{"id":748278,"date":"2026-06-19T23:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T23:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/748278\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T23:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T23:31:15","slug":"suncor-to-mandate-local-residency-for-some-oilsands-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/748278\/","title":{"rendered":"Suncor to mandate local residency for some oilsands workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

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Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Suncor Energy is requiring some maintenance workers contracted to work in the oilsands to be Fort McMurray residents.<\/p>\n

A Thursday statement from the company says this could affect about 200 positions. However, community leaders in Fort McMurray call the decision a victory to encourage oilsands companies to prioritize local workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast month, Suncor issued a letter to a limited group of maintenance vendors who perform work in our fixed plant operations and whose work we believe could be supported through a more localized workforce,\u201d read a statement from Suncor to CBC News.<\/p>\n

Suncor did not answer CBC News\u2019 questions on timelines, which contractors will be impacted or if there are plans to expand beyond the 200 positions.<\/p>\n

The 2025 census for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) says there are more than 21,000 transient workers living in work camps dotting the oilsands region. This represents a 22 per cent drop from the 2021 census.<\/p>\n

Dianna De Sousa, president of the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, said the municipality and local business leaders have been pitching the community as a place for oilsands workers to live for years.<\/p>\n

While the number of positions impacted is small, De Sousa says she hopes it means the community grows at a slow, steady pace matching housing and infrastructure needs.<\/p>\n

\"AA view of Franklin Avenue in downtown Fort McMurray, as seen from the Jubilee Centre on June 11, 2026. (Vincent McDermott\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a longstanding period over 10 years of not a lot of economic activity and anything will be good for the region,\u201d she told CBC News. \u201cCertainly population growth will be the trigger for a number of items.\u201d<\/p>\n

Energy Minister Brian Jean also praised the news in a statement. Jean said in 2024 that the fly-in-fly-out model is \u201chollowing out\u201d resource communities like Fort McMurray.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a good start and we hope that other oilsands companies will follow this best practice,\u201d Jean said in a Thursday statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AEnergy and Minerals Minister Brian Jean speaks at Legacy Dodge Field in Fort McMurray during a press conference announcing Fort McMurray as the host of the 2028 Alberta Summer Games. (Vincent McDermott\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Work camps in the oilsands have been a polarizing issue in Fort McMurray\u2019s local politics. In 2019, then-mayor Don Scott unsuccessfully attempted to ban work camps within 75 kilometres of Fort McMurray.<\/p>\n

Scott argued at the time that work camps were growing at an unsustainable rate while economic uncertainty was shrinking Fort McMurray\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

Mayor Sandy Bowman has said at past events he is in favour of offering incentives luring workers to the community instead of banning work camps.<\/p>\n

In March, Bowman told the chamber of commerce that more people are choosing to live long-term in Fort McMurray and start families. Census data for 2025 shows the population grew for the first time in 10 years with a 1.6 per cent jump.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t stop until we see neighbourhoods coming up, new houses being built,\u201d said Bowman. \u201cThose days are coming, I can guarantee you those days are coming. It\u2019s a slow growth and that\u2019s what we need in this community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":748279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-748278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/748279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}