PanCanadian Petroleum (later Encana, now Ovintiv) formed Canadian Oil Sands Trust in 1995 with a 10% interest in Syncrude.

The following year, Gulf Canada formed Athabasca Oil Sands Trust with an 11.74% interest in Syncrude.

[3] In October 2015, the company was subject to a hostile takeover bid from Suncor Energy, worth around $3.29 billion.

[5] On March 21, 2016 Suncor Energy completed acquisition of Canadian Oil Sands with the support of the Boards of Directors of both companies.

Canadian Oil Sands' primary business operation was through its 36.74 per cent interest in Syncrude.