Attention Business Editors:

OPTI Canada to Host Q4 2005 Conference Call on February 17, 2006

    TSX: OPC

    CALGARY, Feb. 9 /CNW/ - OPTI Canada Inc. ("OPTI") announced today that it
will conduct a conference call at 6:30 a.m. Mountain Time (8:30 a.m. Eastern
Time) on Friday, February 17, 2006 to review the Company's fourth quarter 2005
financial and operating results. The Company will also review progress on the
Long Lake Project, a 50/50 joint venture with Nexen Inc. Sid Dykstra,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Arnold, Chief Operating Officer,
and George Crookshank, Chief Financial Officer, will host the call. To
participate in the conference call, dial:

              (866) 540-8136 (North American Toll-Free)
              (800) 8989-6323 (International Toll-Free)
              (403) 410-9170 (Alternate)

    Please reference the OPTI Canada conference call with Sid Dykstra when
speaking with the Operator.
    A replay of the call will be available until March 17, 2006, inclusive.
To access the replay, call (416) 695-5800 and enter passcode 3174229, followed
by the pound (No.) sign.

    About OPTI

    OPTI Canada Inc. is a Calgary, Alberta-based company focused on
developing the fourth and next major integrated oil sands project in Canada,
the Long Lake Project, in a 50/50 joint venture with Nexen Inc. The first
phase of the Project consists of 72,000 barrels per day of SAGD (steam
assisted gravity drainage) oil production integrated with an upgrading
facility, using OPTI's proprietary OrCrude process and commercially available
hydrocracking and gasification. Through gasification, this configuration
substantially reduces the exposure to and the need to purchase natural gas.
The Project is expected to produce 58,500 b/d of products, primarily
39 degrees API premium sweet crude with low sulphur content, making it a
highly desirable refinery feedstock. First steam injection is scheduled to
commence in late 2006 and the upgrader is scheduled to start up in mid-2007.
OPTI's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol OPC.
    Information about OPTI is available at http://www.opticanada.com.
Additional information regarding the Long Lake Project is available at
http://www.longlake.ca.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Certain information contained herein is deemed to be forward-looking. The
Company believes that the expectations conveyed by the forward-looking
statements are reasonable based on information available to it on the date
such forward-looking statements are made. No assurances can be given as to
future results, levels of activity and achievements. Actual results may differ
materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking
statements. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or
oral, attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are
expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The
Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should
circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

For further information: contact: Alison Trollope, Investor Relations 
Manager, (403) 218-4705; OPTI Canada Inc., Suite 2100, 555 - 4th Avenue SW,  
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P 3E7