Blog: Potential Implications Of Alberta's Recession Of The Coal Policy

On June 1, 2020 the provincial government rescinded a decades-old policy that placed restrictions on the mining of coal in Alberta's Eastern Slopes.

A Coal Development Policy for Alberta was issued in 1976 and was widely known as the "Coal Policy". The Coal Policy covered many aspects of the coal development process, from the acquisition of exploration rights and coal leases to royalties, prices and marketing. However, the Coal Policy was best known for dividing a large area of the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains (where there are substantial coal deposits) into four different land use categories ("Coal Categories") where coal development was prohibited (Category 1), restricted (Category 2) or generally encouraged (Categories 3 and 4).