Suncor Energy Centre
Minister of Energy and MLA for Fort McMurray Lac La Biche, Hon. Brian Jean
UPDATE, June 16, 8:00 p.m.
Harvard Media News has reached Alberta’s Minister of Energy and MLA for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, currently on a trade mission in Asia. Since first being elected, Minister Brian Jean has made addressing fly-in, fly-out workforce issues a key priority and has been actively working on the file.
The minister says:
“This is great news that Suncor has decided to take these important steps to ensure a local workforce for these projects. This is a good start, and we hope that other oilsands companies will follow this best practice. This is why we need to listen and work with our energy partners.
“If more companies follow positive changes like this, it will help create stronger local communities across Alberta and ensure the economic value from these projects stays in our province.”
FORT McMURRAY — Suncor Energy may be moving to significantly shift its workforce sourcing requirements for routine work at some of its oilsands operations, according to an unverified contractor communication obtained by Harvard Media News.
The document outlines what it describes as a phased approach to increasing local workforce participation within the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region while reducing reliance on camp accommodations for certain workers.
If authentic, the changes would represent a significant shift in workforce policy at some of northern Alberta’s largest oilsands operations. The document suggests Suncor intends to increasingly staff routine work at its commuter-accessible Base Plant and Syncrude sites with workers living in the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region, rather than relying on personnel travelling from outside the area.
According to the document, Suncor says it is continuing a “phased approach to enhancing local workforce participation within the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region.”
The letter says the initiative is intended to “further strengthen connection with the local community through sustainable, long-term employment opportunities” and “contribute to regional economic resilience by prioritizing the use of locally-sourced services and labour wherever possible.”
The document applies to routine work performed at Suncor’s Base Plant and Syncrude operations, both of which are located within commuting distance of Fort McMurray. The letter does not reference remote oilsands operations that typically require camp-based workforces.
Under a first phase scheduled to take effect June 30, contractors’ employees performing routine work at Syncrude and Base Plant sites would be expected to be locally located for certain positions, including safety personnel, administrators, leadership roles and non-trade labour positions such as labourers and janitorial staff.
The document states camp accommodations “will no longer be provided for overhead, indirect, or non-trade personnel.”
Unverified documents from Suncor obtained by Harvard Media News
The letter also references a community worker availability database developed in collaboration with Lifemark, Manpower, Careers and Keyano College to help contractors source local talent.
A second phase, scheduled to take effect Sept. 30, would expand the local-location requirement to all routine work scopes, including operations, maintenance and technical positions.
The letter states contractors’ employees performing routine operational, maintenance and technical support work at Base Plant and Syncrude sites “must be locally located.”
The document distinguishes routine work from project and turnaround activities.
Routine scopes are defined as “day-to-day operational, maintenance, or technical support activities that occur consistently as part of normal production cycles.”
Project or turnaround work is described as short-duration, non-recurring work such as outages, reliability projects, debottlenecking initiatives and capital upgrades. The document states those activities may continue to use non-local expertise where required because of their specialized nature.
The letter says contractors would be expected to demonstrate “a hiring balance that maximizes local participation while ensuring specialized project execution capability.”
According to the document, contractors unable to meet the requirements were instructed to submit a plan or proposal by May 15, 2026, outlining steps to ensure “no routine scope workers remain in camp by December 31, 2026.”
The communication appears to be issued by Emma Thorpe, vice-president of maintenance at Suncor Base Plant, Isabelle Verney, vice-president of maintenance at Syncrude, and Bruce Durnford, vice-president of regional turnarounds and BUC.
Harvard Media News has spoken with one of Suncor’s senior media advisers regarding the document. The adviser indicated the matter has been forwarded to the company’s media relations team for review. As of publication deadline, Harvard Media News had not received a response from Suncor. This story will be updated if and when additional information is provided by the company.
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