Canada LNG took a major step forward on 28 September 2026, when the LNG Canada partners took a final investment decision on Phase 2 at Kitimat, adding two trains and doubling production capacity from approximately 14 to 28 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). The expansion lands into an export book that is already scaling fast: Wood Mackenzie's gas trade tracking shows Canadian liquefaction output rising approximately 58% between January and August 2026.
That ramp carries the signature of a single facility still building toward steady-state, with volumes lumpy month to month rather than settled into a predictable cadence.
Geography underpins the commercial case. Canadian cargoes are directed almost entirely to Northeast and Southeast Asia, with South Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan the dominant buyers. Wood Mackenzie analysis places Canada as a mid-tier but rising supplier, ranked around ninth in Asia-Pacific (APAC), still well behind Australia, Qatar and the United States. In smaller emerging markets the position is already material: Canada supplies approximately 19.6% of Vietnam's LNG imports, its second-largest source.
The commercial logic is freight. Laden carriers leaving northern British Columbia reach Northeast Asian berths in approximately 8 to 10 days, without transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el-Mandeb or the Panama Canal. That shorter haul gives Canadian supply a delivered-cost edge into the exact markets taking its cargoes, and into emerging Southeast Asian buyers as volumes grow.
With Phase 2 commercial operations expected in the early 2030s, the FID strengthens Canada's long-term position in Pacific LNG rather than immediately altering regional supply balances. The expansion therefore adds capacity to a proven, Asia-directed market.
