Alberta
Cenovus CEO Pourbaix to step down, become executive chair; Jon McKenzie to be new CEO
By Amanda Stephenson in Calgary
Cenovus Energy Inc. chief executive Alex Pourbaix will step down from his CEO role later this year to devote more time to his evolving role as an outspoken champion of Canada’s oilsands industry and its decarbonization ambitions.
The Calgary-based energy company said Thursday that Pourbaix, who has led Cenovus since November of 2017, will become executive chair, while chief operating officer Jon McKenzie will become CEO in a transition that will take place after the company’s annual meeting set for April 26.
On a conference call with analysts, Pourbaix said the change will allow him to focus his attention on external efforts, including working with all levels of government to advance the oil and gas industry’s decarbonization goals.
Cenovus is a member of the Pathways Alliance, a group of oilsands companies that together have pledged to spend $24.1 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from oilsands production by 22 million tonnes by 2030.
Pourbaix has been one of the most outspoken advocates of the Pathways plan and has been heavily involved in the group’s efforts to secure federal and provincial support for a massive proposed carbon capture and storage transportation line that would capture carbon dioxide from oilsands facilities and transport it to a storage facility near Cold Lake, Alta.
“Next to safety, there is nothing more important to Cenovus and our industry than reaching a durable solution between government and industry to achieve our emission aspirations,” Pourbaix said.
“Once I move to the executive chair position, I intend to dedicate even more time to this pivotal external issue for both Cenovus and our industry.”
Pourbaix was one of the prominent industry voices who successfully lobbied the federal government for the creation of an investment tax credit for carbon capture and storage projects in Canada, which was announced in the federal budget last year.
However, he has also been vocal in his stance that more government support is needed before companies will pull the trigger on investing in carbon capture. Pourbaix and other oil and gas sector leaders have said Canada needs to do more to stay competitive with the U.S. and its Inflation Reduction Act, which they say offers more incentives for the technology.
Environmental groups have been critical of the industry’s lobbying for more support, given the record profits oil and gas companies earned in 2022 due to sky-high commodity prices.
Cenovus earned $6.45 billion in 2022 compared with $587 million in 2021.
Pourbaix said Thursday that he wants to see the industry, the federal government, and the Alberta government come to some type of “durable” agreement as to what this country’s emissions reduction ambitions are. He added that a structure needs to be put in place to make sure the oil and gas sector can achieve those goals while still remaining economically viable.
“I think it’s just incredibly important for Canadians that we find a way for this industry to be able to continue to thrive, and the way we’re going to do that is by constantly improving our environmental leadership,” Pourbaix said.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith released the contents of a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday in which she calls for the creation of a minister-led working group aimed at coming up with a coordinated CCUS federal-provincial incentive program.
Smith said Alberta is willing to coordinate a federal CCUS income tax credit with an expansion of the province’s current Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program (APIP) to include carbon capture projects.
But she said Alberta will not cooperate if Ottawa continues to push ahead with introduction of its proposed Just Transition legislation, or with a pledged federal cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector.
The announcement of the change at Cenovus’ executive level came as the company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $784 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a loss of $408 million or 21 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in the quarter was $14.1 billion, up from $13.7 billion in the last three months of 2021.
Cenovus reported total upstream production amounted to 806,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day for its most recent quarter, down from 825,300 a year earlier.
Total downstream throughput was 473,500 barrels per day, up from 469,900 in the fourth quarter or 2021.
On the call with analysts, McKenzie — who joined Cenovus in 2018 from Husky Energy as chief financial officer, and was instrumental in Cenovus’s merger with that company — said he expects a smooth transition to the CEO role, with little change in corporate focus.
“Both Alex and I have our fingerprints all over the corporate strategy, and we developed this in a partnership together with the rest of our leadership team,” McKenzie said.
Pathways Alliance president Kendall Dilling said in an emailed statement Thursday that he is grateful Pourbaix will continue to devote his energy to the group’s ambitions.
“Alex’s contributions to not only the creation of Pathways Alliance, but to our continued efforts to decarbonize our industry’s production, have been monumental,” Dilling said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CVE)
The new Red Deer Justice Centre will help Albertans resolve their legal matters faster.
Albertans deserve to have access to a fair, accessible and transparent justice system. Modernizing Alberta’s courthouse infrastructure will help make sure Alberta’s justice system runs efficiently and meets the needs of the province’s growing population.
