, with most of it coming via the Trans Mountain pipeline, according to a new report.
This comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney aims to double Canadian exports to non-U.S. customers amid the trade war and U.S. tariffs, including for oil, liquefied natural gas and other resources.
Record cargo volumes were shipped out of Canada’s West Coast in 2025, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said in a report released Monday, with grain, crude oil and potash products leading the way.
A total of 170.4 million tonnes of cargo were seen at the ports last year, which was up from 158.4 million in 2024.
Exports of crude oil moving through the port in 2025 increased 95 per cent from the year before to reach 24.4 million metric tonnes (MMT), and crude oil volumes increased the most among all other types of exported products.
“I want to recognize the entire port community for stepping up to support Canadians and their businesses during what are very challenging times for our country — we are stronger together,” Peter Xotta, president and CEO of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, said in the release.
“As Prime Minister Carney looks to double exports to non-U.S. markets in the next decade, the Port of Vancouver is playing an outsized role in delivering more made-in-Canada products to more customers globally.”
The report adds that this came as the Trans Mountain expansion helped Alberta’s oilsands producers to increase the amount they sent to markets like China and South Korea.
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“We are uniquely poised to support Canada’s bold trade goals because of decades of strategic investments in terminal and rail capacity,” Xotta said.
“With nation-building projects like Roberts Bank Terminal 2 and Second Narrows dredging on the horizon, we’re showing the world that Canada is open for business.”
Canada’s oil and gas sector is also poised to benefit indirectly from the Iran war, as the Strait of Hormuz is effectively blocked, putting 20 per cent of the global oil supply in jeopardy. This has led to significant spikes in the price of oil, which has generated more revenue for Alberta and Saskatchewan’s economies in particular.
The Iran war could also increase demand for Canada’s oil exports the longer the conflict goes on.
Canada’s Energy Minister Tim Hodgson has already received requests from other nations for more energy exports since the Iran war began.
“Yes, we can confirm that the Minister has been receiving calls from countries interested in Canada’s energy exports,” the minister’s press secretary said in a written response to Global News on March 4.
“Unfortunately, we are not able to disclose which or how many countries have reached out.”
Royal Bank of Canada published a report on Tuesday, written by senior economist Claire Fan and assistant chief economist Nathan Janzen, about how Canada could potentially benefit from higher oil and energy prices.
“Higher energy costs curtail household spending, but other areas of the economy tied directly to energy production benefit,” the report said.
“Corporate profits and government natural resource royalties rise alongside oil prices, and this is true for Canada and the U.S. as oil exporters.”
This means although consumers wind up paying more for higher energy prices, like at the gas pump, Canada’s energy sector and governments will receive more revenues from the resources it exports to other nations.
RBC also said that despite these economic benefits, there isn’t likely to be much more investment in expanding Canada’s oil sector. This, RBC said, is because of the high costs and long construction timelines, which makes them only worthwhile if energy costs remain high for the long term.
The Vancouver port authority said in September 2025 that it had already reached a record amount of cargo exports by the first half of that year, with much of that made up of crude oil shipped to China.
The federal government said in a post from March 2025 that the pipeline “has and will continue to benefit our economy and Canadians,” and added it will do this by: “Opening new markets for Canadian energy exports, reducing our reliance on a single customer, and ensuring that Canada receives fair market value for its resources while maintaining the highest environmental standards.”
The Trans Mountain Pipeline completed an expansion project in May 2024, which was six years after the government of Canada acquired the project from Kinder Morgan in 2018 for $4.5 billion.
Ottawa’s total investment in the expansion project ballooned to nearly $35 billion.
The federal government said in its March report that it “does not intend to be the long-term owner of the project, and it will launch a divestment process in due course.”
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