Tailings management facilities and dams are the subject of a wide range of legal requirements, standards, and guidance. Increasingly, these include not just technical content, but requirements for governance and management system elements not typically included in the common layers of engineering-focused reviews. Governance reviews aim to fill this gap by assessing the effectiveness of the management system implementation and focusing on the ‘human element’ critical to tailings and dam management. In addition, governance reviews drive continual improvement and offer benefits in team development, multidisciplinary integration, and efficiencies with other review and assurance processes. The Teck governance review program has been ongoing for over a decade and forms an important part of the tailings and dams governance framework. This paper will provide an overview of the governance review process, including linkages with requirements in the CDA Dam Safety Guidelines (CDA 2013), the GISTM (ICMM, UNEP & PRI 2020), and the Mining Association of Canada Tailings Management Protocol (MAC 2023). Learnings, benefits, and efficiencies realized over a decade of governance review program evolution will be shared, including key factors for consideration in developing and establishing a governance review program.