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“We appreciate the ongoing backing of landowners, customers, Indigenous groups and numerous partners in the U.S. and Canada who helped us secure project support and key regulatory approvals as this important energy infrastructure project is poised to put thousands of people to work, generate substantial economic benefits and strengthen the continent’s energy security,” TC Energy president and CEO Russ Girling said in a release Tuesday.

The project, first proposed in 2008, had been staunchly opposed by environmental groups and some farmers along the route, and has repeatedly been the subject of lawsuits and regulatory delays. Last year, the Nebraska Supreme Court approved the project, removing the last remaining obstacle for the project after a protracted legal battle with a group of opposed landowners in that state.

Girling said that the project “could not have advanced” without the support of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.

Photo by Ian Kucerak/Postmedia

Apart from a stake, Alberta will provide a $6 billion loan guarantee beginning in 2021, for the project which is now expected to cost US$14.4 billion. TC Energy has already spent US$6 billion trying to advance Keystone XL in recent years.

Both the Alberta and federal governments believe the project would provide material benefits to both the province’s government revenues and the wider Canadian economy.

“This is good news for our oil and gas industry. It comes at a time when the industry needs it. It means thousands of good, well-paying jobs for the highly skilled workers in the industry needs now and into the future,” federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan said in an email.