The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that the Trans Mountain pipeline could be delayed by nine months if regulators do not approve a route alteration, the project's builder said in a filing. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that the expanded Trans Mountain might not be completed before December, 2024, in a "worst-case" scenario where regulators force the company to stick with a plan to tunnel under land that is important to a local indigenous community, says a filing with the Canada Energy Regulator. The earliest the tunnelling could be completed is by April, the company said. The Trans Mountain's price tag has more than quadrupled to $30.9-billion. The project was due to start operations by the end of the first quarter. Trans Mountain is seeking approval for a route change in British Columbia that would scrap the tunnelling project in favour of an alternative that is more intrusive -- but cheaper -- after running into engineering challenges. However, the local Stk'emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation opposes the change, saying the change would do "irreparable harm" to its cultural and spiritual rights. The CER has scheduled public hearings on the proposed change for this month.