Strathcona Refinery
Imperial's Strathcona Refinery opened in 1975, employs about 450 people and is reported at roughly 187,000 barrels per day.
Refinery Row, in Strathcona County east of Edmonton, includes Imperial Oil's Strathcona Refinery and a Suncor refinery. Crude processing units, tank farms and loading areas contain classified areas where Zone 1 and Zone 2 equipment is required. An IECEx mobile phone distributor in Edmonton refineries (Refinery Row) would carry the IS-04Z1 to these buyers once certification completes.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. Edmonton refineries (Refinery Row) has no appointed SAMS distributor yet: the IS-04Z1 is pre-launch (certification in progress, no certificate issued, launch planned for Q4 2026), and distributor applications are open.
Status: pre-launch. IECEx, ATEX, UKEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress and no certificate has been issued; launch is planned for Q4 2026. An operator's own vendor approval is a separate step. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of conformity | Number checkable on the IECEx online register | In progress; not issued |
| Standards edition | The IEC 60079 edition the certificate cites | Stated on the certificate when issued |
| Schedule of conditions | Limits of use, batteries and accessories | Published with the certificate |
| Where it applies | Edmonton refineries (Refinery Row): Loading racks, Wastewater treatment, Refinery process units | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Edmonton Refinery. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
The companies on site and the hazardous-area types a handset is likely to meet there.
Imperial's Strathcona Refinery opened in 1975, employs about 450 people and is reported at roughly 187,000 barrels per day.
The area adjoins Alberta's Industrial Heartland, a 582 square kilometre zone dedicated to hydrocarbon processing, so contractors and service firms are close by.
Imperial Oil's Strathcona Refinery, next to Edmonton in Strathcona County, was built in 1975 and is listed at 191,000 barrels a day, producing gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel, lubricating oils, waxes, heavy fuel oil and asphalts.
Of the four upgraders that process mined bitumen, Scotford is the only one not integrated with a mine bitumen plant, so it relies on feedstock supplied from elsewhere.
Sturgeon Refinery, originally designed as a bitumen upgrader, also processes in-situ production from Cold Lake, linking the Edmonton area to heavy-oil supply.
Refinery Row, a concentration of refineries in west Sherwood Park just east of Edmonton, includes the Strathcona Refinery (Imperial Oil) and the Suncor Edmonton Refinery.
IECEx is the international scheme for certifying equipment used in explosive atmospheres. A certificate of conformity is issued by an accredited certification body against a specific edition of the IEC 60079 standards and carries a schedule of conditions of safe use. It is not a legal requirement in most countries on its own, but many national schemes accept it as the technical basis.
The IECEx certificate for the IS-04Z1 is in progress and has not been issued. The marking target is Ex ib IIC T4, the intrinsic safety concept for Zone 1 gas with the hardest gas group (IIC) and a 135 °C temperature class.
In Edmonton refineries (Refinery Row). Contractors in the Industrial Heartland, a 582 square kilometre zone for hydrocarbon processing, may work for several operators in a year. A common IECEx certificate of conformity and schedule of conditions would give them a single reference. The IS-04Z1 is designed for that route, with certification in progress and nothing yet issued.
A distributor for Edmonton refineries (Refinery Row) would carry the IS-04Z1 after certification completes; the Q4 2026 launch is the planning date and no appointment has been made. SAMS reviews applicants one by one and prefers companies with their own Ex-competent technical and service staff, since certified devices must not be repaired outside approved channels.
No. Nothing can be bought or taken into a classified area today: certification is in progress and launch is planned for Q4 2026. What is available now is the datasheet, the written certification schedule and evaluation units for safe-area use.
There is no list price yet. SAMS gives indicative pre-launch pricing in writing, against a stated quantity and site, and does not commit to a lead time before certification completes.
No. The IECEx certificate is in progress and has not been issued. SAMS will publish the number when it exists.
Likely candidates are refinery process units, crude and product tank farms, loading racks, wastewater treatment. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Apply through the distributor page with your company details and the territory you cover. SAMS reviews applications company by company and has not yet granted a territory for Edmonton refineries (Refinery Row).
Cold winters affect outdoor work, and refineries run planned turnarounds outside peak demand. Dates are operator-set, so ask the operator's contractor team about shutdown windows and which devices are approved for process areas.
Refinery Row in Sherwood Park hosts the Strathcona (Imperial) and Suncor Edmonton refineries, and the Scotford and Industrial Heartland cluster has upgrading and refining capacity. Confirm which operator and site you will visit, because device rules are set per site.
Possibly. Equipment is normally approved by the site operator's HSE or electrical authority, and each operator runs its own process. Imperial Oil and Suncor may ask for different documents or trials. A single manufacturer certificate would help, but ask each operator what it requires before moving a device between sites.
Other guides for Edmonton Refinery, other places in Canada, and the pages behind them.
Tell us what you need to equip and where. The SAMS team answers by email with the datasheet and where each certification route stands.
Tell us the zone, gas group and operator. We will send the datasheet and the certification schedule.