To highlight key powerful players within Canada’s fossil fuel industry, we developed the Fossil-Power Top 50 listing, with detailed profiles for the most influential organizations in and around the sector. The Fossil-Power Top 50 was assembled over the past four years as the Corporate Mapping Project team conducted extensive research on the economic organization of the industry and its reach into wider society.
Download the Fossil-Power Top 50 here »
Our listing focuses on extractive corporations with the greatest emissions footprint (including end-use emissions when extracted fossil fuels are consumed), corporations that play a particularly central role within a provincial jurisdiction or sub-sector of the industry, and organizations that facilitate or promote continued expansion and dependence on fossil fuel extraction.
Each profile contains details on the corporation, its background, how it exerts influence on communities and/or public policy, and a visual map showing its connections to other players in the fossil fuel industry as well as the wider corporate sector and notable connections to public bodies, think tanks, industry groups, etc.
The Fossil-Power Top 50 is organized in three categories:
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- Emitters – Corporations based in Western Canada that are directly involved extracting, processing and transporting oil, gas and coal.
- Enablers – Organizations that enable fossil fuel production such as banks and industry-friendly regulators.
- Legitimators – Organizations that persuade the public or political elites that ‘business as usual’ must continue or that a timely shift away from dependence on fossil fuels is unfeasible or unnecessary. Legitimators include industry associations, think tanks, lobby groups, business councils and pro-oil advocacy groups.
| Case Study | Head Office | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta Chamber of Resources | Edmonton, Alberta | Legitimator |
| Alberta Energy Regulator | Calgary, Alberta | Enabler |
| Arc Resources | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| ATCO | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Bank of Montreal | Toronto, Ontario | Enabler |
| Bank of Nova Scotia | Toronto, Ontario | Enabler |
| BC Oil and Gas Commission | Victoria & Fort St. John, British Columbia | Enabler |
| Business Council of British Columbia | Vancouver, British Columbia | Legitimator |
| Business Council of Canada | Ottawa, Ontario | Legitimator |
| C3 Alliance | Vancouver, British Columbia | Enabler |
| Canada Action | N/A | Legitimator |
| Canada West Foundation | Calgary, Alberta | Legitimator |
| Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) | Calgary, Alberta | Legitimator |
| Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA) | Calgary, Alberta | Legitimator |
| Canadian Gas Association | Ottawa, Ontario | Legitimator |
| Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) | Toronto, Ontario | Enabler |
| Canadian Natural Resources Limited | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) | Calgary, Alberta | Legitimator |
| Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board | Toronto, Ontario | Enabler |
| C.D. Howe Institute | Toronto, Ontario | Legitimator |
| Cenovus Energy | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Crescent Point Energy Corporation | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Edwards School of Business | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | Legitimator |
| Enbridge | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Encana | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Energy Council of Canada | Ottawa, Ontario | Legitimator |
| Fraser Institute | Vancouver, British Columbia | Legitimator |
| Gibson Energy | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Husky Energy | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Imperial Oil | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Kinder Morgan Canada | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| LNG Canada | N/A | Emitter |
| MacDonald-Laurier Institute | Ottawa, Ontario | Legitimator |
| Manning Centre for Building Democracy | Calgary, Alberta | Legitimator |
| MEG Energy | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| National Energy Board | Calgary, Alberta | Enabler |
| Nexen Energy (CNOOC) | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Pembina Pipeline Corporation | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Power Corporation of Canada | Toronto, Ontario & Montreal, Quebec | Enabler |
| The Rebel Media | Toronto, Ontario | Legitimator |
| Resource Works | Vancouver, British Columbia | Legitimator |
| Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) | Toronto, Ontario | Enabler |
| Shell Canada | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Suncor | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| Teck Resources | Vancouver, British Columbia | Emitter |
| Toronto-Dominion Bank | Toronto, Ontario | Enabler |
| Tourmaline Oil Corporation | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| TransAlta | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| TransCanada | Calgary, Alberta | Emitter |
| University of Calgary | Calgary, Alberta | Legitimator |
