RECONCILIATION IN ACTION: CENOVUS BUILDS NEW HOMES AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Cenovus works closely with Indigenous communities near our operations to ensure they share in the benefits of resource development. We believe advancing Indigenous reconciliation means taking meaningful action. For Cenovus, that includes consultation, building trust and enabling long-term economic and social value by supporting Indigenous businesses, and helping ensure communities benefit from having us as a neighbour. Our Board-mandated Indigenous Relations Policy confirms our responsibility, and provides guidance on how to uphold the principles of Indigenous rights, consultation, economic opportunities and community prosperity. These are tracked by key metrics around employment, business investment and community investment.

When Grace Richards moved into a mobile home in Conklin, Alberta, she thought it would be temporary.

That was eight years ago – eight years without electricity, without running water, without indoor plumbing. “Very hard living,” she says. “Especially in the winter months.”

But this October, Richards moved into a brand-new house – two bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, and brand-new appliances.

She will no longer be getting her water from a rain barrel, relying on a propane tank to cook, or using an outhouse. She’s looked forward to moving in for months.

“Being able to turn on a light switch, being able to have a shower every day, having a fridge and a stove…things I took for granted,” she says.

Her new home, in the Metis community of Conklin, is one of 200 houses being built under Cenovus’s Indigenous Housing Initiative (IHI), a $50-million project from the Calgary-based energy company that seeks to improve housing conditions on six Indigenous communities near its oilsands operations. The initiative is one way the company works towards Indigenous reconciliation.

“We want to maintain great relationships with the communities we are working close to,” says Dustin Meek, manager of Indigenous Business Development at Cenovus. “We heard loud and clear that housing is a crisis so part of being a good neighbour is listening and acting.”

Cenovus works closely with Indigenous communities near its operations to ensure they share in the benefits of resource development. Advancing Indigenous reconciliation means taking meaningful action and Indigenous economic reconciliation is a critical part of Cenovus’s sustainability governance, which is supported by the Board of Directors and Board Governance Committee and is also committed to safety, inclusion and diversity.

Providing housing for Indigenous communities is an important part of the company’s broader sustainability commitments – and is an initiative that Cenovus is particularly proud of. Beyond this, Cenovus committed to spend $1.2 billion with Indigenous businesses between 2019 and 2025. The company achieved that target two years early and has already spent more than $1.7 billion as it entered 2024.

Additionally, Cenovus now has more than a dozen benefit agreements with Indigenous communities and is pursuing gold Partnership Accreditation in Indigenous Relations certification from the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business by the end of 2025.

Cenovus also developed an Indigenous Internship Field Program - which provides local Indigenous people entering the workforce the opportunity to get hands-on experience at job sites. Mentorship, academic support, and on-the-job training are all offered to those in the program.

Further to that, Cenovus is collaborating with the charity Indspire, to fund 25 scholarships for Indigenous learners, each worth $5,000 – which is being matched by the federal government.

It’s an investment in the future of the energy industry and the communities that surround oil and gas operations.

According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), more than 50,000 Indigenous-owned businesses are operating in Canada, contributing $30 billion to the economy every year. Cenovus relies on many of them to cater work camps, service well sites, and provide custodial services to several offices.

The benefits of these partnerships are shared by everyone.

An Indigenous person working in oil and gas makes, on average, $140,000 a year. That’s nearly three times the average salary for Indigenous people in other jobs. Indigenous women working in pipeline transportation of crude oil make an average of $151,000 a year. The average annual salary for Canadian woman is $54,000. And while Indigenous people make up 4% of Canada’s workforce, they account for 7% of the energy industry’s payrolls.

The TRC called on corporate Canada to “ensure Aboriginal peoples have equitable access to jobs, training and education opportunities…” and that’s the challenge to Canadian business leaders now.

Reconciliation needs to be more than an apology. It needs to create opportunity. That means providing jobs or training or in some cases, a house with running water.

And Grace Richards says finally having a proper home will help her get back on her feet and reconnect with her loved ones.

“I’m looking forward to a Christmas dinner,” she says, I’ll have my family over, my friends, my grandson. I haven’t cooked a Christmas dinner in 10 years.”