Alberta Geological Survey - History

History

Geological surveys exist at the provincial/territorial and federal levels of government in Canada. The complementary roles and responsibilities of provincial geological surveys and the federal survey, the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), are defined in the Intergovernmental Geoscience Accord, which was signed by the Honourable Ken Hughes, Alberta Minister of Energy, at Canada’s Annual Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference in September, 2012.

The roots of Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) go back to 1912, one year after the founding of the University of Alberta. Dr. Henry Marshall Tory, then president of the university, appointed Dr. John Allan to initiate the teaching of geology and establish a new Geology Department at the U of A. Dr. Allan took up the challenge and stayed on as Professor of Geology for nearly 40 years, with 37 of those years as head of the Geology Department.

In 1920, Dr. Allan delivered to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta the first government report on the mineral resources of the province. Dr. Allan reported on 18 different mineral resources known to occur in the province at that time. That report marks the beginning of AGS. Alberta Geological Survey was created in 1921, by Order in Council of the Alberta government, as a core part of the Scientific and Industrial Research Council, later the Alberta Research Council (ARC). Alberta Geological Survey was a department in ARC until it was transferred to the Alberta Department of Energy in 1995. Since 1996, AGS has been part of the Alberta government's Energy Resources Conservation Board (previously called the Energy and Utilities Board).

The manager of AGS represents Alberta on the National Geological Surveys Committee, which governs the implementation of the Intergovernmental Geoscience Accord and fosters cross-jurisdictional survey co-operation in Canada.