Historic MOU Signed for Work on Energy East

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 14, 2016) - News Release - TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) along with the senior representatives of the four major pipeline unions and the Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada (PLCAC) have come together to sign a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for work on the Energy East Pipeline Project. The MOU ensures that thousands of the skilled pipeline trade jobs required to build the project will be awarded to members of the PLCAC and the four union partners, including: the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA), Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA), International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) and Teamsters Canada.

The organizations came together to reinforce the fact that the work needed to construct the privately financed, $15.7 billion crude oil pipeline means thousands of quality jobs for their members. It also further ensures the pipeline will be built to the highest safety standards. Additional unions across the country will also be engaged to complete this work.

"This MOU signing is very significant for TransCanada," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are committed to hiring the best workers this country has to offer for the over 14,000 jobs Energy East will create annually across Canada during the nine years it will take to develop and build the pipeline. And above all, we are committed to ensuring Energy East is built safely.

"Pipelines remain the safest and least GHG-intensive way of transporting the crude oil Canadians need. Energy East gives our country the ability to use Canadian oil in its refineries rather than continuing to import the 700,000 barrels of foreign oil we import every day," concluded Girling.

"This country's vast pipeline network has improved Canadians' quality of life for generations, and those pipelines were proudly put in the ground by the organizations that are together here today," said Lyall Nash, Chair of Canadian Pipeline Advisory Council. "The opportunity to work on the country's largest pipeline project builds on that solid foundation to ensure that quality of life continues for generations into the future and the project will be built to the highest safety standards."