Key Takeaways
- Alberta says updated data show its methane emissions are down 62 per cent from 2014 levels.
- The province's original 45 per cent reduction target was reached in 2021, four years ahead of schedule.
- Alberta is now tracking toward a 75 per cent cut by 2035 under its agreement-in-principle with Ottawa.
A target hit four years early — and a bigger one now in reach
Alberta has cut its methane emissions by 62 per cent from 2014 levels, the provincial government announced Thursday, using updated data it says reflects more accurate measurement methods and newer technology. The figure puts the province well past its original goal: the government's first target, a 45 per cent reduction, was reached in 2021 — four years ahead of its 2025 deadline.
Environment and Protected Areas Minister Grant Hunter released the numbers to coincide with Methane Day at the Canadian Pavilion during COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye. Under a March 2026 agreement-in-principle, Alberta is now on a path toward cutting oil and gas methane emissions 75 per cent below 2014 levels by 2035 — and the province says that with emissions already down 62 per cent, it is on track to get there.
"Alberta is not waiting for someone else to solve the methane challenge," Hunter said. "We are doing it faster than promised while producing more of the energy the world needs."
Cutting emissions while output grows
The province says it has invested about $172 million in methane-reduction technology since 2019, and its emissions offset system has supported the installation of more than 61,000 methane-reducing devices. A recent Alberta Energy Regulator report adds the part industry likes to underline: venting and flaring volumes fell even as bitumen production rose 6.1 per cent and crude oil production rose 3.5 per cent.
The numbers also carry a federal dimension. Under the November 2025 Canada–Alberta memorandum of understanding, both governments committed to pursuing methane regulatory equivalency — recognizing Alberta's performance-based approach and, in the province's words, keeping methane regulation in provincial hands rather than duplicating rules.
The Twikup Take
Methane is the oilpatch's most fixable climate problem — it leaks from equipment that can be measured and repaired — and Alberta is claiming the strongest result in the country while production climbs. The claim rests on the province's own updated methodology, which is exactly why the equivalency fight with Ottawa matters: if the federal government accepts Alberta's numbers as equivalent, Alberta's way of counting becomes the standard.
Image: Illustrative image.