Venezuelan expats who helped propel Canada oil sands growth see return home as unlikely

Venezuelan expat Luis Cabana poses near his apartment in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, January 28, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Kyaw Soe Oo

CALGARY, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Professional engineer Luis Cabana couldn't take a ‌walk in downtown Calgary in the mid-2000s without someone he knew calling out to him in Spanish.

Office towers in the corporate heart of Canada's oil and gas sector were ‌at the time heavily populated with Venezuelan expats who had fled persecution and economic stagnation in their home country.