OWNERS stands for "One Window to National Environmental Reporting System." It is designed to be an on-line mechanism for reporting information to Environment Canada and/or other agencies. The system is secure and easy to use, and is the result of industry and government working together to reduce the reporting burden and make it easier to collect, analyze, store and archive data.

At this time, OWNERS is the reporting vehicle for the following programs and agencies:

• Environment Canada for:
  • National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI)
• Other agencies and programs:
  • Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Ontario Regulation 127/01
  • Alberta Environment, Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act
  • Chemistry Industry Association of Canada for the National Emissions Reduction Master plan (NERM) Survey
  • National Framework for Petroleum Refinery Emission Reductions ( NFPRER)

In future years reporting to other programs and agencies may be integrated into OWNERS.

OWNERS II is an updated version of OWNERS. The first phase of OWNERS II will be used only for reporting of the new tailings and waste rock information to NPRI. Note that reporting of all other NPRI information for the 2009 reporting year, as well as updates to previously submitted reports, will be done through the current OWNERS application.

Although on-line reporting is preferred, reporters who have trouble or do not have access to a computer that meets system requirements can contact the agency to which they are reporting for further directions. A data exchange format is an alternate method that can be used.

Several other Environment Canada programs use on-line reporting applications to collect environmental data. Please visit the following websites for further information on these programs.

• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reporting
• Environmental Emergencies Regulations
• Pollution Prevention Planning Notices under CEPA 1999

The NPRI currently collects data on range of substances of concern, but not GHG emissions. While the general emissions data reported to the NPRI and GHG emissions data reported through Environment Canada are collected under authority of the same legislation (CEPA, 1999), they are two different sets of data.

OWNERS has provided the infrastructure, methods and tools to ensure that data are kept confidential and secure. Encryption, firewalls, intrusion detection software and operating system security protect all data.

By going to a web based system, the OWNERS data collection process meets Government of Canada standards for confidentiality through:

• a password protected web site,
• careful dissemination of user IDs and passwords, and
• transport of data over Internet via 128-bit SSL encryption.

The Government of Canada Secure Channel system also known as epass will be used to ensure that data is secure.

The epass provides users with secure access to online Government of Canada services.

Click here for more information on epass.

OWNERS facilitates the reporting of information to various agencies outside of Environment Canada. The information collected by a specific agency will only be accessible to that agency. Only that agency will be able to share its data with the organizations and publish the information.

The user must first create a user profile and log into OWNERS. Once logged in, the user can create a facility, then complete and submit the necessary reports.

Depending on the regulation, OWNERS will allow updates to previously submitted data. These will be flagged in the system as an update.

OWNERS provides a list of reports identifying if they were previously submitted or in progress. You can view the contents of a report that has been submitted.

OWNERS will allow the user to save partially completed reports, and the return at a later date to continue and submit. Security provisions have been made to prevent any unauthorized users from tampering with partially completed or submitted reports.

Once a report is submitted, OWNERS will provide an acknowledgement that the report has been received. The acknowledgement will include a list of the submitted reports, and the date they were submitted.