According to Christian Labour Association of Canada, the workers were removed on Wednesday morning, without any prior notification.

The workers have been employed by the contractor Saipem at the Sunrise oil sands project.

The move comes as the company commenced production at the Sunrise project, which is located 60km north of Fort McMurray.

Christian Labour Association of Canada representative Izzy Huygen said that the workers had expected their jobs to last for another three months.

Reuters quoted Huygen as saying: "They were supposed to be there until June, July and August. It was supposed to be a gradual decline through the summer, so this was unexpected."

Husky Energy spokesperson Mel Duvall said that Saipem’s construction work at the Sunrise Energy Project has been completed, and the remaining commissioning work will be managed by the company itself and other contractors.

He has denied that the removal of jobs had anything to do with falling oil prices.

The field commenced steam operations in December 2014, and is scheduled to reach a maximum 60,000 barrels per day by the end of 2016.