Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program : Step by Step Instructions

This document provides step-by-step instructions for accessing the Single Window (SW) system to create and submit your greenhouse gas (GHG) report to Environment Canada.

Environment Canada's SW system consists of a central component called the Single Window Information Manager (SWIM) which provides access to a series of services and reporting modules including Environment Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program (EC-AB GHG). Efforts have been undertaken to streamline the reporting process between the national and various provincial jurisdictions, resulting in the launch of the SW reporting system to help reduce the reporting burden on industry, and the overall cost to government.

SWIM allows you to:

  • enter, edit or update information about your profile, organizations, facilities and contacts;
  • manage roles for other users; and
  • access program-specific reporting tools.

Note: The Access Key log in option is no longer available. If you have accessed the system previously with Access Key, you will need to create a GCKey and use the Recover Account feature in SWIM.  GCKey is a service provided by the Government of Canada to allow you to securely conduct online business with various governmental programs and services.

The instructions for accessing the SW system are presented as follows:

Step 1 - Log in through GCKey service or Sign-In Partner (SecureKey Concierge - your bank account credentials).

Navigate to the home page for the SW system:  https://ec.ss.ec.gc.ca and select the language you wish to use (English or French).

You will then be presented with a choice of logging in with a Sign-In Partner (your bank account credentials) or GCKey.  

a)  Sign-In Partner Log In - You will be transferred to the SecureKey Concierge service and prompted to select the sign-in partner (currently BMO, Scotia bank, and TD Canada Trust) and log in using your banking User ID and password.

b)  GCKey Log In - If you are a new user, select Register. Follow the on-screen directions to create a GCKey User ID and Password, and then use them to Log In. For users who had an Access Key account for the 2011 reporting year, you can re-use your User ID and password. Otherwise, if you already have a GCKey User ID and Password, enter them now.

Back to Step 1

Step 2 - Enter the Single Window Information Manager (SWIM) and create/update your profile.

After logging in, you will enter SWIM. If your account is not recognized by the system, you will be directed to the New User page. Follow the instructions below to link your account to an existing SW system profile using your email address, or create a new profile:

  • Enter your email address and click Search. An email containing an Account Recovery Key will be sent to your email address.
  • Copy this Account Recovery Key from the email and paste it into the field on the Redeem EC Key page which can be accessed through the left-hand menu and click Activate Key. This will link your SW profile to your User ID and password, and allow you to continue to connect to your organizations and reporting modules through the system.

Click on My Profile on the left-hand menu bar and update your information as required.

Most of the navigation in SWIM is done using the left-hand menu bar. The options on the left-hand menu bar will expand and collapse as you move up and down the left menu structure.

When you are entering or modifying data, please ensure you use the Save/Continue function regularly. A warning message will be displayed after 19 minutes of inactivity. After 20 minutes you will be logged out and any unsaved changes will be lost.

Back to Step 2

Step 3 - Establish/verify link between your profile and your organization.

Click on Organizations on the left-hand menu to display a list of the organizations your profile is linked to. If the organization you need to report on is not displayed and has reported in the past, you will need to link your profile to it. The best way to link to an organization is to obtain an EC Key from an authorized user and use the Redeem EC Key screen.

If you are unable to obtain an EC Key and wish to link to an organization already present in the database, select Request Access from the left navigation menu. You will need to identify the program you wish to report to (Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program), the program role you are requesting (ex. "EC-AB Reporting Lead – Specific Facilities"), the name of the organization, and for some roles, the specific facilities you wish to report on. This will result in a request being submitted to Environment Canada staff. If your request is approved, an EC Key will be sent by email within 3 business days. Copy the key and paste it in the field on the Redeem EC Key function. Roles are discussed further in Step 4.

If your organization is not present in the database, you will need to add it. Select Add a New Organization on the Organizations page. The system will prompt you to search for the organization before adding it. If the organization is not found, select Add a New Organization again and enter the organizational details. 

