Who We Are: The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA) represents Canada's transmission pipeline companies. Our members transport 97% of Canada's daily crude oil and natural gas production from producing regions to markets throughout Canada and the United States.

To Learn More about CEPA, click here to view a copy of our inaugural Integrity First Report.

Industry Viewpoints

The CEPA Industry Viewpoints include the following:

1. Safety & Integrity

Continuously improving the safety and integrity performance of pipelines will always be the top priority for CEPA members
Ensuring the operational integrity of our systems is important as it allows us to:
- effectively provide for the safety of the public, employees and the environment;
- provide reliability for customers and suppliers; and
- minimize operating costs while maintaining safety and reliability
According to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, transmission pipelines are the safest means of transporting the large volumes of oil and natural gas across Canada
CEPA and its member companies continue to provide leadership and direction to the industry in the area of pipeline safety by:
- Implementing rigorous integrity maintenance programs for pipeline systems;
- Participating in the development of national standards for pipelines;
- Developing industry recommended practices;
- Developing and participating in forums for sharing and exchanging knowledge; and
- Pursuing research in pipeline engineering and operations

Energy development must happen in a manner that emphasizes the minimization of the environmental footprint
Promoting conservation, technological advancement and energy literacy are key to protecting Canada’s environment and enabling Canada’s energy industry to provide a secure energy supply
Develop a Canadian climate change plan that is effective and sets targets that emphasize international competitiveness and recognize the cycle of capital investment and upgrading

Uncertain timelines, duplicative processes caused by overlapping federal and provincial/territorial regulatory regimes and a lack of efficiency within jurisdictions continue to impose unnecessary costs on the Canadian economy
Developing efficient and effective environmental regulatory processes that provide predictable, consistent and timely decisions will increase Canada’s competitive standing globally
Using performance or goal oriented regulation encourages the use of the best technologies and practices, which improves overall performance, and reduces the cost of compliance, thus spurring timely economic development
Pursuit of comprehensive regulatory improvement initiatives must not be allowed to impede the implementation of incremental improvements such as concurrency and substitution initiatives which can dramatically reduce project approval times
The cost of facility abandonment at the end of the useful life of pipelines or portions thereof may exceed the revenue generated from salvage, resulting in terminal negative salvage costs and potentially significant unfunded liabilities. Pipelines, federal regulators and policy makers, and the pipeline customers need to address this issue now that some pipeline systems are entering the mature phase of their useful lives

Ensure pipeline sector tax treatment is on par with other sectors of the Canadian economy so we can bring new supply to market in a timely and cost-effective manner
Ensure Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) rates provide depreciation allowances in line with the economic life of equipment and are competitive with U.S. rates
Measures that promote technology commercialization, not just R&D, so as to spur energy efficiency investments are required
Provincial and municipal governments must take into account the consequential impacts of their taxation, funding and financing policies when looking to develop new, or change existing, policy

Infrastructure projects on or crossing lands where there is an Aboriginal right or interest are often subjected to delays due to unresolved land claims and/or lack of clarity on regulatory responsibility
The Government of Canada must communicate to Aboriginal Peoples the importance of de-linking land claims issues from commercial project proposals and demonstrate that Aboriginal claims issues will be expedited if they do so
Governments must define and deliver on their fiduciary responsibilities for Aboriginal Peoples by addressing Aboriginal rights and interests and how regulatory processes address government fiduciary responsibilities
In the interim, Crown consultation processes with Aboriginal Peoples on specific project proposals must be concurrent with other federal/provincial/Aboriginal regulatory review processes

In order for CEPA members to connect oil and natural gas supplies to market, they must be able to access land on reasonable terms and conditions, at fair market value and within a fixed time period
Pipeline regulations and standards need an improved focus on the manner in which land use decisions can affect the risks associated with increased human activity in the vicinity of pipelines
Governments must work with industry to develop standards for land use
CEPA members remain committed to achieving our goal of operating safe pipelines and being good neighbours by working with landowners, communities, contractors, government, regulatory agencies and other associated industries to identify best practices that help establish land use standards

CEPA members are committed to protecting employee health and safety
We do this by providing a forum for member companies to share and promote best practices in health and safety, working with government and industry stakeholders in sharing information and developing industry recommended practices, and measuring and reporting on our performance in health and safety

Inclusion in the plan of previous commitments made to us by the Government of Canada are positive
Reduction projections in the plan are likely overly optimistic and discussion areound the details for plan implementation need to begin immediately
Members of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA) agree with Canadians that climate change is an issue that must be dealt with, and that it deserves a made-in Canada solution
Canada's climate change actions need to be tailored to our energy intensive and export based economy, and must enable us to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maintain a strong economy
Energy consumers, both individual and corporate, must continue to improve their energy efficiency practices
The Government of Canada's desire to use the Candian Environmental Protection Act to regulate climate change is a poor choice, as is its decision to include this aspect of climate change legislation in the Budget Bill
The purpose of the Act is to regulate toxic substances such as mercury, arsenic and other mutagens and carcinogens, not GHG's such as carbon dioxide - an essential building block of life
CEPA supports splitting the Budget bill in order to give proper consideration to the provisions regarding greenhouse gas regulations