Introduction

Sector Sustainability Tables

Sector Sustainability Tables (SSTs) are a multi-stakeholder mechanism created by the Government of Canada to provide advice on how best to attain the highest level of environmental quality, as a means to enhance the health and well-being of Canadians, preserve our natural environment, and advance our long-term competitiveness. Currently, SSTs have been established for the Energy, Mining, and Forests sectors.

The Energy Sector Sustainability Table (ESST) was established in 2005 with a mandate to advise the government on how to meet the energy needs of Canadians, to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of energy systems in Canada and to make recommendations on both short-term and long-term sustainable energy objectives. The table is co-chaired by senior representatives of government and industry and includes senior representatives from federal and provincial governments, industry, and civil society organizations.

About the Economic Scan

Discussions by the ESST to date have reflected on the view that Canadians should appreciate the significance of energy in the country’s economy and environment. In light of this, the ESST tasked Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to develop two products: an environmental scan and an economic scan related to energy. The two products serve as companion reports providing detailed environmental and economic facts to inform decision making.

NRCan led the development of the economic scan, which provides the following:

• An overview of the contribution of the energy sector to Canada’s economy, including such macroeconomic variables as value added, external trade, employment, expenditures and government revenues; and
• A better understanding of the magnitude and distribution of Canada’s varied energy resources, together with baseline information on production and consumption.

Facts and statistics presented in this document reflect information available at the end of 2007.

Organization of the economic scan

The economic scan is organized as follows:

• Chapter 1. International context
• Chapter 2. Energy and the Canadian economy
• Chapter 3. Canada’s primary energy resources
• Chapter 4. Electricity
• Chapter 5. Secondary energy use
• Chapter 6. Energy science and technology
• Annex 1. Provincial and territorial tables

The first chapter, “International context,” provides an overview of global energy trends and underlines Canada’s stature as a world leader in energy production and use.

The second chapter, “Energy and the Canadian economy,” highlights the economic importance of Canada’s energy sector by quantifying its contribution to key macroeconomic variables. It also discusses the importance of energy on other sectors of the economy.

The third chapter, “Canada’s primary energy resources,” shows the full scope of energy resources, from oil, natural gas and coal to uranium and renewable resources. For each primary resource, tables and graphs convey the level of resources, current production, external trade, domestic consumption and price.

Where appropriate, the processing and distribution system and the outlook for each energy resource are also provided. Most of the forward-looking information and analysis is derived from Canada’s Energy Outlook: The Reference Case 2006, published by NRCan.

As well, regional differences within Canada for energy resources are assessed. Additional comparative information is found in Annex 1, “Provincial and territorial tables.”

The fourth chapter, “Electricity,” builds on the information in the third chapter, since electricity is an energy carrier, rather than an energy resource. This chapter covers the generation (broken down by source), trade, consumption, prices and reliability of electricity. 

The fifth chapter, “Secondary energy use,” is devoted to the sectors that use energy that is produced in or imported to Canada: the industrial, commercial, residential and transportation sectors. Trends in energy consumption and information on energy efficiency are presented for each sector.

The sixth chapter, “Energy science and technology,” includes statistics on energy-related expenditures on research and development by the private and public sectors.

Finally, Annex 1 contains supplemental information, including disaggregated information for each province and territory.