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Canadian Energy Regulator Act (S.C. 2019, c. 28, s. 10)

Act current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2022-06-23. Previous Versions

Canadian Energy Regulator Act

S.C. 2019, c. 28, s. 10

Assented to 2019-06-21

An Act to establish the Canadian Energy Regulator

[Enacted by section 10 of chapter 28 of the Statutes of Canada, 2019, in force August 28, 2019, see SI/2019-86.]
Preamble

Whereas the Government of Canada is establishing an independent energy regulatory body that is responsible for ensuring that pipeline, power line and offshore renewable energy projects within Parliament’s jurisdiction are constructed, operated and abandoned in a safe and secure manner that protects people, property and the environment;

Whereas the Government of Canada is of the opinion that the body should be reflective and respectful of the diversity of Canada, including with respect to the Indigenous peoples of Canada, and of its regional diversity and bilingual nature;

Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to enhancing Canada’s global competitiveness by building a system that enables decisions to be made in a predictable and timely manner, providing certainty to investors and stakeholders, driving innovation and enabling the carrying out of sound projects that create jobs for Canadians;

Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to achieving reconciliation with First Nations, the Métis and the Inuit through renewed nation-to-nation, government-to-government and Inuit-Crown relationships based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership;

Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to using transparent processes that are built on early engagement and inclusive participation and under which the best available scientific information and data as well as Indigenous knowledge are taken into account in decision-making;

And whereas the Government of Canada is committed to assessing how groups of women, men and gender-diverse people may experience policies, programs and projects and to taking actions that contribute to an inclusive and democratic society and allow all Canadians to participate fully in all spheres of their lives;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

 This Act may be cited as the Canadian Energy Regulator Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

 The following definitions apply in this Act.

abandoned facility

abandoned facility means an abandoned pipeline or an abandoned offshore facility. (installation abandonnée)

abandoned offshore facility

abandoned offshore facility means any facility, equipment, system or offshore power line that has been abandoned in accordance with an authorization issued under Part 5. (installation extracôtière abandonnée)

abandoned pipeline

abandoned pipeline means a pipeline the operation of which has been abandoned in accordance with an order under subsection 241(1) and that remains in place. (pipeline abandonné)

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer means the Chief Executive Officer appointed under subsection 21(1). (président-directeur général)

company

company includes

  • (a) a person having authority under a Special Act to construct or operate a pipeline; and

  • (b) a body corporate incorporated or continued under the Canada Business Corporations Act or an Act of the legislature of a province and not discontinued under the Act in question. (compagnie)

designated officer

designated officer means an employee of the Regulator designated under section 24. (responsable désigné)

export

export means, in relation to

  • (a) electricity, to send from a place in Canada by a line of wire or other conductor electricity produced in Canada;

  • (b) oil,

    • (i) to export within the meaning of any provision of the Energy Administration Act that defines export for the purposes of any charge imposed under that Act in relation to fuel for use by an aircraft or a vessel,

    • (ii) to send or take, by any means, from a place in Canada, or

    • (iii) to send or take, by any means, to a place outside Canada from any area of land, not within a province, that belongs to Her Majesty in right of Canada or in respect of which Her Majesty in right of Canada has the right to dispose of or exploit the natural resources and that is situated in submarine areas in the internal waters of Canada, the territorial sea of Canada or the continental shelf of Canada; or

  • (c) gas, to effect any one of the operations referred to in subparagraph (b)(ii) or (iii). (exportation)

gas

gas means

  • (a) any hydrocarbon or mixture of hydrocarbons that, at a temperature of 15°C and a pressure of 101.325 kPa, is in a gaseous state; or

  • (b) any substance designated as a gas product by regulations made under section 390. (gaz)

ground disturbance

ground disturbance means a ground disturbance other than one that

  • (a) is caused by any activity that is specified in the orders or regulations made in respect of pipelines under section 335 or made in respect of international or interprovincial power lines under section 275;

