Ressources naturelles Canada | |
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Department overview | |
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Formed | 1994 |
Type | Department responsible for natural resources, energy, minerals and metals, forests, earth sciences, mapping and remote sensing |
Jurisdiction | Government of Canada |
Employees | 5,302 (2023) [1] |
Annual budget | CA$1.4 billion (2020–21) |
Minister responsible | |
Department executive |
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Child agencies |
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Website | www |
Natural ResourcesCanada (NRCan; French : Ressources naturelles Canada; RNCan) [NB 1] is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for natural resources, energy, minerals and metals, forests, earth sciences, mapping, and remote sensing. It was formed in 1994 by amalgamating the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources with the Department of Forestry.
Under the Constitution Act, 1867 , primary responsibility for natural resources falls to provincial governments, however, the federal government has jurisdiction over off-shore resources, trade and commerce in natural resources, statistics, international relations, and boundaries. The department administers federal legislation relating to natural resources, including energy, forests, minerals and metals. The department also collaborates with American and Mexican government scientists, along with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, to produce the North American Environmental Atlas, which is used to depict and track environmental issues for a continental perspective.
The current minister of natural resources is Jonathan Wilkinson. The department is governed by the Resources and Technical Surveys Act and the Department of Natural Resources Act.
The department currently has these sectors:
The following sub-agencies are attached to the department:
Acts for which Natural Resources Canada has responsibility
The minister of energy and natural resources is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).
The Canadian Forest Service is a sector of the Canadian government department of Natural Resources Canada. Part of the federal government since 1899, the CFS is a science-based policy organization responsible for promoting the sustainable development of Canada's forests and competitiveness of the forest sector to benefit present and future Canadians. Some of the research areas that the CFS is involved in include; forest fire, climate change, silviculture, soils, insects and disease, remote sensing and forest management. Since 1991 the sector has produced an annual report, The State of the Forest in Canada, which describes the status of the nation's forests and the forest industry.
The Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines (MENDM) was the ministry responsible for developing a safe, reliable and affordable energy supply across the province, overseeing Ontario’s mineral sector and promoting northern economic and community development. The ministry's head office is located in Sudbury. The last Minister of Northern Development and Mines was Hon. Greg Rickford. The Ministry's programs also include the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, and the creation and funding of local services boards to provide essential services in remote Northern Ontario communities which are not served by incorporated municipal governments.
The Ministry of Energy is a Cabinet-level agency of the government of the Canadian province of Alberta responsible for coordinating policy relating to the development of mineral and energy resources. It is also responsible for assessing and collecting non-renewable resource (NRR) royalties, freehold mineral taxes, rentals, and bonuses. The Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission, which is fully integrated with the Department of Energy within the ministry, and fully funded by the Crown, accepts delivery of the Crown's royalty share of conventional crude oil and sells it at the current market value. The current ministry was formed in 1986, but ministries with other names dealing with energy resources go back to the Ministry of Lands and Mines in 1930.
The California Department of Conservation is a department within the government of California, belonging to the California Natural Resources Agency. With a team of scientists, engineers, environmental experts, and other specialists, the Department of Conservation administers a variety of programs vital to California's public safety, environment and economy. The department's mission is to manage California's working lands. It regulates oil, natural gas and geothermal wells; studies and maps earthquakes and other geologic phenomena; maps and classifies areas containing mineral deposits; ensures reclamation of land used for mining; and administers agricultural and open-space land conservation programs. A division within the department dedicated to encouraging beverage container recycling has been moved into the newly created Department of Resources Recovery and Recycling (CalRecycle). Despite the similar name, the Department of Conservation should not be confused with the California Conservation Corps, another department within the Natural Resources Agency, which provides work experience for young adults. The Department of Conservation often collaborates with its federal equivalents, such as the U.S. Geological Survey.
The United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy is one of four subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Canada has access to all main sources of energy including oil and gas, coal, hydropower, biomass, solar, geothermal, wind, marine and nuclear. It is the world's second largest producer of uranium, third largest producer of hydro-electricity, fourth largest natural gas producer, and the fifth largest producer of crude oil. In 2006, only Russia, the People's Republic of China, the United States and Saudi Arabia produce more total energy than Canada.
Manitoba Environment and Climate Change is a department of the Government of Manitoba that is responsible for the management and protection of Manitoba's wildlife, water, species at risk, forestry, and other matters related to environmental stewardship and Manitoba's biodiversity of natural resources.
The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) was an independent, quasi-judicial agency of the Government of Alberta. It regulated the safe, responsible, and efficient development of Alberta's energy resources: oil, natural gas, oil sands, coal, and pipelines. Led by eight Board members, the ERCB's team of engineers, geologists, technicians, economists, and other professionals served Albertans from thirteen locations across the province.
The Alberta Geological Survey (AGS), founded in 1921, is the official provincial geological survey of Alberta, Canada and currently operates as a division within the Alberta Energy Regulator. The AGS provides geological information and advice about the geology of Alberta to the Government of Alberta, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), industry, and the public to support the exploration, sustainable development, regulation, and conservation of Alberta's resources.
Renewable energy in Canada represented 17.3% of the Total Energy Supply (TES) in 2020, following natural gas at 39.1% and oil at 32.7% of the TES.
A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-related research and development. The person in charge of such a department is usually known as a minister of energy or minister for energy.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, is a ministry of the Government of Malaysia that is responsible for energy, natural resources, environment, climate change, land, mines, minerals, geoscience, biodiversity, wildlife, national parks, forestry, surveying, mapping and geospatial data.
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is a quasi-judicial, independent agency regulating the development of energy resources in Alberta. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, the AER's mandate under the Responsible Energy Development Act (REDA) is "to provide for the efficient, safe, orderly and environmentally responsible development of energy resources and mineral resources in Alberta.”
Fracking in Canada was first used in Alberta in 1953 to extract hydrocarbons from the giant Pembina oil field, the biggest conventional oil field in Alberta, which would have produced very little oil without fracturing. Since then, over 170,000 oil and gas wells have been fractured in Western Canada. Fracking is a process that stimulates natural gas or oil in wellbores to flow more easily by subjecting hydrocarbon reservoirs to pressure through the injection of fluids or gas at depth causing the rock to fracture or to widen existing cracks.
This is a brief timeline covering the history of the petroleum industry Alberta and its predecessor states.
National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), is the regulatory authority for the electricity supply industry in South Africa.