Carbon fiber production from asphaltenes was identified as a potential noncombustion process to add value to the n-pentane insoluble fraction of oilsands bitumen. Methods to pretreat the asphaltenes before melt spinning to improve its properties for carbon fiber production were investigated. Oilsands bitumen derived asphaltenes from an industrial npentane solvent deasphalting process served as raw material for this study. The material was characterized before and after pretreatment, and the melt spin properties were evaluated. Selected carbon fiber products were also oxidatively stabilized and carbonized to be characterized as carbonized carbon fibers. It was found that pretreatment by rigorous n-pentane and nheptane deasphalting, autoxidation (190−250 °C), and bromination with Br 2 (150−170 °C) followed by debromination (200 °C) had a minor impact on the CHNS elemental composition. At the same time, noticeable changes were found in the physical properties of the pretreated products with an increased softening point temperature for melt spinning. In most cases, the melt spin productivity was improved. The exception was the poorer melt spin productivity for n-heptane insoluble material, which was tentatively ascribed to a lack of lighter material to act as plasticizer. Variability in the fiber diameter of carbonized fibers was noticeably reduced by autoxidation as pretreatment even at the mildest conditions studied. Yet, despite the noted effects of pretreatment on physical properties and melt spin behavior, it was found that pretreatment did not cause a meaningful change in the tensile strength or Young's modulus of the carbonized fiber products compared to carbon fibers produced from the industrial asphaltenes without any pretreatment.