COVID-19 information for suppliers

Effective March 31, Cenovus’s onsite Rapid Testing Program will be discontinued for supplier workers in Western Canada.

All office and field workers (staff and suppliers) are required to review the Cenovus Daily Health Checklist prior to the start of every workday or before entering a Cenovus workplace. You don’t need to print or submit the checklist. You don’t need to complete the checklist if you’re working from home.

If you answer yes to any of the questions on the Cenovus Daily Health Checklist, you must follow our COVID-19 Reporting and Isolation: Guidance for Workers in Western Canada

• COVID-19 Reporting and Isolation Guidance for Workers in Western Canada

Effective March 1, masking and physical distancing will no longer be required in our field and office locations, camps and on our buses.

N95/KN95 and medical masks will be available to all staff who want to continue wearing masks in the workplace. While masks will no longer be required, we’d like to remind staff to exercise a degree of personal responsibility and good judgment when working around others at our worksites.

Where mandatory provincial/municipal mask mandates are in place, you’re required to follow our COVID-19 Mask Protocol.

To follow federal regulations, disposable masks or N95 masks must be worn during charter air transportation, including when you’re in an air terminal building.To follow federal regulations, disposable masks or N95 masks must be worn during charter air transportation, including when you’re in an air terminal building.

If you wish to wear a face covering in a hazardous classified location, this should be a three-layer (two-layer minimum) fire-rated (FR) covering or three-layer natural fibre face covering.

We’re operating at 100% capacity for flights and offsite coach buses. Onsite buses at FCCL are operating at 100% capacity.

Supplier workers flying with us are responsible for meeting federal, provincial/territorial, and commercial travel restrictions and requirements (e.g., vaccine passports, quarantine and isolation, etc.) and ensuring they arrive at a Cenovus transportation hub on time for their travel to site. See our Aviation and Marine Vessel COVID-19 Vaccination Standard.

If you are transiting through the Calgary or Edmonton flight hub, you will undergo a health screening questionnaire as mandated by Transport Canada.

Face coverings are required while using Calgary Transit. To learn more, visit calgarytransit.com.

On March 1, the Alberta Government lifted the work from home mandate in the province. As a result, office staff in Western Canada will return to the office regularly on April 4. In Calgary offices, plexiglass remains in place at our workstations and sanitization stations will be available on each floor. We’ll continue to conduct enhanced cleaning in high-touch areas. Hand sanitizer will be provided.

Meeting rooms in all office locations that are open may be used.

For Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba workers:

Illness reporting and quarantine and isolation requirements will continue as per our COVID-19 Reporting and Isolation: Guidance for Workers in Canada.

If you’ve been in close contact with a person who has COVID-19 – while at work or on days off, follow the instructions in the Isolation and Quarantine section below.

For Saskatchewan workers:

Workers must arrive and remain fit for duty. It’s strongly recommended that you don’t come to the worksite if you’re feeling unwell or showing any cold and flu symptoms or don’t pass the Cenovus Daily Health Checklist screening questions.

Supplier employers are strongly recommended to report to Cenovus via COVID19@cenovus.com if their workers receive a positive COVID-19 result and they are scheduled to work at Cenovus so Cenovus can continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our operations.

Alberta has not yet announced the date to lift isolation requirements. Visit alberta.ca/isolation for information on current isolation requirements.

When Alberta lifts its mandatory isolation requirements, Cenovus will follow suit. At that time, we expect our people to do the right thing to prevent transmission of the virus and be fit for work. We strongly recommend that workers follow this guidance: 

• If you test positive for COVID-19, isolate for five days or until symptoms resolve, whichever is longer. 
• If you exhibit cold and flu symptoms, stay home until  symptoms resolve. 

Where mandatory isolation requirements are in place, Cenovus will align with all isolation and quarantine guidance of regional public health orders. Where these requirements are in place:

Staff with COVID-19 symptoms or with a confirmed positive COVID-19 test (either lab-based or a rapid test) will be required to isolate for a period of time depending on your vaccination status and location:

From the onset of symptoms and/or following a positive test result:

Fully vaccinated individuals must isolate for five days or until symptoms resolve, whichever is longer.

