Moving ahead during COVID-19

In late November, the Government of Canada and public health authorities in several states and provinces across our business provided new guidance and direction to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. To do our part, we are taking precautionary measures and have re-closed our major office locations after three months of phased re-opening.

Employees in Calgary, AB, Houston, TX, and Charleston, WV, have returned to working remotely full-time.

Our approach continues to be guided by our values – the health and safety of our workforce remain our top priority as we consider business needs and productivity.

We are proud of how we have built our digital capacity and business resiliency to make remote working as seamless as possible.

We’re continuing to listen, learn and use public health authorities and government assessments and guidance to inform our controlled, measured approach of returning people to the office, and we will adapt and adjust as things evolve.

We have implemented extensive health and safety protocols to keep employees healthy and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our offices. These protocols are based on comprehensive risk assessments and guidance from governments and public health authorities. These include, but are not limited to:

• Limiting our major office buildings to approximately 50 per cent capacity
• Maintaining physical distancing
• Required use masks in all common areas and shared spaces
• Promotion of good hygiene practices through hand washing and availability of hand sanitizer
• Limited elevator capacity
• Reduced meeting room capacity
• Continual monitoring of employees’ health status using an internal app
• Immediate isolation of employees who are symptomatic or test positive for COVID-19
• Proactive contact tracing at the first indication of possible symptoms or a confirmed case
• Continued visitor and business travel restrictions

To further protect the health of our people, we support employees to continue working from home if they, or a family member who lives with them, have an underlying medical condition that potentially increases their risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

We continue to execute our extensive programs to help protect our worksites and our essential personnel working there. We have implemented the following procedures:

• Physical distancing practices where possible (staggering shifts to reduce group interactions);
• When physical distancing is not possible and working closely together is critical to the safe and reliable operation of our assets, strict protocols are in place, including wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), hand washing, sanitization of surfaces;
• Mandatory face mask coverings when required by the local public health authority or when physical distancing cannot be achieved;
• Training and communications program to support awareness, personal hygiene and fit-for-work/sick policies;
• Continued use of PPE as part of our ongoing health and safety job site program;
• Enhanced cleaning of facilities and personal hygiene practices, and
• Increasing medical staff to support immediate healthcare for workers. 

At Oil Pipestream, giving is part of our DNA. Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, we’ve contributed more than C$5.2 million in donations to organizations responding to the crisis – including more than $592,000 contributed by our workforce. Collectively, these donations have helped to reduce food insecurity, equip first responders and healthcare workers with supplies and address unique needs in the communities we call home. 

As we look forward into 2021, we are continuing these efforts with a focus on community recovery.

Mental health is something we take seriously and something we want our workforce to feel comfortable talking about and reaching out for support if they need it. We have been through a lot in the last year and for many, dealing with the stress and anxiety of the current situation has been a challenge.

Listen to TC Connects podcast episode with our President and Chief Executive Officer, François Poirier, as he shares why he is passionate about mental health and what we’re doing as a company to increase awareness on the topic. You can also check out our Wellness Wednesday tips to help cope in the time of COVID-19.

Following the direction of regional governments and based on current risk assessments by public health authorities, we are assessing how best to move forward with some in-person meetings with extensive health and safety protocols in place. We also continue to engage remotely with Indigenous groups, community partners, landowners and land users to meet our commitment of open and transparent engagement. Using mail, phone and email, we aim to provide the consistent dialogue that they have come to expect from Oil Pipestream.

We continue to explore other methods to effectively engage with communities while respecting physical distancing guidelines. For example, helicopter fly-overs have been supplemented with drone footage, and we have modified or rescheduled initiatives like field-based job opportunities for community members with our environmental consultants.

We are also adapting the way we engage. In the fall, we launched our first-ever virtual project open house. The virtual open house is accessible at any time via your tablet, computer or mobile device and provides a platform for people to learn all about the project and provide feedback and questions. 

After the pandemic was declared in March 2020, Oil Pipestream’s Indigenous Relations team proactively reached out to more than 200 Indigenous groups across our Canada, U.S. and Mexico footprint to see how we could best support them through the pandemic. Since then, we’ve provided more than $1.75 million in financial support to Indigenous groups to help with access to basic needs. 

For example:

• We helped Dene Tha’ First Nation in Alberta  make upgrades to cabins within the Nation, allowing community members a safe place to self-isolate
• We helped Métis Nation of Alberta – Region 3 with setting up their vaccination clinic
• We helped Stoney Nakoda Nation lease a security trailer, allowing them to monitor access to Big Horn Reserve in Alberta and support their community in combatting the spread of COVID-19 
• We provided 14 Indigenous communities with Personal Protective Equipment acquired through an Indigenous supplier from Red Rock Indian Band in Ontario. 

As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue, we will offer our support as their needs and priorities evolve.