The University of Ottawa professor is the founder of Positive Energy. This research and engagement program studies the factors that strengthen — or weaken — public and investor confidence in energy policy, regulation and project decisions.
Founded over a decade ago, Positive Energy uses uOttawa’s convening power to bring together policy, regulatory, industry, Indigenous and civil society leaders around shared challenges with public and investor confidence. A team of senior and emerging scholars, practitioners and students undertakes solution-focused academic research to understand confidence challenges and how to resolve them.
Seeking to inform public policy, Gattinger’s work focuses on one of the most difficult questions facing governments today: how to advance projects while balancing affordability, reliability, sustainability, investor confidence, Indigenous partnerships and public trust.
That question has become more urgent as geopolitical uncertainty, Canada–U.S. trade tensions, affordability pressures and ongoing climate concerns reshape the country’s energy debate.
Balancing priorities to secure public support for large-scale energy projects
Gattinger’s research shows a window opening for governments to act quickly on energy projects. But, she adds, they shouldn’t mistake this new-found public support for unconditional permission.
Public support rests on governments finding a balance among many competing priorities. Canadians want energy to drive diversification and growth. But they also want it to be reliable and affordable. And they’re concerned about the cumulative environmental impacts of new infrastructure projects along with respecting Indigenous rights.
Achieving that balance is a step governments can’t skip, she says.
“If we don’t have the support of the Canadian public for this very large build-out of projects that’s envisioned, we’re not going to be successful as a country.”
Tracking changes in public opinion on energy policy
Gattinger’s recent research shows Canadians’ views on energy policy in significant flux. The change is due to global volatility, concerns over economic growth, trade tensions with the United States and higher prices at the pump.
Environmental concerns are still present, but ongoing volatility has introduced new expectations and ambitions into the mix.
For a decade, environmental protections topped Canadians’ list of concerns. Today, economic growth is at the top of the list, with reliability, security and trade diversification gaining ground as well.
“When we started asking Canadians 10 years ago about whether the environment or the economy should take precedence, two-thirds said the environment should take priority,” she says. “Now, nearly 6 in 10 say the economy should be the top priority.”
“The views on this have almost flipped.”
“If we don’t have the support of the Canadian public for this very large build-out of projects that’s envisioned, we’re not going to be successful as a country.”
Monica Gattinger
— Founding Scholar, Positive Energy
The share of respondents concerned about the affordability of energy now stands at 73% — its highest point since 2022, when the question was first asked. Canadians also want the country to diversify its energy exports beyond the United States.
What’s more, 87% of Canadians say oil and gas is important to the country’s current economy, and 71% say it will be important in the future, up from just 41% in 2020.
Canadians’ views on electrification are also shifting, with 35% interested in switching and having taken steps toward it. That’s up from 25% when the question was first asked four years ago.
Ignoring environmental and Indigenous concerns a risk
Gattinger’s research also shows Canadians remain ambitious about addressing climate change, even if there are costs to the economy.
She cautions governments that they risk losing public support for major projects if they’re perceived to be putting environmental concerns off to the side or ignoring them outright.
“Canadians continue to think that addressing climate change is important — that’s important for policymakers to be aware of.”
In the current national conversation about new pipelines, her research warns against failing to address public concerns about emissions, impacts on Indigenous communities and cumulative environmental effects.
“These findings identify critical success factors for all energy projects, whether pipelines, liquefied natural gas exports, nuclear power, transmission lines or renewable electricity.”
Rather than shelve environmental concerns, she says, Canadians want governments to rebalance energy policy priorities to spur growth, strengthen sovereignty, advance Indigenous reconciliation and protect the environment.
“The more governments can tie a project to those overarching objectives, the more Canadians can connect the dots to see how a project helps to achieve them.”
Influencing energy policy circles
Gattinger’s influence is most evident in the policy conversations her research helps shape.
Research rarely moves in a straight line from evidence to legislation or policy, she notes. Its effect often shows in whether you’re repeatedly invited to be at the tables where decisions are being made.
By that standard, Positive Energy has become an influential and trusted voice within Canada’s energy policy ecosystem. The program regularly contributes to ministerial, regulatory and parliamentary discussions on energy policy across the country.
“We’re not doing this research in an ivory tower,” she says. “Our work is used by the people shaping Canada’s energy future.”
What she brings to those conversations is a broader way of framing energy policy. She considers not only how to accelerate projects but how to do so while ensuring fairness and predictability, building meaningful Indigenous partnerships and maintaining public and investor confidence.
“We’re not doing this research in an ivory tower. Our work is used by the people shaping Canada’s energy future.”
Monica Gattinger
— Founding Scholar, Positive Impact
Her appointment to the Government of Ontario Electrification and Energy Transition Panel, and other advisory bodies across the country, offers a clear example of research informing government action. So does professional recognition like the Clean50 Award she received for her thought leadership in the energy sector.
More often, however, the influence of her research is cumulative. It lies in broadening the questions decision-makers ask, strengthening the evidence available to them and bringing perspectives that might otherwise remain separate into the same conversation.
“Canada has become better at having energy conversations,” she says. “Over the course of the last decade, there’s been a lot of learning among businesses, Indigenous organizations, governments, environmental organizations and researchers, but also on the part of Canadians.”
That search for balance informs the part of her work she’s particularly proud of: bringing both public and investor confidence into Canada’s energy policy discussions. She says these elements have often been overlooked.
“Swing too far in one direction and you won’t move Canada in a positive direction in either policy or regulation.”
Extending influence into the North American context
Recently, Gattinger was appointed lead scholar on the Fulbright Canada Energy Security and Sustainability Initiative. In this role, she’ll apply her research focus and influential approach in a cross-border context.
The 18-month project will see her lead a team that includes scholars from the University of Calgary and the University of New Hampshire. They’ll examine how energy can advance economic growth and affordability while strengthening security and sustainability in a rapidly changing North American and global environment.
“Sustainability and energy security don’t stop at national borders,” she says. “Energy has largely been exempted from the Canada–U.S. trade dispute. It’s critical for Canada to understand how the country’s economic growth and diversification ambitions can be pursued alongside ongoing opportunities for bilateral energy trade.”
Moving quickly without losing trust
Gattinger says the questions that drive Canada’s domestic energy debate are relevant to the broader North American conversation she’ll help lead on how to move quickly without losing public trust.
However strong the alignment between public priorities and the direction of governments’ energy agendas, Gattinger says governments shouldn’t assume that support will continue indefinitely.
Maintaining support will depend on getting the balance right between speed and thoroughness, investment and public confidence, and energy security, affordability and climate action.
“Governments see these tailwinds from the public, and they take it as kind of a permission structure,” she says. “Which it is, but only to a point.”
“If they start to get the balance wrong, they could lose public support.”
That warning captures the central contribution of her work: helping decision-makers understand where public priorities stand, and what it will take to maintain the confidence needed to move Canada’s energy agenda forward.
