One of Canada's top energy executives said finding a COVID-19 vaccine would lead to a return normal for the country's ailing oil and gas sector.

Cenovus Energy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Alex Pourbaix expects that the sector's economic activity will return to levels seen prior to the coronavirus pandemic once a vaccine is found and said he would be “very surprised” if oil demand didn’t bounce back as well.

“Once we have that vaccine, I do think we're going back somewhat to business as usual,” Pourbaix told BNN Bloomberg in an interview.

The pandemic has placed severe stress on the already-struggling Canadian energy sector, with the COVID-19 virus disrupting global demand for crude.

Cenovus reported Thursday a net loss of $194 million in the third quarter, a few days after announcing a deal to buy Husky Energy Inc. for $3.8 billion. Meanwhile, Husky reported a third quarter loss of $7.08 billion after being hit by $6.7 billion in impairment charges related to commodity price assumptions.

While the pandemic wasn’t the main driver behind the deal with Husky, it did show the importance of more integration within the energy sector, Pourbaix said.

"Although the pandemic wasn't a trigger to get the deal done, the impact on commodity prices certainly helped me to see the value of driving quickly towards a lower cost, more integrated, less volatile business strategy," he said.