What We’re Doing: Social impacts

We will provide a safe environment for our employees, contractors, and the communities where we operate.

We will provide employment and business opportunities for regional communities, including Aboriginal peoples.

We will consult with directly-affected stakeholders through all stages of our operations.

The oil sands industry employs 456,000 Canadians, directly and indirectly, and invests over $1.7 trillion into the Canadian economy. As the industry grows, so do the associated challenges. Rural residents face increased construction activity and traffic on local roads, and communities struggle to meet the pressure placed on infrastructure, housing and schools.

The oil sands industry is committed, and required, to work with local communities to minimize social impacts while contributing to their economic well-being. Public involvement includes community relations, aboriginal relations, human resources and transparency and sustainability reporting.

Community relations

Oil sands operators believe that effective public involvement and community relations with the people living near exploration and production activity help them earn their license to operate.

The area containing the largest oil sands operations is the Wood Buffalo region. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo along with the Oil Sands Developers Group and Suncor Energy teamed up a few years ago to develop the first Sustainable Community Indicators for that region. The committee used 21 indicators, such as economy, environment, crime, housing, etc, and used them to measure that region’s quality of life, identify pressure points and track progress toward sustainability.

Oil sands operators devote significant time and money towards having a positive and relevant impact on the community. For example, as indoor activities are preferred in cold northern climates, Syncrude responded to this community need in early 2009 and donated $95,000 towards a new indoor playground that was added to the top floor of Wood Buffalo YMCA. The playground features haul trucks, a crane and a climbing wall. As well, in late 2008, Syncrude committed to donating over $500,000 over the next two years as part of a partnership with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to enhance the youth multi-purpose room within Fort Chipewyan’s Archie Simpson Arena. Just prior to that, the company donated $50,000 to the Fort McMurray Food Bank.

Suncor, who donated $4.1 million to Wood Buffalo in 2008 alone, recently announced a $2.5 million investment in a new performing arts centre in Fort McMurray. The centre will include a 350-seat theatre and a professional dance studio among other facilities. As well, in the summer of 2008, the company announced a five year commitment of $2 million toward the Northern Lights Regional Health Foundation. The funds will go towards health and wellness programs and services as well as the purchase of new medical equipment.

Education is also valued highly by the oil sands companies in their community investment initiatives. For example, in 2008, Suncor funded Project Webfoot, an educational program put on by Duck's Unlimited Canada (DUC). Through the program, 25 Grade 5 classes in Fort McMurray received information about wetlands in the classroom, as well as a field trip to Crane Lake, a local wetland. Over the next three years, the Suncor Energy Foundation will invest $89,000 in Project Webfoot, allowing approximately 2,000 Grade 5 students from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to experience the wetlands firsthand and develop an appreciation for the need for conservation. The company also donated $145,000 to the Northland School Division in Wood Buffalo to help purchase and install a videoconferencing system that will allow the 24 schools in the area to connect and share resources.

EnCana has teamed up with Olympic athletes to showcase Olympic-calibre women's hockey in rural communities, while raising funds that remain the communities. In 2007, the games were played in Athabasca, Cold Lake and Bashaw, Alberta as well as Unity, Saskatchewan. EnCana matched all funds raised, totaling $87,600 to support local minor hockey associations and family-based organizations.

Aboriginal relations

Oil sands operators recognize the unique interests and constitutional rights of Aboriginal communities, and support the development of strong business relationships and partnerships based on trust and respect. Current objectives include:

• encouraging the development and support of enduring and mutually beneficial relationships between the energy industry and Aboriginal people, businesses and communities;
• supporting efforts in the areas of employment, business opportunities, education and training as the best means of contributing to enduring and mutually beneficial relationships with Aboriginal people and their communities;
• promoting an understanding among all parties of the respective roles of industry, government and Aboriginal people and communities; and
• working with and supporting Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) member companies to integrate responses to Aboriginal concerns.

