As the utilities and hydroprocessing technical lead for Imperial Oil’s Strathcona Refinery near Edmonton, 32-year-old Marjorie Mallare and her team help ensure operations run smoothly and safely at one of Canada’s largest industrial facilities.

The exciting part, she says, is that all four engineers she leads are female.

It’s part of the reason Mallare was named one of ten Young Women in Energy award winners for 2025.

“I hope they realize how important the work that they do is, inspiring and empowering women, connecting women and recognizing women in our industry,” she says.

“That can be very pivotal for young women, or really any young professional that is starting off their career.”

Born and raised in the Philippines, Mallare and her family moved to Edmonton near the end of junior high school.

Living in the industrial heartland of Alberta, it was hard not to see the opportunity present in the oil and gas industry.

When she started post-secondary studies at the University of Alberta in the early 2010s, the industry was booming.

“The amount of opportunities, at least when I started university, which was around 2011, was one of the high periods in our industry at the time. So, it was definitely very attractive,” Mallare says.

When choosing a discipline, engineering stood out.

“At the time, chemical engineering had the most number of females, so that was a contributing factor,” she says.

“Just looking at what’s available within the province, within the city, chemical engineering just seemed to offer a lot more opportunities, a lot more companies that I could potentially work for.”

Through work co-ops in oil and gas, her interest in a career in the industry continued to grow.

“It just kind of naturally happened. That drew my interest more and more, and it made it easier to find future opportunities,” Mallare says.

Following a work practicum with Imperial Oil and graduation, she started working with the company full time.

On the side, Mallare has also driven STEM outreach programs, encouraging young women to pursue careers in engineering.

In addition to supporting the Strathcona Refinery’s operations department, Mallare and her team work on sustainability-focused projects and reducing the refinery’s carbon footprint.

The 200,000 barrel per day facility represents about 30 per cent of Western Canada’s refining capacity.

“Eventually, our group will also be responsible for running the new renewable diesel unit that we’re planning to commission later this year,” says Mallare.

Once completed, the $720 million project will be the largest renewable diesel facility in Canada, producing more than one billion litres of biofuel annually.

Projects like these are why Mallare believes Canada will continue to be a global energy leader.

“We’re leading others already with regards to pursuing more sustainable alternatives and reducing our carbon footprints overall. That’s not something we should lose sight of.”

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Thirty-four-year-old chemical engineer Ada Fong believes oil and gas will continue to be crucial as the world’s energy mix transforms to reduce emissions. And she wants to encourage the next generation of future leaders to pursue a career in energy and do their part to fuel that transformation. 

“We need all forms of energy, especially responsibly produced oil and gas,” says Fong, who chairs the Society of Petroleum Engineers Young Professionals (SPE YP) committee and will soon take on the role as chair of the SPE’s Calgary section.   

Once thinking she might end up working in veterinary medicine, an influence she says comes from her family, Fong initially had no idea what a job in the energy industry would entail. 

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Fong immigrated from Hong Kong when she was five years old and is currently a senior site operations process engineer for Cenovus Energy at its Christina Lake oil sands facility. 

She is proud of working in the industry and believes it is resilient and on the leading edge of innovation to produce sustainable oil and gas. She is equally proud of those working in the industry, from rig hands to engineers, for being always ready to tackle those challenges. 

Though traditionally a male-dominated industry, as a woman, she has always felt welcome. 

“I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with mentors and peers -male and female- empowering me to fulfill my potential and helping me gain the skills and knowledge to grow and advance in my career,” she says. 

Fong says for any junior employee, keeping an open mind, having good work ethic, and bringing positive energy and value to a team is a surefire way to feel at home in a new job. There are also many young professional groups and internal company programs and clubs out there that offer support.  

Fong credits her education as a chemical engineering student at the University of Calgary and participation in extra-curricular activities with the Engineering Student’s Society and Petroleum and Energy Society. One event in particular convinced her to pursue a career in the energy industry. 

“One of the more memorable events that I was involved in the planning of was the inaugural Alberta Student Energy Conference,” she says.  

“Aside from the excitement of putting on this conference for the first time alongside a team of eager volunteers, I remember the event being filled with very inspirational speakers and very interesting breakout sessions. This event sparked my initial interest to join the workforce within the energy industry.” 

Since then, Fong has been a strong advocate for young Canadians to become more involved in the energy industry. She has been with the SPE YP committee for five years. Starting off as a sponsorship lead, she has been the organization’s chair for the last two years.  

Many energy-focused young professional groups are headed by women, and Fong is encouraged about the future of leadership in the industry. 

“I love to continue seeing women stepping up to lead,” she says. “Keeping in mind that you don’t have to be in a leadership position or have the ‘title’ to lead.” 

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British Columbia has been producing oil and natural gas since 1952. In fact, as of 2018, B.C. produced 32 percent of Canada’s natural gas and two percent of Canada’s conventional oil. British Columbia collects royalties from oil and gas development, supporting economic prosperity in the province.

