Alberta is home to the world's third-largest oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Hydrocarbons are a key sector for the economy of the province and more broadly of the country.
The disaster could lead to a decline in Canadian GDP of 0.1% to 0.3% for the month of May, given the significant weight of the industry. The lessons of the Fort McMurray fires, due to poor forest maintenance, have not been learned, writes John Defterios.