Syncrude has a 56-year corporate history and 42-year operating record of responsible oil sands development. This is reflected through our support for local communities, Indigenous inclusion, continued improvement in environmental performance, and an emphasis on a safe, healthy and respectful workplace.

The company operates technologically advanced oil sands mines, and extraction, upgrading and utilities facilities at our two sites north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. Current production capacity is 350,000 barrels of high quality, light, low sulphur crude oil per day.

A culture of innovation drives continued progress throughout the organization, resulting in recent investments totaling over $3 billion in tailings treatment processes, fen wetland reclamation and air emissions reductions. Syncrude consistently ranks among the top R&D spenders in Canada and collaborates with industry partners through Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA).

Syncrude’s 2019 TSM results were externally verified. Highlights include:

Aboriginal and Community Outreach

Verified at Level AAA in all areas, Syncrude is one of the top employers of Indigenous people in Canada and to date has spent over $4 billion with Indigenous-owned companies. The company champions Indigenous inclusion nationally through engagement with the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business, Indigenous Works and Indspire. Its program has also been certified five times at the top level in the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program.

Biodiversity Conservation Management

Level AAA was achieved for all three indicators. Syncrude’s management of biodiversity includes extensive evaluation, monitoring and reporting programs toward the avoidance or mitigation of significant adverse effects to land and wildlife. A commitment to innovative and progressive reclamation practices has resulted in over 4,300 hectares of land reclaimed from mining operations to date. Since wildlife monitoring began in 2011, 156 species have been detected on our reclaimed areas, including 34 species of concern. In addition, in 2019, Syncrude joined the governments of Alberta and Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Tallcree First Nation to establish the Birch River Wildland Provincial Park, creating the world’s largest protected area of boreal forest.

Crisis Management and Communications Planning

Syncrude scored “Yes” in all indicators of this protocol. The company regularly conducts emergency response simulations, including desktop and site-wide simulations, to ensure all personnel are properly trained and tested.  Pre-plans exist for all medium and high-level risks, and spokespeople are identified and trained. In addition, these plans have been tested in actual application during the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire and operational incidents.

Energy and GHG Emissions Management

Syncrude’s climate change strategy incorporates concentrated efforts to ensure the reliability of our equipment, implementing new technologies, introducing energy efficiency programs and considering projects outside the company to offset our emissions. For this protocol, Syncrude’s energy and GHG management and reporting systems achieved Level AAA ratings. We met our GHG target for 2019, but had not met it in three of the past four years. This is reflected in the A rating for performance.

Safety and Health

Syncrude was verified at Level AAA across all indicators. This is due in large part to our Operations Integrity Management System (OIMS) which is designed to sustain and improve safety, health and environmental performance. We have long been one of Alberta’s safest industrial workplaces and, in 2019, achieved a major employee and contractor safety milestone with a best-ever combined Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR) of 0.44. Safety performance is also one of the key metrics tied to employee compensation.

Tailings Management

Syncrude has long recognized the value of the Tailings Management protocol and, in 2019, elected to immediately implement the newly revised version a year earlier than required. We underwent an external audit to ensure high performance and to identify efficiencies and improvements which needed to be made. Level AA ratings were achieved in all indicators, confirming Syncrude’s strong commitment to responsible tailings management.

Preventing Child and Forced Labour

As reflected in our response of “Yes” for all indicators under this protocol, we are guided not only by provincial and Canadian legislation and employment standards, but also by a suite of corporate policies that encompass ethics, business conduct, employee relations, and health and safety. In regards to child labour specifically, Syncrude participates in the Alberta high school Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) through which students will work on our site as part of their curriculum. The minimum age is 15 and the participation requires parent/legal guardian consent. Students are fully supervised.

For more information, visit www.syncrude.ca.