The Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion faces its latest legal hurdle in a federal court this week as indigenous groups appeal the pipeline's expansion, arguing the government did not adequately consult them before approving it.

A three-day hearing begins on Monday at Canada's Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver, which agreed to hear concerns from the Coldwater Indian band, the Squamish Nation, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and others that the government's second consultation with them on the project this year was "window-dressing, box-ticking and nice-sounding words."

The legal challenge is the latest setback for Trans Mountain, whose previous owners first proposed the expansion in 2013, as well as two pipeline projects proposed separately by TC Energy Corp and Enbridge Inc that would provide badly needed transport for Alberta's oil.

Congestion in Canadian pipelines has forced the Alberta government to order production curtailments this year.

The Trans Mountain expansion, referred to as TMX, would alleviate congestion by nearly tripling the pipeline's capacity to 890,000 barrels of oil per day.

But the expansion has faced prolonged opposition from environmental activists and some indigenous groups, pitting them against the landlocked Alberta province, home to the world's third-largest oil reserves.