The company said the filing to Canada's National Energy Board is the first formal step in securing regulatory approval for the line, which will carry 1.1 million barrels per day of crude oil 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) from Alberta to Quebec and New Brunswick.

A full regulatory filing is expected to come later this year and the line is expected to be in service in 2018.

($1 = 1.1110 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Scott Haggett; Editing by Marguerita Choy)