The earliest known history of the oil sands dates back almost 300 years ago. The local Aboriginal people used the bitumen from the oil sands to waterproof their canoes.

It was in 1719 that the oil sands were first formally mentioned in Canadian history. "Wa-pa-su, of the Cree First Nations, brought a sample of the oil sands to the Hudson Bay post at Fort Churchill. The sands were described as 'that gum or pitch which flows out of the banks of that river.'"* In 1788, Peter Pond established a post in this area.

In 1875, John Macoun lead the first government-sponsored expedition of the area. "Macoun, a botanist, recorded his observation of water naturally washing oil out of the oil sands that is the essence of today's technology for extracting bitumen from oil sands. His main impression was that the "tar" wasn't mixed with mineral matter, rather that the tar flowed through it."**

Over the years, many people tried to develop the oil sands. In 1906, Alfred von Hammerstein was the first person to drill for oil near Fort McMurray but he discovered salt deposits instead. A few years later, Sidney Ells, began working in the oil sands with a new method for extracting the bitumen from the sand using hot water. Dr. Karl A. Clark and his associate Sidney M. Blair also worked on separating the oil from the sand and in 1928 the two were granted a patent for their hot water process. Over the years, many other people worked to separate various elements from the oil sands and use it for roofing materials, road asphalt and diesel oil.

After many failed ventures, the 1950s brought renewed hope to the oil sands and several companies started investigating the potential of the oil sands. In 1964, approval was granted to Great Canadian Oil Sands company (now Suncor Energy Inc.) for the first oil sands project which officially began production in 1967. A few years later, Syncrude Canada Ltd., a joint public-private venture was formed and Syncrude Canada Ltd. began construction on a much larger site which came online in 1978.

Since then, the development of the oil sands has exploded. An example of the area's population growth is reflected in the community of Fort McMurray, located in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. Fort McMurray has grown from a small town of 300 in 1900 to a thriving city with a population of almost 50,000 people today. Industry investment in oil sands development now totals $23 billion with $7 billion worth of projects under construction and $30 billion of projects are forecasted to be completed by 2012.