A truck carries oilsands at Suncor’s facility near Fort McMurray on Friday, Sep. 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Victor R. Caivano
Alberta Occupational Health and Safety is investigating the death of a worker at an oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray.
The worker was inside a piece of equipment last week when it became submerged in muskeg, it said.
“It is always tragic when a worker dies on the job,” OH&S said in a written statement.
Suncor Energy Inc. said the contractor had been operating heavy machinery near a water body — not a tailings pond — at its Fort Hills oilsands site.
As of last week, the person was unaccounted for and recovery efforts were underway.
Neither the company nor OH&S provided an update Thursday on the efforts to retrieve the worker’s remains.
Suncor said the investigation is early and ongoing, but there are indications it may have been the result of a medical event.
“Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time,” the company said.
Suncor said earlier this month that its safety performance in 2025 was its best-ever for the third year in a row, with lost time and process safety events falling by 70 per cent compared to 2022.
Safety had earlier been a major concern at the Calgary-based oilsands giant.
Between 2014 and 2022, it had at least 12 workplace deaths at its sites, more than the rest of its oilsands peers combined. That safety record attracted the attention of U.S.-based activist investor Elliott Investment Management, who in 2022 made a public case for an overhaul of the company’s board and management.
CEO Rich Kruger, formerly head of Imperial Oil Ltd., was lured out of retirement in 2022 to lead a restructuring at Suncor, which had seen a spate of high-profile operational and financial challenges.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SU)
- 0111 2026 SK Oil Show booth promo 010111 2026 SK Oil Show booth promo 01
- 0085 Turnbull snow removal call office0085 Turnbull snow removal call office
- 0110 SaskEnergy SEI_Network_Members_Burn_Brighter0110 SaskEnergy SEI_Network_Members_Burn_Brighter
- 0109 SaskPower SASPO_2817_PLT_Recruitment_DIVERSITY0109 SaskPower SASPO_2817_PLT_Recruitment_DIVERSITY
- 0105 SaskEnergy Commitment to Safety0105 SaskEnergy Commitment to Safety
- 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
- 0100 Turnbull Project Manager0100 Turnbull Project Manager
- 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
- 0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
- 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
- 0092 Turnbull projects big and small0092 Turnbull projects big and small
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001