Oil sands rotation schedules

The most common patterns are 14 days on / 7 days off (14/7), 21 days on / 7 days off (21/7), and 10 days on / 4 days off (10/4), though the exact schedule depends on your employer, role, and whether you're camp-based or commuting daily from Fort McMurray.

What "on" actually means

On a 14/7 rotation, "on" days are typically 12-hour shifts (day or night), which leaves limited time for anything besides working, eating, and sleeping. Days off don't start until you've travelled home, so a 7-day break is really more like 5-6 usable days once travel is factored in. See our camp life guide for what a rotation actually feels like day to day.

Fly-in fly-out (FIFO)

FIFO means living somewhere else -- Edmonton, Calgary, or further away -- and flying to site for each rotation instead of relocating to Fort McMurray. Many employers cover or subsidize FIFO flights from set departure cities. FIFO adds travel days and airport time to each rotation, so it changes how you should budget your actual days off. See our FIFO guide for a practical packing list and what employers typically cover.

Seasonal hiring and rotation timing

Hiring isn't steady year-round. Spring (March-May) turnaround season brings the biggest hiring push as plants run scheduled maintenance shutdowns -- 2025 estimate, unconfirmed, historically cited around 3,000+ temporary shutdown roles across the region. Fall brings a second, smaller turnaround wave and a shift toward winter positions. Summer sees student hiring; winter brings cold-weather premium work. See when the oil sands actually hire for the full seasonal breakdown.

Planning around rotation

Because "days off" include travel, and because overtime and shutdown premiums are a big swing factor in total pay (see /salaries/), most experienced workers plan finances around base pay and treat overtime as extra on top rather than something to count on every rotation. Rotation also raises real tax questions -- whether your camp room and board counts as a taxable benefit, and whether you qualify for the Northern Residents Deduction depends on where you permanently live, not where you work. See /camp-tax/ for the general framework, sourced directly to CRA (not tax advice).