Royalty Review – Results



Engagement Summary

The Government of British Columbia conducted a review of its Natural Gas Royalty System. In November 2021 they sought feedback on policy approaches to establish a new, modernized royalty system that meets the needs of British Columbians.

The natural gas royalty regime in B.C. had been in place for nearly thirty years. The way natural gas is produced has changed significantly over this time period, as have market conditions, drilling technology and costs, as well as the global concern and need to address climate change.

As part of his mandate letter, Premier John Horgan has asked Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation to undertake a review of oil and gas royalty credits to ensure they meet B.C.’s goals for economic development, a fair return on our resources, and environmental protection.

Phase 1 included : An Independent Assessment of the royalty system accompanied by an Executive Summary for review. The Independent Assessment was completed by Dr. Nancy Olewiler, Director of and Professor in the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University, and Dr. Jennifer Winter, Associate Professor of Economics and Scientific Director of the Energy and Environmental Policy research division at The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary.

Phase 2 included: In early November 2021, the Province issued a Discussion Paper to seek public feedback on options to establish a new, modernized royalty regime that meets B.C.’s goals.

For more information on Petroleum & Natural Gas Royalties, please visit the program page.

Engagement Timeframe

November 10, 2021 to December 10, 2021

Input Received

  • Royalty Review website sessions: 4341
  • Online feedback forms: 951
  • Emails Received (royaltyreview@gov.bc.ca): 4,637
  • Written Submissions: 98

Note: Some emails sent to the Royalty Review engagement website via third-party non government websites were not received by government email servers. This occurred in cases where the sender’s email address domain did not match the source domain of the sending website. When email is sent using this method, the message is rejected by the email server and not stored or received by government sites.

Input Leads to Action