Want to how important the oil and natural gas industry is to the B.C. economy? Using customized Statistics Canada data from 2017 (the latest year available for this comparison), it turns out oil and gas in B.C. produced  about $18 billion in goods and services  and contributed $9.5 billion to BC’s GDP.

As for what most of us can relate to—jobs—the B.C. oil and gas industry was responsible for nearly 26,500 direct jobs and over 36,100 indirect jobs (62,602 jobs in total) in 2017. Also relevant: the oil and gas sector paid out over $3.1 billion in wages and salaries to B.C. workers that year.

Here’s another slice of statistical bread to consider: in 2017, the B.C. oil and gas industry purchased $5.6 billion of goods and services from other sectors. That included $600 million from the finance and insurance sector, $770 million from professional service providers such as accountants, architects, I.T. professionals and lawyers, and $2.8 billion from the manufacturing industry.

Spending by the oil and gas sector in B.C. is not the only way to consider the impact of the industry. Given that a large “chunk” of the oil and gas sector is next door in Alberta, let’s look at what Alberta’s trade relationship with its westerly neighbour does for B.C.

B.C.’s interprovincial trade in total with all provinces in 2017 amounted to $39.4 billion. Alberta was responsible for largest amount at $15.4 billion, or about 38 percent.

That share of B.C.’s trade exports is remarkable given that Alberta’s share of Canada’s population was just 11.5 percent in 2017. Alberta consumers, businesses and governments buy far more from British Columbia in goods and services than the province’s population as a share of Canada would suggest would be the case. Alberta’s capital-intensive, high-wage-paying oil and gas sector is a major reason why.

If Alberta were a country, the province’s $15.4 billion in trade with B.C. would come in behind only the U.S. (about $22.3 billion in purchases of goods and services from B.C.) in 2017. In fact, Alberta’s importance to B.C. exports ranked far ahead of China ($6.9 billion), Japan ($4.5 billion) and South Korea ($2.9 billion)—the next biggest destinations for B.C.’s trade exports.

B.C. has a natural advantage for global market access in some respects when compared to the U.S. For instance, B.C.’s coast is closer  to many Asian-Pacific markets than are U.S. Gulf Coast facilities. The distance between the U.S. Gulf Coast to the Japanese ports of Himeji and Sodegaura is more than 9,000 nautical miles, compared to less than 4,200 nautical miles between those two Japanese ports and the coast of B.C.

The recent increase in demand for natural gas in Asia, especially in Japan (the largest importer of LNG), presents an exciting opportunity for the B.C. oil and gas industry.The IEA predicts that by 2024 , natural gas demand forecast in Asia will be up seven percent from 2019’s pre-COVID-19  levels.

Be it in employment, salaries and wages paid, GDP, or the purchase of goods and services, the impact of oil and natural gas (and Alberta) on B.C.’s economy and trade flows is significant.

Ven Venkatachalam and Lennie Kaplan are with the Canadian Energy Centre, an Alberta government corporation funded in part by carbon taxes.

Download the CEC’s Introduction to ESG, a digital poster with quick facts about Canada’s achievements in environment, social and governance performance within the oil and gas sector. Includes:

• Water use
• Emissions
• Benefits for Indigenous people and communities
• Regulatory compliance
• Industry collaboration

Download the CEC’s digital ESG poster here.

On the White Earth Reservation in northwest Minnesota, Matt Gordon takes great pride that his family’s Native American-owned construction company is able to help workers support their families in a region where 21 per cent of the population lives in poverty.

Gordon Construction is working on Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement Project, and that ongoing work is helping provide vital jobs and income for a region that has seen its share of struggles.

The company has over 150 employees, 60 of whom are recognized federally as Native Americans, Gordon says. Of the other 90 employees, many are married to a Native American member, supporting a Native American family, or living on the reservation.

“All that money stays on the reservation. One guy that works or one lady that works, they take care of not only their children or their significant other or spouse, they take care of their aunt or their grandma. It’s a big web is what they take care of,” he says.

“These are union jobs for a lot of these people. You get hours built up and good health insurance. You don’t have to go to Indian Health anymore. You have a retirement after you’re vested and you have a sustainable income.”

Activist hypocrisy

After anti-pipeline activists wreaked havoc on a worksite earlier this month, Gordon and five fellow Native American business leaders working on Line 3 released a joint letter calling out activists in part for “intentionally creating a false narrative that there is no Native American support for this project and the economic impacts and opportunities it brings to our people.”

The work of Native Americans employed by Gordon Construction and other companies were disrespected and put on hold when protestors descended on the work site, claiming to be defending the environment and Indigenous rights.

“They ended up not only damaging our equipment, they put gravel in our fuel tanks, in our hydraulic tanks, flattened all the tires. They essentially took that place over for almost 24 hours. They just left garbage everywhere,” Gordon says.

“It’s a touch of irony how these people are coming in to say they’re there for the environment, but then it’s just total chaos and anarchy and then they leave a mess. It took three days for that place to be cleaned up before we could go back to work.”