Back to Step 3

Step 4 - Add/update/verify organization and facility information.

After clicking on Organizations, click the name of the organization you are interested in to view details. The left menu will expand to show more options including Contacts, Parent Organizations, Manage Access and Facilities.

Select Facilities to see the organization’s facility list, add facilities, and edit details about particular facilities.

Select Contacts to add and manage basic information for individuals who will not be users of the system themselves but will be referenced in reports. The option to delete obsolete contacts is also available.

Select Parent Organizations to add parent organizations or update their information.

Select Manage Access to ensure that the appropriate people have access to the programs and facilities they need for reporting. From here, you can view all program/facility roles for users within the organization, Grant Access to yourself and/or others by generating EC keys, and delete individual roles as required.

The abilities for each of the EC-AB Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program roles are outlined below:

Reporting Lead - All Facilities: Update organization and facility information, grant and delete access for all other users of your organization, fill out reports and submit them.  [SWIM Organization Lead automatically assigned]
Reporting Lead - Specific Facilities: Update organization and facility information, grant and delete access to specific facilities, fill out reports and submit them. [SWIM Organization Lead automatically assigned]
Data Entry: Update organization and facility information, fill out reports for specific facilities but cannot submit them.  [SWIM Editor automatically assigned]
Signing Authority: View organization and facility information and the reports for specific facilities, and submit the report. [SWIM Member automatically assigned]
Read Only: View organization and facility information and the report. [SWIM Member automatically assigned]

You will note that there are additional SWIM roles visible. These roles govern the ability of users to perform functions in SWIM. These can also be managed here:

SWIM Organization Lead: Update organization and facility information, grant and delete access to specific facilities.
SWIM Editor: Update organization and selected facilities information, but cannot grant or delete access to facilities.
SWIM Member: View only access to organization and selected facilities information.

Back to Step 4

Step 5 - Access the EC-AB GHG reporting module, select reporting year and reporting company.

Click Home on the left navigation menu to see links to the individual reporting programs you have access to. Look for the EC-AB Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program link. If the link does not appear, you do not yet have an EC-AB Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program role. A role can be obtained by redeeming an EC Key (see Step 3). If this option is not available, use Request Access.

Click the EC-AB Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program link to navigate to the EC-AB GHG reporting module.

Within the EC-AB GHG reporting module, a Help drop-down menu will appear at the top of the page where additional helpful information is available. Click Help on the top menu bar and select Toggle In-Context Help to toggle the additional information on or off.

A reporting period must be selected on the first screen in the EC-AB GHG reporting module. The reporting period refers to the calendar year during which the emissions in question were produced. The default selection is 2012.

You can report data for the 2009, 2010, 2011 or 2012 calendar years using the system. You can amend previous submissions that are available in the system. If a past report is not available,  please create a new report and indicate in the comments area that you are submitting an amendment. If you wish to amend a GHG report submitted prior to 2009, please contact the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program. 

Select the reporting period and click Save/Continue. On the following screen, select the reporting company and click Save/Continue.

Back to Step 5

Step 6 - Use the Facility Reporting ‘Dashboard’

This page is a dashboard where all your reporting actions will be initiated for the reporting year and the company you have selected. On your first visit, you will need to identify the facilities you wish to report on. Click the Add New button and select one or more facilities to add to your report list then click on Add Items. You can use the search tool to find the facilities as well. Please note that the Add New button will not appear if you do not have an EC-AB GHG role that allows you to create a report (See Step 4). Furthermore, the search tool will only display facilities that you are allowed to report on.

Once the reports have been created for each facility you wish to report on, select one to work on using the radio button located beside the facility’s name. Below the facility name is a drop-down list containing a set of available Actions for the report. Select Edit to work on the report and click Save/Continue to proceed.

Back to Step 6

Step 7 - Select Reporting Options.

The Select Reporting Options screen requires you to identify the type of report you wish to submit. The list of options available depends on the physical address of the reporting facility. The reporting options are:

Report (EC Only): Select this option to create a standard EC GHG report. (This option is available to all facilities except those in Alberta.)

