Program description
The Canadian Centre for Energy Information (CCEI) is an ongoing partnership between Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Statistics Canada (StatCan), in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the Canada Energy Regulator (CER). It was allocated $15.2 million (M) five-year (2019-20 to 2023-24) and $3.4M ongoing to compile energy data from several sources into a single centralized, accessible, and easy-to-use website and to improve the overall energy information available to Canadians, decision-makers, stakeholders, and industry (i.e., data quality, data quantity, availability).
The CCEI has three main lines of work
- Access: Simplifying access to Canada’s energy information through a user-friendly website with advanced functionalities.
- Data: Working with partners to identify and mitigate data gaps, standardize energy definitions, and reconcile data.
- Engagement: Strategic direction in improving the state of Canada’s energy information is guided by structured engagement with stakeholders.
1000 government and non- government sources integrated into the portal.
The CCEI website launched in 2020, and user visits have increased 50% year-over- year since.
CCEI provides detailed national, provincial and territorial information on coal, crude oil, electricity, natural gas, refined petroleum products, renewable energy, uranium and nuclear energy, and energy / resources sector workforce.
Evaluation findings
Canada’s new energy information system is relevant and collaborative and has made it easier for information users to find data and analyses to make informed decisions.
CCEI is well-positioned to support Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (2022), low carbon fuels initiatives, and open data strategies among other initiatives, in a way that is transparent and accountable. Ongoing improvements in Canada’s overall system of statistical energy data, including the CCEI, are necessary to facilitate better decision-making by policy makers, industry, researchers, and Canadians.
The CCEI achieved all immediate outcomes. Most stakeholders agreed that the CCEI is user-friendly and easy to navigate. While further advancement of elements such as data visualizations could increase use, satisfying the demand for more granular and timely data would involve broader systemic changes to Canada’s overall energy information system and a significant increase in resources.
Though its launch was relatively recent, the CCEI has made some progress towards its longer-term outcomes. However, there was limited data available to fully assess the CCEI’s achievement of its intermediate and ultimate outcomes.
There is a need to review the governance of the CCEI and better leverage the value of this federal family collaboration. Though they were engaged in the its initial stages, more work also needs to be done to better address the needs of provinces and territories as the CCEI matures.
Lessons learned
- Bringing energy information into a ‘one-stop shop’ was seen as a best practice.
- CCEI was viewed as a successful ‘pathfinder’ project at StatCan towards a more inclusive and dynamic delivery model.
| Recommendations and management response and action plan | |
|---|---|
| 1. Working collaboratively, NRCan and StatCan should further enhance the effectiveness of collaborative work planning and internal tasking prioritization, with a focus on federal leadership in data harmonization and on filling data gaps identified in the evaluation. |
Management response: Management agrees. Working collaboratively, NRCan and StatCan will undertake medium to long-term planning for the CCEI initiative, in consultation with federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) partners, while identifying opportunities to improve the collaborative work planning and prioritization process. While comparisons to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) are understandable, significant changes to CCEI’s mandate, budget, and legal authority would be required to match the standard of the EIA. By the end of September 2026, management will develop a five-year work plan with consistent year-to-year tracking of deliverables to prioritize improvements that can realistically be addressed by the CCEI within current funding levels. The expertise of FPT partners will be leveraged to identify best practices and support future work. The five-year plan will build on recently launched foundational tools, including the Stat Data Explorer and High Frequency Electricity Data (HFED) visualization tool. |
| 2. In light of operational changes, such as the direct to StatCan funding model and StatCan program mainstreaming, NRCan and StatCan should collaboratively re-examine the CCEI’s governance. |
Management response: Management agrees. Working collaboratively, NRCan and StatCan, in consultation with other federal partner departments and provincial/territorial counterparts, will re-examine the CCEI’s governance in light of the strategic direction of the CCEI. Existing governance structures will be reviewed, and best practices will be appraised. Consideration will be given to maximizing the use of existing governance mechanisms or other meeting fora, balancing senior-level strategic engagement and working level discussions, with a view to leveraging subject matter expertise and optimizing participation/collaboration among federal departments and agencies. An updated governance structure with terms of reference for relevant committees will be approved by the end of September 2026. |
| 3. Working collaboratively, NRCan and StatCan should revise the CCEI’s performance measurement framework. |
Management response: Management agrees. Working collaboratively, StatCan and NRCan will update the performance measurement framework for the CCEI initiative by the end of March 2026. This will include selecting key performance indicators to effectively measure progress against outcomes, identifying data requirements and sources of data, and setting targets and timelines for achievement of performance measures. The framework will be reviewed on a regular basis to maintain robust performance measurement. |
About the evaluation
- The evaluation was led by NRCan’s Audit and Evaluation Branch with the support of StatCan’s Evaluation Division. The evaluation was required to meet a Treasury Board commitment.
- The evaluation covered the period from April 2018 to March 2024. The CCEI is constantly evolving and as such, progress on outcomes may have been made following the evaluation period.
Conducted 32 interviews with stakeholders and staff
Reviewed ~100 internal reports and documents
Compared CCEI web portal with five similar international initiatives