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EDMONTON — Alberta’s auditor general says a long-standing recommendation to improve reporting on the province’s oil sands monitoring program has now been fully implemented, marking the end of a concern first raised more than six years ago.
In a new assessment report released in April, the auditor general found the Department of Environment and Protected Areas has put in place a formal annual reporting process designed to improve the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of public reporting on the Oil Sands Monitoring Program.
The program, jointly managed by Alberta and the federal government since 2012, is responsible for monitoring air, water, land and biodiversity in the oil sands region and reporting on the environmental effects of development. It is funded through a provincial regulation that collects up to $50 million annually from industry.
The auditor general first flagged concerns in 2018, finding annual reports were incomplete, unclear and not released on time. A follow-up in 2023 found little improvement, with multiple reports delayed for years and still lacking key information.
The latest review concludes the department has since introduced a structured process for drafting, reviewing and approving reports, with internal deadlines aimed at meeting a public release target of Sept. 30 each year. While the most recent reports were still released slightly behind schedule, the auditor general found the new process is being followed and has improved overall timeliness.
Content has also been strengthened. Annual reports now include more detailed financial information and clearer descriptions of monitoring activities. Responsibility for interpreting long-term environmental trends has shifted to separate “state of the environment” reports, intended to provide a more comprehensive picture of cumulative effects.
One such report on surface water quality was released in December 2025, while timelines for additional reports covering air, groundwater, wetlands and biodiversity have not yet been announced.
The monitoring program operates under a multi-stakeholder oversight committee that includes representatives from government, industry and Indigenous communities, and is intended to inform decision-making on environmental impacts in the oil sands region.
The auditor general’s report focuses on governance and reporting processes and does not examine specific environmental outcomes, including issues such as water releases into the Athabasca River.
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