2021–22 Annual Report of the Canada Energy Regulator – A Clear Path Forward

The CER has a clear path forward – with a bold Vision and priorities that focus the future direction of our organization. The CER’s commitment to safety and oversight is unwavering. It is the reason why the organization exists. The CER’s four interconnected Strategic Priorities reflect areas of cross-organizational focus to help us better deliver on our Mission and reach our Vision. These priorities are Trust and Confidence, Reconciliation, Competitiveness and Data and Digital Innovation.

The following is an update on the Strategic Plan & Strategic Priorities Implementation Plans.

Trust and Confidence

The CER is committed to delivering a regulatory system that Canadians trust. The organization will earn that trust and the confidence of Canadians by being transparent, working collaboratively and being responsive to what it hears from stakeholders and Indigenous peoples. As the CER continues to improve and move forward in its work, it is committed to sharing its progress in an open and transparent manner. Also having the trust and confidence of its own staff is critical to an empowered workforce. The CER is examining its own workplace practices to ensure that it is building a culture that is diverse and inclusive, where all staff feel valued and respected. In 2021–22, the CER undertook several initiatives in support of its Trust and Confidence Strategic Priority, including:

• Improving how the CER communicates: The CER engaged a third-party communications firm to conduct an independent, comprehensive, and actionable review of its communications program and organizational practices. The CER developed a plan in response to the assessment and recommendations are being implemented with many of them already complete.
• Fostering an engaged, inclusive, and empowered workforce: The CER developed and implemented a Future of the Workforce Plan. The goal of this plan is to create a safe and more flexible, supportive, and inclusive workplace during and after the pandemic. All key steps to prepare our workplaces and workforce for launch of a six-month pilot were completed by end of March 2022. The CER also developed a Diversity and Belonging Roadmap which outlines recommended actions for the organization. Recommendations stemming from the Roadmap have been explicitly incorporated into the year two and three strategic priority deliverables.
• Enhancing the CER’s engagement with Canadians: According to Public Opinion Research conducted from 19 January to 10 February 2022, Canadians’ overall confidence in the CER was up slightly over previous years, particularly among those familiar with the CER’s work.

Reconciliation

The CER is committed to the ongoing process of Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and will continue to take meaningful actions in this direction. The organization’s efforts in advancing Reconciliation are supported by the tools found in the CER Act as well as a renewal of the CER’s relationship with Indigenous peoples – which is based on the recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership.

Changing how the organization works with Indigenous peoples is fundamental to the CER’s Reconciliation Strategic Priority; this renewed approach includes a commitment to implement the UN Declaration, as well as the related Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

In 2021–22, the CER undertook several initiatives in support of Reconciliation, including:

• Working towards implementation of the UN Declaration within the CER’s mandate: The CER has begun to conduct its analysis of what implementation of the UN Declaration will mean for the organization, and what approaches may be taken towards implementation within the CER’s mandate. The CER’s work in relation to the UN Declaration is separate, but very much aligned with the efforts of the broader Government in this area, including through its work under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. This is a multiyear initiative for the CER. While at an early stage, the CER’s work to date has included support to the Board and IAC in their co-development of a Statement on what Reconciliation means to the CER and the principles and values that will guide the CER in its Reconciliation journey. The IAC and Board have also begun to discuss how specific articles of the UN Declaration intersect with the CER’s mandate. Co-development between the IAC and the Board sets a leadership example of what Reconciliation can look like for the CER. In addition, the CER is contributing to the development of the Federal Indigenous Knowledge Policy Framework initiative (led by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada).
• Evolving the CER’s approach to Crown consultation: The CER enhanced its ability to support Crown consultation activities beyond the Commission’s process. The Commission’s process for adjudication of matters is the primary forum for consultation with Indigenous peoples. The CER also now has the responsibility of being the Crown Consultation Coordinator, that undertakes and coordinates consultation activities to support and complement the consultation taking place in the Commission process.
• Delivering on commitments made to the IAMCs: The CER continues to advance its work with the IAMC-TMX and IAMC-Line 3, including work on joint monitoring activities. The CER alongside the IAMC-TMX is expanding on the Community Profiles portal (internal) as an initiative that provides a mobile tool for IAMC Indigenous Monitors to access community information relevant to inspection areas. This helps to connect Indigenous Monitors with local resources to identify specific Indigenous community issues or interests that could be relevant to Indigenous Monitors’ work on the TMEP. The CER is moving forward on change initiatives in response to advice from the IAMC – Line 3 Caucus and the Manitoba Metis Federation. This will improve Indigenous peoples’ involvement in the CER’s regulatory oversight through Indigenous Monitoring initiatives and engagement of Indigenous peoples in regulatory framework improvements, such as the OPR Review.
• Advancing an Indigenous Procurement Strategy: The CER’s research and analysis phase for the Indigenous Procurement Strategy is complete, and the draft strategy, recommendations, and action plan have been developed.
• Improving the Indigenous cultural competency of the organization: The CER is working on its Indigenous Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement Strategy that will establish priorities and actions that cultivate an Indigenous inclusive workforce focused on attracting, retaining, and promoting Indigenous employees. The CER is also building an Indigenous Cultural Competency Framework and Change Management Strategy that will enable it to transform how it welcomes and works with Indigenous peoples.

