As a sustainability consultant in Canada’s oil and gas industry, Jamie MacKenzie Eddy has the unique opportunity to get an up-close look at a wide range of energy production. 

From wellheads and compressor stations to control rooms and corporate boardrooms, MacKenzie Eddy is able to gain a holistic understanding of how a company runs its operations. 

From high-level priorities to the nitty-gritty details of daily maintenance and repairs, he sees how the rubber hits the road when it comes to responsible development.

And while every firm is different, he has found something common among all his clients:

“When I visit a site, I am always impressed by how much pride the field staff take in the work they are doing to do things better and become more efficient,” said MacKenzie Eddy, a senior analyst of sustainability and emissions management for Calgary-based energy consulting firm GLJ Ltd. 

“Having an outsider come in is a chance for operators to show off, and it is so rewarding because it is often our assessments that enable a company to truly see all the good work they are doing to improve their environmental performance.”

Certification gains traction

Much of MacKenzie Eddy’s work these days is focused on helping upstream oil and natural gas producers achieve certification for their sustainability practices from recognized international assessment agencies.

As demand for natural gas climbs in North America and globally — and Canadian production hits record highs — producers in Western Canada are pursuing voluntary certification to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability to investors, customers and local partners.

Canada’s largest natural gas producer sets global first

In February, the country’s largest gas producer, Tourmaline, became the first company in the world to secure independent certification for its integrated natural gas production system under a methane emissions framework called MiQ. 

The certification requires detailed measurement, monitoring and reporting of methane intensity, along with third-party validation.

Tourmaline’s certification is notable not just for being first — but for its scope. 

Rather than certifying isolated wells or facilities, the company achieved MiQ’s Grade A certification across its fully integrated production system, spanning upstream production, gathering and boosting, and gas processing facilities. 

The recognition reflects years of investment in technology and infrastructure to manage emissions across the company’s extensive assets in Alberta and British Columbia, which supply 19 per cent of Canada’s gas exports. 

In the company’s most recent sustainability report, Tourmaline reported a 25 per cent reduction in methane emissions intensity since 2020 and about $50 million invested in environmental performance initiatives in 2024.

“Tourmaline is demonstrating the level of transparency and accountability that global gas markets are increasingly demanding,” said Georges Tijbosch, CEO of London-based MiQ.

Rising demand, falling emissions

The achievement comes amid growing liquefied natural gas exports and record high Canadian natural gas production – reaching 20 billion cubic feet per day in late 2025 – underscoring both the scale and growing global relevance of the country’s supply. 

Exports from the LNG Canada project reached a reported one million tonnes for the first time in April, a milestone for the project, which began shipments last July. 

New LNG projects including Cedar LNG and Woodfibre LNG are under construction, with the Ksi Lisims LNG terminal expected to reach a final investment decision this year. 

Tourmaline’s certification reflects industry-wide success in curbing emissions, as Alberta oil and gas companies beat the provincial government’s goal of cutting methane emissions 45 per cent below 2014 levels by 2025, surpassing the target three years early in 2022.

“We know that countries around the world want more Canadian natural gas, and this certification reinforces Tourmaline and Canada as a trusted and reliable global energy supplier,” said Tourmaline CEO Michael Rose.

Beyond markets: building trust

Beyond attracting international customers, Canadian oil and gas producers are using third-party validation to measure progress and build credibility with Indigenous groups, local communities and other key partners.

“Canadian companies are exceeding regulatory requirements and lead their global peers in environmental, ethical, governance and social principles such as free, prior and informed consent and human rights,” says Pepita Elena McKee, CEO of Impact Resolutions, a firm specializing in cumulative impact assessment, performance assurance standards and diversity, equity, belonging and access services.

Impact Resolutions was not involved in Tourmaline’s MiQ certification process, but it has led sustainability certifications for Canadian companies since 2019.

This includes a joint MiQ and Equitable Origin certification for Veren Inc. under Equitable Origin’s EO100 standard — covering environmental performance, safety, Indigenous rights, labour relations and stakeholder engagement. 

Canadian companies including Pacific Canbriam Energy, Vermilion Energy, ARC Resources, Pipestone Energy and Hammerhead Resources achieved EO100 certification through Impact Resolutions, representing a substantial share of the energy producers certified across North America.

Continuous improvement over ratings

“The EO standard is not a ‘check the box exercise’ but an effort on the part of the operator for continuous improvement,” said McKee, whose company works with GLJ to assess environmental performance metrics.

MacKenzie Eddy agrees, adding that Canadian operators are less focused on ratings than on the tangible improvements identified through the certification process.

“It’s rewarding to go to a control room and see the certification hanging on the wall, but the real value comes from all the opportunities you find and the continuous improvement that happens year after year,” he said.

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Large-scale habitat restoration in Alberta is accelerating to support iconic caribou populations.

The focus is on legacy seismic lines — straight, flattened clearings cut through the boreal forest decades ago for oil and gas exploration, often up to eight metres wide to accommodate large equipment.

