Mikisew Cree say study shows cancer rates higher than rest of Alberta

Presenting findings from a new study on cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, the chief of Mikisew Cree First Nation called on the federal government to prevent the release of oil sands tailings.

Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro held a press conference in Ottawa on Monday to announce results from a health study commissioned by the First Nation.

According to the First Nation, the study found that between 1993 and 2022, cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan were approximately 25 percent higher than the rest of Alberta.

“If this continues, soon there will be no remaining Mikisew Cree First Nation members in northern Alberta,” Chief Tuccaro said.

He attributed the high number of cancer cases in his community to contamination from upstream industrial activities.

A press release from the First Nation stated decades of oil sands operations, uranium mining, pulp and paper mills and coal mines had introduced cancer-causing contaminants to the Peace-Athabasca Delta.

“Industry in Alberta is poisoning our water and slowly killing off our community,” Tuccaro said, adding he has raised the issue with “countless” politicians over the past two years.

“No one is listening to us,” he said. “No one is doing absolutely nothing to help us and my people back home, and they continue to get sick daily.”

The study was not immediately made available to reporters. The First Nation issued a statement that it said summarized the findings.

Fort Chipewyan is located on the western tip of Lake Athabasca, near the mouth of the Athabasca River and approximately 250 km downstream from the oil sands industrial complex in northern Alberta.

According to a municipal census, 641 people lived in the community in 2025, including members of the of Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation.

Tuccaro said his First Nation is “seriously talking about relocation.”

Province denies link to oil sands

The Mikisew Cree First Nation’s new study examined cancer incidence data from Alberta Health Services and the experiences of community members, the First Nation said.

According to the First Nation’s statement, the study found 149 community members were diagnosed with 24 different types of cancer between 1993 and 2022. Of those cases, 14 people were diagnosed with multiple cancers.

Tuccaro said cancer cases in his community are “grossly underestimated” as the data did not include people who leave Fort Chipewyan for medical treatment. He estimated the number of cases is closer to between 250 and 300.

In its press release, the First Nation said it believed some cases had gone undetected due to a lack of adequate healthcare services in the community.

Tuccaro alleged the provincial government would not provide the First Nation with cancer data after 2022 due to the spill of contaminated wastewater from a tailings pond at Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands project, which was discovered in May of that year.

In a statement to Cabin Radio, Alberta’s Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services said the registry that tracks cancer cases and deaths “has a lag in completeness.” The ministry said data through 2022 was the latest available when the First Nation’s report was compiled.

The ministry said there is “no known causal link between oil sands development and cancer rates in the region.”

“Our hearts go out to anyone suffering from cancer, their families and the communities they live in. We understand and take seriously the concerns raised by First Nations communities,” the ministry stated, adding it would review the Mikisew Cree First Nation’s study.

First Nation opposes release of oil sands tailings

The Mikisew Cree First Nation is calling on the federal and Alberta governments to improve healthcare services for its members.

“I shouldn’t have to come here to beg for my people to have a better lifestyle. Anywhere else they have adequate services,” Tuccaro said.

The chief also reiterated the First Nation’s objection to the release of treated oil sands tailings into the Athabasca River.

“My people have been collateral damage for too long. The almighty dollar rules in Alberta over our people’s lives,” he said.

Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi said more water testing is needed in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, as well as a solution to address high cancer rates.

“Those waters are part of our culture, a part of who we are, and it’s a part of who everybody is here in Canada,” he said.

“We have to make a stand in protecting this water. We have to understand what’s going on with the water.”

Indigenous leaders in the NWT have also voiced concerns about the downstream impacts of the oil sands on the territory.

Water in the Athabasca River flows north into the Slave River, then Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River before emptying into the Arctic Ocean.

Tailings ponds in Alberta’s oil sands contain more than 1.5 trillion litres of contaminated wastewater, a byproduct of the bitumen extraction process.

Industry has been pushing for regulatory changes that would allow for the treatment and release of that water into the Athabasca River.

The Alberta government is working to develop provincial standards for the release of oil sands wastewater into the environment, which would require federal approval.

In a statement to Cabin Radio, the office of Alberta’s environment and protected areas minister said any release standards would be “rooted in science and backed by clear evidence.”

“We recognize the importance of Indigenous perspectives in assessing tailings risks and support initiatives that promote shared understanding and transparency,” the minister’s office stated.

A working group of representatives from the federal government and nine Indigenous groups in the Athabasca region, including the Mikisew Cree First Nation, was established in 2021 to explore options for managing oil sands wastewater.

The group is currently assessing options for an “active regulatory approach,” which could include allowing the treatment and release of mine water, as well as alternatives to that approach.

Previous study found high cancer rates

This is not the first time concerns about high cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan have been raised.

In 2006, Dr John O’Connor – a physician who worked in the community – reported a high number of cases of cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of bile duct cancer, as well as high rates of other cancers among residents.

O’Connor and some community members attributed the cancers to environmental contamination from upstream industrial development.

The physician’s claims prompted a study by the Alberta Cancer Board.

That study confirmed two of the six cholangiocarcinoma cases O’Connor had reported – which it said was within the normal range for the community – and also concluded that overall cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan were higher than expected.

According to the report, between 1995 and 2006, 47 people were diagnosed with 51 cancers in Fort Chipewyan compared to an expected 39 cases in the population.

The study also found higher-than-expected cases of cancers in the blood and lymphatic systems, biliary tract cancers and soft tissue cancers.

The study’s authors said as the findings were based on a small number of cases, the higher incidence could be the result of chance or increased detection, but they could not rule out increased cancer risk in the community.

In an article published in the September 2025 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, a group of doctors, researchers and Indigenous water rights advocates raised concerns that the downstream health impacts of the Alberta oil sands are underresearched.

The authors argued that until rigorous studies are completed and the findings known, measures that could negatively impact health – including the release of treated tailings water and expansion of the oil sands – should be halted.

“Downstream, the billion-dollar public liability of arsenic-containing Giant Mine looms as a cautionary tale of a short-term boon to the public budget now transformed into a massive net loss and lasting danger,” the article stated.

In August 2024, the federal government committed nearly $12 million over 10 years for a community-led study on the impacts of the oil sands on Fort Chipewyan residents’ health.

The Mikisew Cree First Nation said the new study is a product of a three-part initiative that aims to address cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, the health of traditional foods. and the lack of community-level health data.