Competitiveness

The CER Act clearly outlines the ambition for the CER’s regulatory system to enhance Canada’s global competitiveness. The CER delivered on that commitment by moving forward with improvements to the predictability, transparency, and efficiency of its regulatory processes.

In 2021–22, the CER undertook several initiatives in support of Competitiveness, including:

• Developing an Ongoing Engagement Structure: The CER recognized the need to create a permanent engagement structure with industry to support open and transparent dialogue. The goal is to track and report on the progress of initiatives and receive feedback. Initial consultation on the idea with regulated companies was positive, and work is underway to launch the first steps of the approach to develop the permanent engagement structure.
• Exploring the CER’s role in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG): The CER undertook a project to explore and understand its role within the ESG arena. The organization will continue to share ESG-related information through energy information publications during the upcoming fiscal year.
• Contributing to Canada’s energy transition dialogue: The CER continues to provide Canadians, Indigenous people, and decision- makers with relevant energy information to help inform Canada’s energy transition to a low-carbon economy. In the Canada’s Energy Future 2021 report released in December 2021, the CER introduced six net-zero electricity scenarios as part of its long-term energy supply and demand outlook.
• Examining the CER’s role in hydrogen regulation: The CER continues to explore, prepare, and understand its regulatory role within new emerging energy commodities, such as hydrogen. The CER has engaged with all levels of government and energy regulators domestically and internationally, industry associations, industry, and other stakeholders to understand the rapidly evolving hydrogen market and provide appropriate advice to policymakers.
• Clarifying regulatory requirements: Clarity regarding regulatory processes and evolving requirements is key to enhancing competitiveness. The organization clarified its regulatory requirements through improvement of and updates to the CER Filing Manual for decommissioning and abandonment applications. Draft updates have been released for public comment, including sections related to supply and markets, confidentiality, and variance applications.

Data and Digital Innovation

The CER is creating a data and digital innovation culture and systems to effectively deliver its mandate and allow for improved public access, use, and analysis of accurate data. This will enhance the CER’s energy information, in addition to helping with meaningful participation and informing decision-making creating more opportunities for digital engagement. It will also lead to a better understanding of who the CER is and what it does.

The CER supports its people to increase data skills enterprise-wide to accelerate data and digital innovation across the organization. In 2021–22, the CER undertook several initiatives in support of Data and Digital Innovation, including:

• Delivering skills training and tools to increase data competencies and use across the CER: The CER implemented advanced data training programs to upskill staff in a wide range of data specializations. Additionally, in March 2022, the CER created a Data Community of Practice to foster enterprise-wide innovation and established a Skills Inventory.
• Establishing and building the data foundation (data and tools) to enable analytics, decision making, and public participation. The CER continued data mining and structuring regulatory documents to make CER data more searchable and usable for research, analysis, and decision making. The organization released several new products and tools to improve the accessibility of our adjudication processes to facilitate engagement with the public. This included creating the new Participation Portal and the new application dashboard that simplifies the public’s ability to understand our timelines and find appropriate information and templates. The CER also developed BERDI (Biophysical, Economic, Regional Data & Information), a tool to provide broader internal access to data contained in Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessments. The CER made improvements to its Operations Regulatory Compliance Application (ORCA) to input, use, and share data more easily. The Energy Futures 2021 Visualization transformed complex material into visual platforms such as infographics and visualizations to make the content easier to understand.
• Establishing and building the integrated data and information systems for the CER and external parties: The CER developed a regulatory filing solution for applicants renewing Import/Export Orders. This solution automates and streamlines routine administrative applications and rule-based analysis to achieve enterprise-wide efficiencies. The organization also created and launched an External Application Dashboard so hearing participants can easily access information about any hearing schedule and regulatory documents. It was launched for the NorthRiver Midstream – NEBC Connector Project. Finally, the CER delivered a Participation Portal providing a more accessible way for public comments and participation in project assessments.

Date modified:

2023-01-20