As a result of their deliberations, committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government of Canada. Recommendations related to this study are listed below.

Recommendation 1

The committee recommends that the Government of Canada designate a “one-stop shop” for detailed regional and national energy information that is accurate, timely, transparent, comprehensive, user-friendly, internally-consistent, free of charge, responsive to the needs of different sectors, and independent of political influence. To this end, the committee recommends that the government work with industry, civil society, research institutions, Indigenous governments and communities, and provincial/territorial governments to:

a)      assess the feasibility of housing the proposed information provider within an existing federal organization versus creating an entirely new Canadian energy information agency;

b)     ensure that the proposed energy information provider is politically independent and has sufficient legislative power to collect, validate, analyse and distribute energy data under competitive timelines;

c)      establish sufficient safeguards to protect the sensitivity and/or confidentiality of energy data reported by the public, private companies and other organizations; and

d)     incorporate best practices from international counterparts, where appropriate.

Recommendation 2

The committee recommends that the Government of Canada work with industry, research institutions, Indigenous governments and communities, and provincial/territorial governments to identify gaps in Canadian energy information, and to mitigate these gaps by providing financial, legal and/or administrative support to relevant data collectors, as needed.

Recommendation 3

The committee recommends that the federal government work with industry, civil society, research institutions, Indigenous governments and communities, and provincial/territorial governments to standardize energy definitions, measurements and reporting standards across Canadian jurisdictions and reporting organizations, and to ensure that these standards are consistent with international norms and best practices.