Celebrating Colleen Stevenson: A Career of Impact in Safety and Environmental Leadership
After more than 35 years of shaping environmental, health, and safety (EHS) practices across Canada’s fuels and specialties sector, Colleen Stevenson is being recognized with the Canadian Fuels Association’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award—a tribute to her unwavering commitment to protecting people, communities, and the environment.
Colleen began her journey in 1989 with Petro-Canada, bringing a strong foundation in industrial hygiene into the evolving world of workplace safety. She led critical work on benzene exposure, contributing frontline data that helped inform national safety standards and a landmark university study.
“In this project, I was assessing exposure levels for drivers loading and delivering fuel in various scenarios. That data ended up fueling a further CPPI/CFA sponsored study with McMaster University that eventually was published,” Colleen says. “It was a proud moment early in my career.”
Throughout her career—with Petro-Canada, Suncor, and most recently HF Sinclair—Colleen remained embedded in operations, often bridging the gap between policy and front-line plant operations.
“I was never a regulatory affairs person,” she says, “but someone needed to take it on—and I was ready to do the work.”
From shaping industry input on Ontario’s sulfur dioxide regulations to contributing to federal volatile organic compound (VOC) and greenhouse gas (GHG) frameworks, Colleen ensured that even smaller operators had a voice at the table.
“CFA gave me a voice,” she reflects. “In return, I brought the frontline perspective—and made sure it was heard.”
That perspective proved essential during a wave of new environmental regulations.
“There’s never been so many federal and provincial changes at once—on VOCs, sulfur dioxide, greenhouse gases. Interpreting and implementing them required a team effort across the organization and the sector,” she continues.
When Ontario introduced stricter sulfur dioxide limits, Colleen worked alongside CFA and member companies to provide technical input to policymakers—bringing forward her plant’s perspective as a lubricants facility.
Her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic was another defining moment. With operations designated essential, she and her EH&S team helped coordinate safety protocols, manage a major plant turnaround, and keep employees informed and protected—under ever-changing public health mandates.
“You can’t just shut down a plant. We had to keep people safe, keep operations running, and communicate every step of the way.”
Equally important was her commitment to community. At HF Sinclair’s Mississauga plant, she fostered long-standing dialogue with local residents, proving that transparency and trust are as vital as technical compliance.
“Understanding your community is just as important as understanding the science,” she says.
Colleen credits her success to collaboration and the mentorship she received from others in the EHS community. In turn, she mentored the next generation, sharing knowledge generously.
Now retired, Colleen reflects with gratitude and humility.
“It’s incredibly meaningful to be recognized,” she says. “This work often happens behind the scenes. To know it mattered—that means everything.”
Colleen’s influence has left a lasting legacy across Canada’s fuels and specialties sector— in the regulations she shaped, the people she mentored, and the values she upheld, Colleen’s impact will be felt for years to come.
