A hydraulically induced fracture containing bitumen was encountered in the Colorado Shale at Imperial Oil's Cold Lake Operation, during development drilling in 1997. The fracture was apparently caused by an inadvertent release of fluids from Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) operations in the Clearwater formation into the shale about 150 m above the producing formation. Subsequent drilling delineated the fracture to be over 1 km in diameter, extending over five 20-well pads. Steam injection into the Clearwater formation induces overburden heave and also induces additional shear stresses in the, shale. These could cause the shale to slip along the fracture. Depending on the magnitude of the slip, casing strings could be deformed or even failed. Numerical models were developed to assess the risk of future CSS operations and to optimize steaming strategies at the affected pads. A coupled geomechanical-thermal-reservoir simulation code, GEOSIM, was linked to the thermo-elasto-plastic capabilities in the fine element code, ABAQUS, to model the reservoir and overburden, including contact or slip elements in the fracture layer. Field measurements of the fracture pressure and laboratory measurements of the shear strength of the shale were important inputs to the model. Subsequent CSS cycles were conducted with pressure and temperature monitoring of the shale at the fracture depth and microseismic monitoring of the entire shale. Poroelastic fluid pressure and passive seismic responses in the fracture were observed during steaming and were consistent with the numerical modelling. Successful completion of three high pressure CSS cycles at pads with moderate shale fracture pressure allowed for steaming of a pad with higher shale fracture pressure. This case study is an excellent example of integrating technical geomechanics modelling with operations optimization.