Primary energy production increased slightly from November; coal production increased slightly with coal exports increasing more so; slight increase in electricity production, mainly in hydro between November 2021 to March 2022; transit ridership down from November, March 2022 stats most recent data available.
Our goal is to visit different indicators influencing climate change below and their reporting processes as we come back to them later in the year to examine any progress. This is our second report, our first one was made available in April 2022.
The following indicators are taken from Statistics Canada monthly tables, the primary source found for this data. See our April report for further details on Statistics Canada’s commission.
- Consolidated energy usage (monthly)
Consolidated data includes primary (coal, crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, primary electricity, and renewable fuels) and secondary (coke, refined petroleum products, secondary electricity and thermal) energy sources by fuel type.
Primary energy production in March was 2.0 million terajoules (TJ) up slightly from 1.9 million TJ in November. In March, prices for crude oil, various refined petroleum products and natural gas continued to rise, coinciding with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent global sanctions banning the import of Russian oil. Simultaneously, global demand for energy products continued to rebound as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were eased or removed. Secondary energy production was similar in March with 429,838 TJ to that of November with 435,065 TJ with some variances in production. As of March, increases from November included:
| Natural gas | 674,362 TJ Nov 2021 | 702,090 TJ Mar 2022 |
| Crude oil | 934,413 TJ Nov 2021 | 952,354 TJ Mar 2022 |
Data source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2510007901
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR VALUE DATE AVAILABLE
Consolidated energy use – Nov 2021 2.37 million terajoules Feb 2022 (Baseline)
Consolidated energy use – Mar 2022 2.43 million terajoules June 2022
- Coal phase-out (monthly)
In March, total coal production was 2.95 million tonnes, compared to 2.8 million tonnes in November 2021 while exports increased from November 1.6 million tonnes to 2.5 million tonnes in March, representing 85.2% of March’s total monthly production. Similar to consolidated energy, there was higher demand due to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions as well as the uncertainty over energy supply due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
Data source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2510004601
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR VALUE DATE AVAILABLE
Coal production/exports Nov 2021 4.4 million tonnes Feb 2022 (baseline)
Coal production/exports Mar 2022 5.5 million tonnes June 2022
- Generation of electricity by fuel type (monthly)
Electricity generation in Canada edged up to 56.7 million megawatt-hours (MWh) in March, in comparison to 51.7 million MWh in November 2021. By generation type, in March this meant a breakdown of hydroelectricity 62.4%, nuclear 12.4%, wind/solar 7.1%, and combustible fuels/biomass 21%. Since November, most of the increase being hydro, and a small increase in nuclear mainly due to fewer maintenance outage days at some generation stations, also a small decline in wind/solar and combustible fuels production.
Data source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2510001501
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR VALUE DATE AVAILABLE
Electricity Fuels Nov 2021 51.7 million megawatt-hours Feb 2022 (baseline)
Electricity Fuels Mar 2021 56.7 million megawatt-hours June 2022
- Transit passenger trips
In March 2022, passenger bus and urban transit ridership was 85.8 million trips, thus a drop from November. Indications are for more ridership growth in April, with record-low unemployment along with record-high gas prices. Passenger volumes have now recovered 52.1% from March 2019, pre-pandemic. March 2022 has been the third highest ridership since the pandemic began. Transit use is rising with more people returning to physical workplaces, shopping in-store, dining out, attending events and learning in-class. Despite this jump, there were still about 78.9 million fewer riders in March 2022 compared to March 2019, before the pandemic.
Stats Canada reported in November 2021, ridership continued to grow, reaching 89.4 million passenger trips, the highest level then since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. However, passenger bus and urban transit data available (North American Industry Classification System: 485110) now shows 91.1 million for which our comparison is made above. Please note data are subject to revisions. Energy data are revised on an ongoing basis for each month of the current year to reflect new information provided by respondents and updates to administrative data. Historical revisions are also performed periodically.
Data source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2310025101
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR VALUE DATE AVAILABLE
Transit passenger trips Nov 2021 91.1 million (revised) Feb 2022 (baseline)
Transit passenger trips Mar 2022 85.8 million June 2022
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Canada Country Manager Diane Szoller