  • (b) is, in relation to a pipeline, caused by cultivation to a depth of less than 45 cm below the surface of the ground; or

  • (c) is, in relation to a pipeline, caused by any other activity to a depth of less than 30 cm and that does not result in a reduction of the earth cover over the pipeline to a depth that is less than the cover provided when the pipeline was constructed. (remuement du sol)

hydrocarbon

hydrocarbon means a hydrocarbon other than coal. (hydrocarbure)

import

import means, in relation to gas or oil, to bring into Canada through pipelines, by railway tank car, by tank truck or by tanker. (importation)

Indigenous governing body

Indigenous governing body means a council, government or other entity that is authorized to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people that holds rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. (corps dirigeant autochtone)

Indigenous knowledge

Indigenous knowledge means the Indigenous knowledge of the Indigenous peoples of Canada. (connaissances autochtones)

Indigenous organization

Indigenous organization means an Indigenous governing body or any other entity that represents the interests of an Indigenous group and its members. (organisation autochtone)

Indigenous peoples of Canada

Indigenous peoples of Canada has the meaning assigned by the definition aboriginal peoples of Canada in subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982. (peuples autochtones du Canada)

inspection officer

inspection officer means a person designated under subsection 102(1). (inspecteur)

international power line

international power line means facilities that are constructed or operated for the purpose of transmitting electricity from a place in Canada to a place outside Canada or from a place outside Canada to a place in Canada. It does not however include an offshore power line. (ligne internationale de transport d’électricité ou ligne internationale)

interprovincial power line

interprovincial power line means facilities that are constructed or operated for the purpose of transmitting electricity from a place in a province to a place in another province. (ligne interprovinciale de transport d’électricité ou ligne interprovinciale)

land registrar

land registrar means an officer with whom titles, rights or interests relating to real property or immovables are registered or recorded. (directeur de l’enregistrement)

lands

lands includes real property and any interest or right in real property or land and, in Quebec, any immovable, any right in an immovable and the right of a lessee in respect of any immovable. Those interests or rights may be in, to, on, under, over or in respect of the lands. (terrains)

Minister

Minister means the member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada designated under section 8. (ministre)

navigable water

navigable water has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Canadian Navigable Waters Act. (eaux navigables)

offshore area

offshore area means

  • (a) the part of the internal waters of Canada or of the territorial sea of Canada that is not situated in

    • (i) a province other than the Northwest Territories, or

    • (ii) the onshore, as defined in section 2 of the Northwest Territories Act; and

  • (b) the continental shelf of Canada and the waters superjacent to the seabed of that shelf. (zone extracôtière)

offshore power line

offshore power line means facilities constructed or operated for the purpose of transmitting electricity from an offshore renewable energy project to a province or a place outside Canada. (ligne extracôtière)

offshore renewable energy project

offshore renewable energy project means any of the following that are carried on in the offshore area:

  • (a) any research or assessment conducted in relation to the exploitation or potential exploitation of a renewable resource to produce energy;

  • (b) any exploitation of a renewable resource to produce energy;

  • (c) any storage of energy produced from a renewable resource; or

  • (d) any transmission of such energy, other than the transmission of electricity to a province or a place outside Canada. (projet d’énergie renouvelable extracôtière)

oil

oil means

  • (a) any hydrocarbon or mixture of hydrocarbons other than gas; or

  • (b) any substance designated as an oil product by regulations made under section 390. (pétrole)

penalty

penalty means an administrative monetary penalty imposed under this Act for a violation. (pénalité)

pipeline

pipeline means a line — including all branches, extensions, tanks, reservoirs, storage or loading facilities, pumps, racks, compressors, interstation communication systems, real or personal property, or immovable or movable, and any connected works — that connects at least two provinces or extends beyond the limits of a province, Sable Island or an area referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition designated area in section 368 and that is used or is to be used for the transmission of oil, gas or any other commodity. It does not however include a sewer or water pipeline that is used or is to be used solely for municipal purposes. (pipeline)

power line

power line means an international power line, an interprovincial power line or an offshore power line. (ligne de transport d’électricité)

regulated facility

regulated facility means a pipeline, an international power line, an interprovincial power line designated by an order made under section 261, an offshore power line, or any facility, equipment or system that is related to an offshore renewable energy project. (installation réglementée)