Imperial Oil established an advisory committee with Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) in 2007 in order to establish a forum to meet with local residents and engage in ongoing communication around the Kearl oil sands project and its impacts. As Imperial looks to reclaim much of the land, especially lakes affected by mining in the Kearl project, traditional knowledge such as planning land contouring, selecting the right vegetation and learning more about local fish and wildlife habitats is extremely valuable. It was through consultation with elders and the sharing of traditional land use knowledge that Imperial Oil learned Kearl Lake is too shallow for fish to survive over the winter. Imperial Oil altered its reclamation plans to include three smaller but deeper lakes, instead of one large lake, to improve water flow and oxygen levels.

Imperial Oil also runs the Native Internship Program which was designed to break down employment barriers and create opportunities for Aboriginal peoples in the Cold Lake region looking for long-term employment. The program allows Aboriginal people to continue residing in their local community and earn a wage throughout the training process. Since being introduced, Imperial has hired 100 per cent of program graduates, which amounts to 16 in total. As a result, Aboriginal representation in Cold Lake's wage population has grown from 2.6 to 13 per cent.

EnCana offers a training program to Aboriginal students at Fort McMurray’s Keyano College in northern Alberta. It is helping create a local, skilled workforce trained in the environmental fields the industry needs. Since EnCana’s initial $200,000 donation to the program in 2006, seven students have graduated are most are now working in their field. EnCana and ConocoPhillips have since committed an additional $1 million to the program.

EnCana also has a successful working relationship with Pimee Well Servicing Ltd., an Aboriginal-owned oilfield service company in northeastern Alberta. Pimee services about one-third of EnCana’s wells in the area. Of its 50 employees, over 90% are Aboriginal people.

Petro-Canada also collaborates with First Nations communities to ensure oil sands operations are based on mutual interests. Because Petro-Canada's Fort Hills mining project significantly impacts the lifestyle of the Mikisew Cree First Nations, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations, and Fort McKay First Nations, the company works to help them participate in the benefits in terms that are meaningful to their communities. The Fort Hills project approval includes 180 regulatory conditions and commitments to develop the Athabasca Region’s socio-economic prosperity. These commitments focus on several key areas. One of those is increasing educational opportunities through introducing more training activities, offering summer student employment programs and assisting with transitioning from high school to post secondary education. Petro-Canada also supports a wide range of grass roots community initiatives and has even opened an office right in the Fort Chipewyan community.

Human resources

Alberta's oil sands region is expected to need over 100,000 workers by 2015. Attracting under-represented demographic groups – including women, Aboriginal peoples, immigrants and visible minorities – will not only help industry meet its human resource needs, it will also help to ensure that a diverse group of Canadians benefits from oil and gas activity.

Transparency and reporting

CAPP and its members understand that they must be a responsible resource sector that benefits all Canadians. They are accountable for their actions, and issue annual reports and corporate responsibility reports to the public on their progress and activities for the year.

Health and Safety

Worker health and safety is a priority for oil sands operators. All workers receive safety training, so everyone understands common risks and how to reduce them. Worker competency and certification is required, to ensure that individuals have the experience and training to carry out their work. Green worker programs provide practical, on-site mentorship from more experienced staff. And drug and alcohol testing and treatment and fatigue management ensure that workers are not impaired.

At Suncor Energy, the goal is to make its mining, drilling and upgrading operations accident-free zones. The company recognized that changing mindsets towards a safety culture would be a long-term commitment of time and resources. Over the past five years, more than 10,000 employees and contractors have attended 125 days of workshops and participated in specialized on-the-job training programs and safety awareness seminars. As a result, Lost Time Injury Frequency and Recordable Injury frequency have improved significantly. Suncor's oil sands upgrading facilities have gone more than 10 million hours without a lost time injury, and its mining division has posted three million injury-free hours. In 2006, Suncor completed an injury-free year among its 1,300 mining employees, including 350 new hires. Suncor also honours employees who "do it right" with their annual President's Operational Excellence Awards, which honours the employees and contractors who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to health and safety.

Oil sands operators currently collect significant amounts of safety performance data to measure whether their efforts are effective. However, differences in definitions and collection methodologies between companies, reporting programs and Canadian jurisdictions make it hard to benchmark performance against peers or industry averages. In response, CAPP has formed a Safety Metrics Task Group to develop a common approach to data collection to improve the consistency and quality of measurements.