Saskatchewan exempt from federal methane rules

Summary#

This Order says the Regulations Respecting Reduction in the Release of Methane and Certain Volatile Organic Compounds (Upstream Oil and Gas Sector) will not apply in Saskatchewan while the province’s own rules are in force. It takes effect starting January 1, 2025 (registration was made on December 16, 2024) and mostly lets Saskatchewan’s oil and gas rules govern methane controls until December 31, 2029.

What it does#

• Suspends the application of the federal Regulations Respecting Reduction in the Release of Methane and Certain Volatile Organic Compounds (Upstream Oil and Gas Sector) in Saskatchewan, except for federal works or undertakings (for example, interprovincial pipelines).
• Puts that suspension in place because the federal government and Saskatchewan signed an equivalency agreement that says provincial rules are expected to deliver equivalent methane reductions over the 2025–2029 period.
• Says the provincial package is estimated to achieve cumulative reductions of about 40.9 Mt CO2e from 2025–2029, compared with about 41.0 Mt CO2e under the federal rules.
• The agreement and this Order run to December 31, 2029, but either party can end it earlier with at least three months’ notice. If certain proposed federal amendments trigger a review and the outcome is not equivalent, the agreement could end on December 31, 2026.
• The federal government estimates administrative cost savings of about $474,188 over five years from not having to run overlapping federal compliance and enforcement in Saskatchewan.

Who's affected#

• Upstream oil and gas companies operating in Saskatchewan. They will follow Saskatchewan’s rules instead of the federal methane regulations (except where a project is a federal work or undertaking).
• Facilities located on reserve lands for 11 First Nations in Saskatchewan — the Order continues to suspend the federal rules for those facilities, meaning provincial rules apply there too under the agreement.
• Environmental groups, industry associations, and the public who track methane regulation and enforcement — they may notice differences in reporting, measurement methods, and public availability of data.
• The federal government and provincial regulators, who will do annual reviews and share detailed facility-level data under the agreement.

Why it matters#

• It avoids having two overlapping sets of rules for the same facilities in Saskatchewan. That reduces paperwork and compliance costs for companies and saves some federal administrative money.
• The province’s rules are judged by federal officials to produce essentially the same methane reductions as the federal regulations over 2025–2029. The numerical estimate is very close (40.9 Mt vs 41.0 Mt CO2e).
• Some environmental groups asked for more transparency and more use of direct measurement data. The agreement requires annual data-sharing and reviews, but concerns about measurement detail and public access remain part of the debate.
• If the equivalency ends (either by early notice or because a review finds outcomes are not equivalent), the federal regulations would apply again in Saskatchewan, so the regulatory situation could change in the future.