Regulator

Regulator means the corporation established under subsection 10(1). (Régie)

Special Act

Special Act means

  • (a) an Act of Parliament that authorizes a person named in the Act to construct or operate a pipeline or that is enacted with special reference to a pipeline that, by such an Act, a person is authorized to construct or operate; and

  • (b) letters patent issued under section 5.1 or 5.4 of the Canada Corporations Act, chapter C-32 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, except for the purpose of paragraph 342(b) of this Act. (loi spéciale)

toll

toll includes any rate, charge or allowance charged or made

  • (a) for the shipment, transportation, transmission, care, handling or delivery of hydrocarbons or of another commodity that is transmitted through a pipeline, or for storage or demurrage, or the like;

  • (b) for the provision of a pipeline when the pipeline is available and ready to provide for the transmission of oil or gas; and

  • (c) in respect of the purchase and sale of gas that is the property of a company and that is transmitted by the company through its pipeline, excluding the cost to the company of the gas at the point where it enters the pipeline. (droit)

Marginal note:Rights of Indigenous peoples of Canada

 For greater certainty, nothing in this Act is to be construed as abrogating or derogating from the protection provided for the rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada by the recognition and affirmation of those rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Marginal note:Application — Special Act lands

 A provision of this Act or a regulation made under it that applies to lands also applies to lands referred to in a Special Act.

Marginal note:Powers of liquidators, trustees, etc.

  •  (1) For the purposes of this Act, each of the following is considered to be a company:

    • (a) a liquidator, receiver or manager of the property of a company, appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction to carry on the business of the company;

    • (b) a trustee — or the holder of a power of attorney within the meaning of the Civil Code of Québec — for the holders of bonds, debentures, debenture stock or other evidence of indebtedness of the company, secured under a trust deed, an act constituting a hypothec within the meaning of the Civil Code of Québec or other instrument or act, on or against the property of the company, if the trustee or holder is authorized by the instrument or act to carry on the business of the company; and

    • (c) a person, other than a company,

      • (i) operating a pipeline constructed before October 1, 1953, or

      • (ii) constructing, operating or abandoning a pipeline exempted from subsection 179(1) by an order made by the Commission under subsection 214(1).

  • Marginal note:Administrator in Quebec

    (2) In Quebec, the administrator of the property of the company appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction to carry on the business of the company is also considered to be the company.

  • Marginal note:Successor or assign — abandoned pipeline

    (3) For the purposes of this Act, a successor or assign of a company is considered to be a company for any matter relating to an abandoned pipeline.

Purpose

Marginal note:Purpose of Act

 The purpose of this Act is to regulate certain energy matters within Parliament’s jurisdiction and, in particular,

  • (a) to ensure that pipelines and power lines as well as facilities, equipment or systems related to offshore renewable energy projects, are constructed, operated and abandoned in a manner that is safe, secure and efficient and that protects people, property and the environment;

  • (b) to ensure that the exploration for and exploitation of oil and gas, as defined in section 2 of the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act, is carried out in a manner that is safe and secure and that protects people, property and the environment;

  • (c) to regulate trade in energy products; and

  • (d) to ensure that regulatory hearings and decision-making processes related to those energy matters are fair, inclusive, transparent and efficient.

General

Marginal note:Binding on Her Majesty

 This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

Marginal note:Order designating Minister

 The Governor in Council may, by order, designate any member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada to be the Minister for the purposes this Act.

 

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