CER oversight of recent incidents

We work hard to prevent any incident from happening. Whether it’s through an inspection, education about safety culture, or a technical review of an application, our job is to check that companies have everything they need in place to keep everyone safe. If an incident still occurs, our priority is to ensure that a company’s response protects people and the environment.

If needed, we may:

• send staff to the site
• decide to initiate an emergency response
• take enforcement action to ensure safety

Understanding what happened

After an incident, we need to find out what caused it. We also need to understand and act upon what we find out. Our goal is to make sure that we avoid a repeat of any incident. So, this is an important step for us, and one that we take very seriously.

• We collect, analyze, and publish data and information about all incidents reported to the CER. We do this to identify trends and ways to work with industry to improve how to keep energy moving safely.
• We may also issue safety or information advisories about certain issues identified following an incident that everyone needs to be aware of.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) may also choose to investigate the causes of an incident affecting infrastructure we regulate. In these circumstances, the TSB becomes the lead federal agency investigating the cause and contributing factors. Our inspectors and technical staff work closely with the TSB during their investigation. However, the analysis and regulatory oversight we do during a TSB investigation is our own and is focused on preventing the incident from happening again.

Recent incidents

Below are incidents that have been immediately reported to us over the last few years, where the CER has actively responded and provided public updates on our actions.

We’ve gathered them to help you get a clear picture of what we are doing to ensure public safety and protect the environment. Details on all incidents reported to us, and our actions, can be found in our safety performance dashboard or in our reports on compliance and enforcement.

Need information on an incident

For information or reports on earlier regulatory work done related to an incident, email info@cer-rec.gc.ca or contact the CER Library.

Date modified:

2021-02-03