Gordon says the letter was also a reminder that there’s not universal opposition to Line 3 from Native Americans.

“We wanted to let other people know that all the Native Americans don’t oppose the pipeline,” Gordon says.

“It’s a good thing all the way around up in the northwest Minnesota corridor.”

Early advocate for Line 3

From his office window in the small town of Mahnomen, where his family has been for generations, Gordon often sees oil trains rolling by. It’s an ongoing reminder of both the power of U.S. oil demand and the risks of transportation without pipelines.

“We see oil coming up and down every day. It’s not going to stop just because one pipeline shuts down,” he says. “Pipelines are indisputably safer.”

Gordon was an early advocate of the Line 3 project, having previously worked with owner Enbridge including doing pipeline integrity digs for safety inspection on the existing pipeline.

“Essentially they have a structure set up on safety and environmental similar to that of working for the government, but I would say it’s even more stringent,” he says.

“My big thing of it is that they are a fair company. They work with you and they’re not trying to bankrupt you or make you lose money. They want you to succeed because if you’re a success, they’re a success.”

Benefits in Mahnomen

Mahnomen County, inside the White Earth Reservation, has the lowest per capita income in Minnesota. It’s about $21,000 per year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Gordon says that working pipelines, community members are able to make much more.

“You’re looking at guys that are working 60 hours a week, anything after eight hours a day is overtime, and all these guys are bringing home $2,500, $3,000 a week, which is huge to a lot of people in the community. Pretty proud of that fact.”

In addition to its contracts on the new Line 3, Gordon Construction is looking forward to supporting decommissioning and reclamation of the existing pipeline.

“Not only are we working now, but we’ll be working in the future when they’re doing the decommissioning of the line and shutting the old line down with final restoration. That’ll be a two to three year project,” Gordon says.

“We’ll have 40 to 60 guys dedicated to the final restoration portion after the line is done. And then you have the decommissioning aspect, and we’re trying to help support that process also.”

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“If you Google me, you might see some angry photos of me protesting pipelines in the past,” laughs Kaella-Marie Earle, who is now a proud supporter of the energy industry across Canada.

Earle, 28, whose mother is a member of Aroland First Nation and father hails from Wiikwemkoong unceded Territory in Northern Ontario, recalls how it was the offer of a co-operative education placement during her undergraduate engineering program at Laurentian University in Sudbury that changed her mind on the role energy can play for not just Indigenous people in Canada, but all Canadians.

During her co-op interview with Enbridge Gas, she experienced a personal turning point when she was asked where she saw herself in five-years’ time.

“Without thinking, I said that in five years that I would be an active part of helping define what a transition to a low carbon economy means to industry,” says Earle.

“I surprised myself with that answer given my activist history, but it was something I truly believed – and that was my turning point.”

She describes how during that co-op term she hosted numerous cultural events for the region and led the district’s first National Indigenous Day celebrations, which led to a moment of clarity for her.

“I was asked by someone: What good does all this sharing do to help Indigenous people? I responded that just having a room full of people hearing our Indigenous experience and stories of trauma has been life-changing – for good.”

Earle describes the impact of that first co-op term, where she felt that she had accomplished more at Enbridge in those four months than her entire history as an anti-pipeline activist.

“I found myself in an industry that truly cares about listening to Indigenous people, truly cares about changing to address climate change, and is ready to hear from different people on how to do it so everyone benefits,” she says.

But she has used her activist motivation to help change perspectives on development in Canada. She believes the energy industry and Indigenous people must build partnership with each other as both groups need vital things that either party can provide to one another.

“Indigenous people need the capacity and business opportunity that energy can provide, and energy needs the culture that Indigenous people bring to the table in order to change the way it operates to address climate change,” she says.

This innovative and fresh perspective is why she was chosen to be a part of the Canadian Energy Regulator’s inaugural Indigenous Advisory Committee.

“I was shocked when I got the call to be a part to join this committee – I’m only a baby engineer,” says Earle, who just graduated with her chemical engineering degree this spring.

The committee will serve as an advisory of Indigenous people across Canada to the CER’s board of directors who will seek its advice on how to shape strategy related to integrating Indigenous rights and interests into its work and processes.

I found myself in an industry that truly cares about listening to Indigenous people, truly cares about changing to address climate change, and is ready to hear from different people on how to do it so everyone benefits.

The advisory board was established this month and is slated to meet for the first time in September. It has broad geographic representation from across Canada as well as cultural representation from all three Indigenous peoples of Canada – First Nations, Metis, and Inuit.

The committee’s contribution “will be key to transforming the CER’s relationship with Indigenous people in Canada,” board chair Cassie Doyle said in a statement.

Earle is excited to share her ideas on this national stage for how Indigenous communities and industry can work together in a much more streamlined environment of transparency and on-demand information access. She dreams of a new data bank where project proponents, Indigenous communities, and regulators can share information and update project progress.

“The Canadian energy industry has the capacity and talent to be as out-of-the-box-innovative and interesting as Apple or Google, so what’s stopping us?”