While today’s oil and gas operators no longer use these methods, the forest in many areas has struggled to regenerate on its own.

Now, it’s got some help. 

Revegetation of legacy seismic lines has increased by nearly 7,000 per cent since 2019, according to new data from Alberta Environment and Parks. 

More than 6,100 kilometres have been treated since the launch of Alberta’s Caribou Habitat Recovery Program, compared to just 87 kilometres between 2015 and 2019.  

“What’s been done in the past five years with the resources and exposure committed to recovering these disturbances is impressive progress,” said Jesse Tigner, a Pincher Creek, Alta.-based ecologist who has both researched and restored seismic lines through his company SwampDonkey Solutions.

The record pace is set to continue, with the province announcing agreements with two major energy companies to invest nearly $12 million in replanting legacy lines in caribou ranges where they operate.

Seismic lines and caribou

The first seismic survey in Alberta was carried out in 1929 to support development of the Turner Valley oilfield. 

For most of the 20th century, seismic lines in the province were cut with heavy machinery to make room for large equipment that uses energy waves to map oil and gas deposits beneath the surface. 

While many have not been used for decades, more than 200,000 kilometres of legacy seismic lines remain in Alberta’s caribou ranges.

Researchers have identified restoring these legacy lines as crucial to rebuilding habitat for the species.

That’s because the clearings have created pathways that make it easier for wolves to hunt caribou, which are considered threatened in Canada.

“Legacy lines allow wolves to move much further and faster than forests without lines,” Tigner said. 

Used since the 1990s,. low-impact seismic lines are smaller and recover more effectively on their own, according to a study co-authored by Tigner in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research.

Industry investment builds momentum

Since 2019, more than $90 million has been invested in assessing and restoring legacy seismic lines under Alberta’s Caribou Habitat Recovery Program, the province says.

New agreements with TC Energy and Syncrude will add nearly $12 million.

Pipeline operator TC Energy will invest $5 million to restore legacy seismic lines in the Little Smoky caribou range in west-central Alberta, while oil sands producer Syncrude has committed $6.95 million to restoration in the Richardson range in the province’s northeast.

Tigner, who has worked on restoring legacy lines in both British Columbia and Alberta, sees industry participation as important in addressing the issue.

“Some oil sands companies have driven the work and have done a phenomenal job of restoring lines,” he said. 

Oil sands-led projects drive restoration

The oil sands industry has invested in caribou habitat restoration for nearly two decades, said Kendall Dilling, president of the Oil Sands Alliance, which represents its five largest producers.

“Several projects led by industry have piloted the methods and techniques used to restore caribou habitat,” he said.

Examples include the Boreal Ecosystem Recovery and Assessment (BERA) project,  Cenovus Energy’s Caribou Habitat Restoration Project and the Algar Seismic Restoration Pilot Project.

The ongoing BERA project brings together researchers, industry and government to study how industrial activity affects the boreal forest and how to restore disturbed landscapes.

Cenovus Energy’s $32-million, 10-year program, launched in 2016, restores legacy seismic lines to help protect threatened woodland caribou near its oil sands operations. 

Recognized with an Alberta Emerald Award in 2024, the project has treated more than 100,000 hectares and planted 1.6 million trees, making it the largest of its kind globally.

Meanwhile, the Algar project, carried out between 2012 and 2015, restored seismic lines in caribou habitat southwest of Fort McMurray. 

After restoration, researchers used 73 camera traps to monitor how caribou and other wildlife responded.

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As Canada moves to diversify markets for its vast oil and gas resources, experts say one reality remains: the United States will continue to be its largest energy customer.

Maintaining and strengthening that relationship is critical to North American energy security amid global instability and shifting U.S. policies.

“Market diversification for the oil and natural gas industry is not about ‘replacement.’ Diversification means growing our customer base, growing production, growing exports, and growing the Canadian economy,” said Lisa Baiton, CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. 

“We should work to forge a renewed continental energy alliance that is attuned to new global realities.”

An integrated energy machine

A recent analysis by the Montreal Economic Institute (IEDM) outlines the scale of current Canada-U.S. energy relationship. 

In 2024, Canada exported $169.8 billion worth of hydrocarbons — including crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and refined petroleum products — to the United States. 

Led by crude oil, that accounts for 22 per cent of all Canadian goods exports and the bulk of the U.S.’s imported energy supply.

The trade flows in both directions, with Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic region driving $33.4 billion of U.S. oil and gas imports in the same year. 

“In many ways, the border is an afterthought for this integrated North American energy machine, which has kept churning for a century, regardless of political winds,” wrote IEDM researchers Taylor MacPherson and Gabriel Giguère.

“But we can’t take it for granted; we must be steadfast in protecting this unique, mutually beneficial relationship.”

Growing pressures from global instability

The long-standing North American partnership is being tested by geopolitical uncertainty. 

Wars involving Ukraine and Iran have driven volatility in global energy markets. At the same time, the U.S. has introduced tariffs and incentives aimed at strengthening domestic energy supply chains.

