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Case Study

 

Amping Up Reporting

How Hydro One Strengthened Consultation Records, Accountability, and Collaboration with Irth for Stakeholder Management

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Context
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Ontario’s largest electricity transmission and distribution provider, serving nearly 1.5 million customers, and operates transmission assets on 23 First Nations reserves and provides distribution services to 88 First Nations communities.
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Required to complete Environmental Assessments (EAs) to install and maintain transmission infrastructure.
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Has a responsibility to conduct meaningful consultation with Indigenous communities and other affected stakeholders.
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Increasing project volumes and multiple EAs approaching key deadlines highlighted the need for stronger consultation records, commitment tracking, and reporting.

Challenges

  • Growing project complexity made spreadsheet-based data management unsustainable. 
  • Reporting required significant time and effort due to fragmented and inconsistent data. 
  • No reliable way to track commitments and ensure followthrough. 
  • Multiple versions of project data limited collaboration and overall visibility. 
  • Inconsistent processes and terminology across three provincial regions. 
Challenges_Amping Up Reporting (Hydro One)

Solutions

 

Borealis (now Irth for Stakeholder Engagement) with Smart Communications and Team Data Segregation add-ons.

 

 

 

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Key Benefits and Results

Centralized, accurate, and uptodate data accessible across teams.

 

Consultation records and supporting documentation are easy to compile and defend.

Commitments are tracked, scheduled, and followed through consistently.

Shared visibility into engagement activity across Indigenous Relations, Environmental, Customer Care, and Community Relations teams.

Streamlined processes reduce time, cost, and stress associated with EA preparation.

Sensitive information is shared on a needtoknow basis with internal and external partners.

 

‘‘Borealis (now Irth for Stakeholder Engagement) had the functionality we were looking for. We have an important obligation to record our consultation; the software excels at helping us capture our consultation efforts and then allows us to slice and dice them. Also, when we’re working with the same community on a new project, we’re able to leverage information that’s already in our database and build on that. We chose Borealis based on cost and functionality, but also security. Meeting our security requirements was a big factor.’’

Renee Pettigrew, 

Environmental Programs & Approvals, Hydro One

 

‘‘Borealis (now Irth for Stakeholder Engagement) has been incredibly helpful in elevating our relationships with stakeholders and rights holders. It has been rolled into our Indigenous Relations strategy. One of the four pillars of the strategy is accountability, and Borealis is the tool that we use to keep ourselves accountable in our work.’’

Erika Dawson,

Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations, Hydro One
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