Alberta’s government has invested $191 million to build the new Red Deer Justice Centre, increasing the number of courtrooms from eight to 12, allowing more cases to be heard at one time.
“Modern, accessible courthouses and streamlined services not only strengthen our justice
system – they build safer, stronger communities across the province. Investing in the new Red Deer Justice Centre is vital to helping our justice system operate more efficiently, and will give people in Red Deer and across central Alberta better access to justice.”
Government of Alberta and Judiciary representatives with special guests at the Red Deer Justice Centre plaque unveiling event April 22, 2025.
On March 3, all court services in Red Deer began operating out of the new justice centre. The new justice centre has 12 courtrooms fully built and equipped with video-conference equipment to allow witnesses to attend remotely if they cannot travel, and vulnerable witnesses to testify from outside the courtroom.
The new justice centre also has spaces for people taking alternative approaches to the traditional courtroom trial process, with the three new suites for judicial dispute resolution services, a specific suite for other dispute resolution services, such as family mediation and civil mediation, and a new Indigenous courtroom with dedicated venting for smudging purposes.
“We are very excited about this new courthouse for central Alberta. Investing in the places where people seek justice shows respect for the rights of all Albertans. The Red Deer Justice Centre fills a significant infrastructure need for this rapidly growing part of the province. It is also an important symbol of the rule of law, meaning that none of us are above the law, and there is an independent judiciary to decide disputes. This is essential for a healthy functioning democracy.”
“Public safety and access to justice go hand in hand. With this investment in the new Red Deer Justice Centre, Alberta’s government is ensuring that communities are safer, legal matters are resolved more efficiently and all Albertans get the support they need.”
“This state-of-the-art facility will serve the people of Red Deer and surrounding communities for generations. Our team at Infrastructure is incredibly proud of the work done to plan, design and build this project. I want to thank everyone, at all levels, who helped make this project a reality.”
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on the economy.
Quick facts
- The new Red Deer Justice Centre is 312,000 sq ft (29,000 m2). (The old courthouse is 98,780 sq ft (9,177 m2)).
- The approved project funding for the Red Deer Justice Centre is about $191 million.
From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill
Amid the economic uncertainty fuelled by Trump’s trade war, its perhaps more important than ever to understand Alberta’s crucial role in the federation and its outsized contribution to programs such as the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).
From 1981 to 2022, Albertan’s net contribution to the CPP—meaning the amount Albertans paid into the program over and above what retirees in Alberta received in CPP payments—was $53.6 billion. In 2022 (the latest year of available data), Albertans’ net contribution to the CPP was $3.0 billion.
During that same period (1981 to 2022), British Columbia was the only other province where residents paid more into the CPP than retirees received in benefits—and Alberta’s contribution was six times greater than B.C.’s contribution. Put differently, residents in seven out of the nine provinces that participate in the CPP (Quebec has its own plan) receive more back in benefits than they contribute to the program.
Albertans pay an outsized contribution to federal and national programs, including the CPP because of the province’s relatively high rates of employment, higher average incomes and younger population (i.e. more workers pay into the CPP and less retirees take from it).
Put simply, Albertan workers have been helping fund the retirement of Canadians from coast to coast for decades, and without Alberta, the CPP would look much different.
How different?
If Alberta withdrew from the CPP and established its own standalone provincial pension plan, Alberta workers would receive the same retirement benefits but at a lower cost (i.e. lower CPP contribution rate deducted from our paycheques) than other Canadians, while the contribution rate—essentially the CPP tax rate—to fund the program would likely need to increase for the rest of the country to maintain the same benefits.
And given current demographic projections, immigration patterns and Alberta’s long history of leading the provinces in economic growth, Albertan workers will likely continue to pay more into the CPP than Albertan retirees get back from it.
Therefore, considering Alberta’s crucial role in national programs, the next federal government—whoever that may be—should undo and prevent policies that negatively impact the province and Albertans ability to contribute to Canada. Think of Bill C-69 (which imposes complex, uncertain and onerous review requirements on major energy projects), Bill C-48 (which bans large oil tankers off B.C.’s northern coast and limits access to Asian markets), an arbitrary cap on oil and gas emissions, numerous other “net-zero” targets, and so on.
Canada faces serious economic challenges, including a trade war with the United States. In times like this, it’s important to remember Alberta’s crucial role in the federation and the outsized contributions of Alberta workers to the wellbeing of Canadians across the country.
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