One of Canada’s most vital investments in recent memory, LNG Canada is scheduled to begin exports by July 2025. It will be the first large-scale liquefaction facility in Canadian history and represents a shift in Canada’s role in the global natural gas market. Located in Kitimat, British Columbia, the project is backed by a consortium of five major energy companies: Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi, and KOGAS. The facility will export 14 million tons of LNG annually under its initial buildout, which has been in development since 2018.

Over the last decade, the project had been slowed down by environmental assessments, regulatory uncertainty, and inconsistent policy direction. During the same period, US LNG export capacity expanded rapidly. LNG Canada marks Canada’s first direct access point to international gas markets and represents a foundational step toward reshaping how Canadian gas reaches global buyers, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

Geoeconomic Impact: Canada as a Pacific LNG Supplier

LNG Canada changes the structure of Canada’s gas trade by creating a direct path to global markets. For years, most Canadian gas was exported to the United States, where it could be processed and sold internationally at higher margins. With LNG Canada, Canadian gas will be liquefied and exported from the Pacific coast, allowing producers to capture revenues from a larger portion of the value chain and reducing dependence on the United States.