Report (EC & AB): For facilities in Alberta (AB) only, this option is a combined report that is submitted once and goes to both Alberta Environment and Sustainable Development and Environment Canada.

Report (AB only): For facilities in Alberta (AB) only, this option is a report that is only submitted to Alberta Environment and Sustainable Development. It is intended for facilities that meet AB's reporting criteria but do not meet Environment Canada's criteria (e.g. due to the different way CO2 from biomass combustion is handled in each program's threshold calculation).
Report with BC or ON Pre-population: For facilities in British Columbia (BC) or Ontario (ON) only, this option will load information from a submitted provincial GHG report (to either BC or ON) into an Environment Canada GHG report. Please review and modify, where appropriate, pre-loaded information to ensure it meets your reporting obligation to Environment Canada.

DNMC notification (EC): Select this option to inform Environment Canada that your facility does not meet the reporting criteria for the current year. If your facility does not meet the reporting criteria, but wish to submit a voluntary report, you do not need to submit a do not meet criteria (DNMC) notification. (This option is available to all facilities.)

Select the appropriate option for your facility and click Save/Continue.

Back to Step 7

Step 8 - Complete your report.

Go through the report, completing the data as prompted on each screen using the Save/Continue button.

If you need to make corrections on the Verify Facility Information page, you can return to SWIM to make these changes by clicking Home on the top menu bar. If you wish to have this screen reflect changes you have made in SWIM, click the Refresh from SWIM button at the bottom of this screen.

For your convenience, some fields have been made editable on the Verify Facility Information page. Note that changes made on this screen will only affect this report, and may be overwritten if the Refresh from SWIM button is used. If you make changes on this screen, click Save to SWIM to save the changes made here back to SWIM.

Note that each screen is initially ‘Incomplete’ and will have a red circle with an 'x' displayed on the left-hand menu bar. Once all required data has been entered and saved and all errors have been resolved, the screen will become ‘Complete’ and a green circle with a checkmark will be displayed. All individual screens of the report need to be complete before it can be submitted.

After leaving the last page of the report, you will return to the Facility Reporting ‘Dashboard’ screen.

Back to Step 8

Step 9 - Certify and submit your report.

Once a Report Status is 'Ready to Submit', the Submit action will appear on the Facility Reporting ‘Dashboard’ for users who have a role which allows them to submit reports. A user with the role “Reporting Lead - All Facilities”, "Reporting Lead - Specific Facilities" or "Signing Authority" will see the Submit action for facilities as long as their roles apply to those facilities. User roles are viewed and managed in SWIM (see Step 4).

Select the Submit action to navigate to the Report Submission and Electronic Certification screen. On this screen, the "Authorized Signing Officer" indicates agreement with the statement of certification and submits the report by clicking the Submit button. If a "Reporting Lead" acting on behalf of the "Authorized Signing Officer" will be submitting the report, this page should be printed (by clicking Print Statement of Certification at the bottom of the page), signed in hard copy by the "Authorized Signing Officer" and uploaded to document the approval prior to clicking the Submit button. Once the report has been submitted, it cannot be edited or deleted.

Back to Step 9

Step 10 - Perform other 'Dashboard' actions.

In addition to the Edit and Submit actions discussed above, a number of other actions are available from the EC-AB Reporting Dashboard screen (Step 6). The available actions change depending on the report status. Select Generate Report to produce a version that can be easily printed or saved to your computer. Select Delete to delete a report before it has been submitted (please note that you cannot delete a report once it has been submitted). If you wish to resubmit a report, select Update to generate an editable copy of the most recently submitted report. Select History to view a list of all reports for this facility for the current reporting year, in chronological order. You can view, print and save to file any report by clicking on the appropriate link to generate a report. Please retain a copy of the report and any information on which the report was based. This is a legal requirement pursuant to subsection 46 (8) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and the Canada Gazette notice.

Back to Step 10