• If you tested positive for COVID-19, after you leave isolation, you must wear a mask in public spaces until it has been 10 days since symptoms first appeared (symptomatic individuals) or your positive test result (asymptomatic individuals).
• This means that until 10 days have passed since the onset of your symptoms or a positive test:
• At camps: you’re not allowed to eat in the common dining areas for these days and must take food back to your rooms or eat in a private space. You’re permitted to use fitness facilities but you must mask at all times, unless you’re the only person in the fitness facility.
• Outdoors: you must wear a mask outdoors when others are around and you cannot maintain two metres physical distancing at all times. These scenarios may include working with others or smoking in smoke pits.

Not fully vaccinated individuals must continue to isolate for 10 days or until systems have resolved, whichever is longer.

Your isolation time will start from the onset of symptoms, for those who are symptomatic, or from the date of your positive test, for those who are asymptomatic.

If symptoms resolve, you must wait for a certain period of time before returning to work, this is 24 hours in Alberta, BC and Manitoba.

The FCCL/Sunrise clinics or Disability Management will determine your isolation period and clear you to return to the workplace.

For Alberta only - you don’t need to isolate if you meet one of the following conditions:

Symptomatic with:

• A negative PCR test and COVID-19 symptoms have resolved
• Two negative rapid tests taken no less than 24 hours apart and COVID-19 symptoms have resolved.

Asymptomatic with:

• A negative PCR or rapid antigen test
• An initial positive rapid test result and subsequent negative rapid test, taken no less than 24 hours apart.

Staff who are a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case (lab based or rapid test) must first notify the onsite clinics (FCCL and Sunrise) or contact Disability Management at COVID19@cenovus.com (other locations), who will facilitate your return to work.

Asymptomatic close contacts of someone who have tested positive for COVID-19 (lab-based or rapid self-test) must monitor for symptoms for 14 days but don’t need to quarantine and can continue to work if they meet one of the following conditions:

• Fully vaccinated
• Alberta resident who is not fully vaccinated and it was a non-household member who tested positive for COVID-19
• Alberta or BC resident who is not fully vaccinated and has had COVID-19 in the past 90 days.

If you’re a close contact who is asymptomatic and not fully vaccinated and you don’t meet one of the above criteria, you must quarantine for 10 days after the date of exposure.

Cenovus may ask workers for their vaccine status in certain circumstances to determine whether reduced isolation and quarantine requirements apply to them. All personal information will be managed in accordance with Cenovus’s Privacy Policy.

Vaccines are not mandatory to enter our workplaces at this time, but we strongly encourage everyone who is able to get fully vaccinated, including booster vaccines, to maximize protection.

Effective March 1:

Masks and distancing
Masks are not required to be worn in our camp facilities and there will no longer be table capacity restrictions in our dining areas.  

Recreation facilities
All recreational, fitness training, outdoor rinks, indoor activities and yoga rooms are open and physical distancing is no longer required. Squash courts and gymnasiums are open for full use and indoor team sports, in-person yoga and bingo will resume. You’ll still be required to sign-in and sign-out of the gym facilities.     

Theatres, social hubs, public seating and music rooms are now fully open. 

Disinfection of high touch surfaces will be conducted by janitorial services in most locations. Additional disinfection is performed when there has been a confirmed COVID-19 case in a workplace in the preceding 24 hours.

In some locations and for some shared items, workers may be asked to conduct disinfection themselves. Follow the best practice for cleaning potentially contaminated areas and items – including hard surfaces, shared Cenovus vehicles and offices. The best practices are set out in Pandemic Cleaning Procedures (COVID-19).

Our COVID-19 Mask Protocol must be followed in locations and situations where masks are required.

When working indoors: A mandatory mask-while-moving policy will be in place in offices and camps. You’re required to wear a mask when you leave your workspace or camp room and when you’re in common areas. In all other locations and scenarios, including working in indoor process areas, you’re required to wear a mask where you may not be able to maintain two metres of distance with another person or there’s no barrier in place.

• In all other locations and scenarios, including in-person meetings and indoor process areas, you’re required to wear a mask if you may not be able to maintain two metres of distance with another person or there’s no barrier in place.
• Further, if you're in a poorly ventilated process area and others are around, you're encouraged to wear a mask.

When working outdoors: A mask isn’t required but strongly recommended when physical distancing can’t be maintained and there are no barriers in place. A decision to mask will be made based on a hazard assessment where workers must be in close proximity to complete work activities.

When traveling: Masks are still required for charter air travel, buses and carpooling.

Mask type

The mask you wear must meet the requirements outlined in the COVID-19 Mask Protocol.

Disposable procedural masks are required at all Cenovus worksites, reusable masks will no longer be accepted. Disposal procedural masks  or N95 masks must be worn during charter air transportation, including when you’re in an air terminal building and off-site buses.

