Canada in Brief, Feb. 22-28

Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion Project's Westridge loading dock in Burnaby, B.C. Scotiabank says the current discount to Canadian crude because of a lack of oil pipeline space is costing the economy roughly $15.6 billion a year. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

Pipeline constraints to cost economy $10.7 billion in 2018: Scotiabank

A lack of oil pipeline space, and the resulting discount to Canadian crude, is costing the economy roughly $15.6 billion a year or about 0.75 percent of GDP, according to Scotiabank.

However, the bank says the steep discount is expected to ease this year as more rail capacity becomes available to ship oil, bringing the expected cost to roughly $10.7 billion or 0.5 percent of GDP for 2018.