While the U.S. often describes its strategy as one of “energy dominance,” that does not necessarily mean independence from Canada. 

As production of light oil from the Permian Basin has grown, so too have imports of heavier Canadian crude, primarily from Alberta’s oil sands.

Many U.S. refineries are built for heavy oil, particularly in the Midwest and Gulf Coast — but the U.S. doesn’t produce much of it, RBN Energy analyst Jason Lindquist noted recently.

“[This] makes heavy crude from nearby Canada and Latin America essential,” he wrote in a March research note. 

Canadian oil and gas underpins U.S. energy exports

Since the United States lifted its oil export ban in 2015, its light crude exports have surged, averaging about 4 million barrels per day last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

That’s roughly equal to the volume of Canadian oil – primarily heavy oil – that the U.S. imported over the same period.

America depends on Canada to complement its natural gas supply as well. 

The U.S. is now the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, yet its natural gas imports have remained steady since LNG exports began in 2016. 

In 2025, 99.7 per cent of those imports came from Canada, according to the EIA.

Strengthening the Canada-U.S. energy relationship

While diversification work continues, observers say Canada must also keep strengthening the partnerships that bind its energy system to that of the United States.

The Washington D.C.-based Atlantic Council has advocated for a North American-wide approach. 

It urges Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to pursue a continental energy security strategy that aligns emissions reduction policies, regulatory systems and infrastructure development plans to give all three countries a global advantage.

The former CEO of the Canada Energy Regulator says Canada’s importance as a reliable energy supplier is increasing as energy prices spike amid conflict in the Middle East and a review of the Canada-United States-Mexico (CUSMA) trade agreement.

“The volatility of the current situation will make Canada more attractive as an investment location because we are seen as stable,” Gitane De Silva said in a recent interview. 

The IEDM argues that Canada needs to adopt clear “energy diplomacy” objectives to advance commercial deals with key international customers.

“As North America’s share of global oil and gas trade grows, every extra barrel or cubic foot we move strengthens our allies, thins our adversaries’ leverage, and maximizes value for the benefit of all Canadians,” MacPherson and Giguère concluded.

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New numbers show Canada’s oil and gas sector remains far ahead of other industries when it comes to environmental protection spending.

Statistics Canada reports that oil and gas producers and pipeline operators spent $4.3 billion on environmental protection in 2023 — the highest total among the 20 industries surveyed.

The figures capture spending on staff, services, machinery and equipment used to prevent pollution and restore damaged environments.

The investment by oil and gas producers and pipeline operators represents more than one third of total environmental protection spending in Canada. 

It’s more than triple the spend of the next-highest industry on the list, mining and quarrying, at $1.3 billion. Coming in third is primary metal manufacturing at $1.1 billion in 2023.  

From 2019 to 2023, oil and gas producers and pipeline operators spent $17.9 billion on environmental protection, more than primary metal manufacturers, miners and food manufacturers combined.

In 2023, across sectors businesses spent the most on wastewater management ($3.6 billion), followed by solid waste management ($2.6 billion) and air pollution management ($2.3 billion).  

In 2023, Alberta businesses accounted for the largest share of environmental protection spending at 39 per cent, followed by Ontario at 20 per cent.

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Growing up in Calgary, 22-year-old Max McGivern was naturally drawn to Canada’s energy industry.

Now a political science student at the University of Calgary, he’s motivated to contribute to the sector by helping build knowledge and pride among young Canadians.

“It’s the beating heart of Canada. We’re really lucky to have such a massive surplus of natural resources, and to have a mindset that we develop them responsibly,” McGivern said. 

“It is being handled by the previous generation right now, but there will come a time when it’s our turn. It will become ours, so we need to know how to manage it effectively.”

For the past two years, McGivern has worked as a summer student with Young Canadians for Resources, a national youth-led advocacy organization focused on Canada’s natural resource sectors and their role in the economy.

“You get exposed to the discussion of natural resources and you get to discuss with other like-minded people, or even with people who don’t fully agree with natural resources,” McGivern said.

“It’s been immensely positive, and it’s been pretty transformative.”

McGivern has learned that energy is about more than just what comes through an electrical outlet.

“I understand that different elements go into energy, rather than just, like, cool, my phone is charged,” he said.

“It’s more than just, drill a hole, get some oil.”

Recent polling shows that young Canadians are interested in growing the country’s energy sector.

A December Ipsos survey found that 82 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 believe Canada should prioritize expanding oil and gas exports to other countries.

“It’s our responsibility to develop it, to get it to our neighbors. And you know that we will see prosperity. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” McGivern said.

He believes the future will bring greater cooperation and a deeper recognition of the role energy from all sources plays for Canadians.

“The more people understand the importance of energy and the role of energy in our lives, the better,” McGivern said.

“I think there’ll be more energy projects. Not just things like LNG, but that might be more wind farms, more geothermal. Even just with time, there are more technological innovations, so we’ll figure out more ways to harness different energies.”

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