For the purposes of COVID-19 precaution, a non-fit-tested N95 or equivalent (e.g., KN95) tight-fitting respirator is offered as an option and as an alternative to a medical mask. It may be used where a medical mask is used. Some staff may feel more confident wearing it in some situations (for example, prolonged interaction in small, poorly ventilated space).

If a worker is required to use an N95 for any aerosol hazards, then a non-fit-tested N95 must not be used and Cenovus’s Respiratory Protection Equipment Standard applies (which requires fit-testing).

The type of mask that’s required will depend on the setting:

• Non-hazardous classified location and charter transportation
  Three-layer disposable/medical mask; for air and offsite bus travel, an N95 mask is advisable.
• Hazardous classified location
  Three-layer (two-layer minimum) fire-rated (FR) covering or three-layer natural fibre face covering.

In addition to the mask protocol, two-metre physical distancing must be maintained in indoor spaces whenever feasible.

As per Transport Canada, health screening will continue to be a requirement at our air terminals. See our Aviation and Marine Vessel COVID-19 Vaccination Standard for details regarding aviation and marine vessel vaccination requirements.

All office and field workers (staff and suppliers) are required to review the Cenovus Daily Health Checklist prior to the start of every workday or before entering a Cenovus workplace. You don’t need to print or submit the checklist. You don’t need to complete the checklist if you’re working from home.

Illness reporting and quarantine and isolation requirements will continue.

Rapid testing for symptomatic workers and close contacts will continue.

Please follow Health Canada guidance regarding precautions to take based on your vaccination status. Cenovus may ask workers for their vaccine status in certain circumstances to determine whether reduced isolation and quarantine requirements apply to them. All personal information will be managed in accordance with Cenovus’s Privacy Policy.

Unless covered in our Aviation and Marine Vessel COVID-19 Vaccination Standard, vaccines are not mandatory to enter our workplaces at this time, but we strongly encourage everyone who is able to get fully vaccinated, including booster vaccines to maximize protection.

Disinfection of high touch surfaces will be conducted by janitorial services in most locations. Additional disinfection is performed when there has been a confirmed COVID-19 case in a workplace in the preceding 24 hours.

In some locations and for some shared items, workers may be asked to conduct disinfection themselves. Follow the best practice for cleaning potentially contaminated areas and items – including hard surfaces, shared Cenovus vehicles and offices. The best practices are set out in Pandemic Cleaning Procedures (COVID-19).

Effective April 1, 2022, Cenovus will discontinue mandatory testing at our U.S. sites. If applicable U.S. counties reach “High” levels of Community Spread, testing will be re-evaluated as an additional mitigation.

What does this mean to you?

• For new or current supplier personnel to a Cenovus worksite: There will be no rapid testing site access requirements and no onsite testing will be available.
• Going forward cost implications: Cenovus will not reimburse any cost related to COVID-19 testing incurred by suppliers.

Previously communicated updated COVID-19 protocol changes are not impacted and remain in place.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a new framework for measuring COVID-19 community levels.

The CDC uses these levels to make recommendations on which COVID-19 protocols are appropriate given the risk in a particular community. The new way of measuring COVID-19 infection ranks counties as low, medium or high. The ranks are based on:

• New COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days
• The percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients
• Total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days

Cenovus assets in the U.S. will follow the new CDC guidelines based on the county rankings for masking, social distancing, and cleaning. The county ranks are based on a 7-day rolling average, so if a county’s rank changes, a facility’s guidelines will change.

Please check the CDC rankings regularly to be aware of any potential impact to the protocol changes.

All other COVID-19 safety measures must be followed at all times while at the Lima Refinery. Safety measures are included in Lima Refinery’s Contractor Safety Manual for reference. The manual is available to contractors upon request from the Lima Refinery Safety Department.

All other COVID-19 safety measures must be followed at all times while at the Superior Refinery. Safety measures are included in Superior Refinery’s Contractor Safety Manual for reference. The manual is available to contractors upon request from the Superior Refinery Safety Department.

Recently, the Canadian government announced that they will stop requirements for rapid testing for vaccinated individuals on April 1, 2022. As long as your personnel can provide proof of vaccination, no rapid testing will be required if they travel to Canada to support our operations there.

To learn more about travel to Canada and requirements, please visit the Government of Canada website.

Workers in the Asia Pacific region will continue to follow their site-specific practices. Please talk to your leader or Health & Safety Advisor for protocol details.