Fort McMurray McMurray (1947–1962) | |
|---|---|
| Fort McMurray Urban Service Area | |
 Aerial view of Fort McMurray withAthabasca River | |
| Nicknames: | |
| Motto: We Have The Energy | |
  Fort McMurray  Fort McMurray  Fort McMurray | |
| Coordinates:56°43′35″N111°22′49″W / 56.72639°N 111.38028°W /56.72639; -111.38028 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Alberta |
| Region | Northern Alberta |
| Census division | 16 |
| Specialized municipality | RM of Wood Buffalo |
| Founded | 1870 |
| Incorporated[4][5] | |
| • Village | May 6, 1947 |
| • Town | December 29, 1948 |
| • New town | June 30, 1964 |
| • City | September 1, 1980 |
| Name changed[4] | June 1, 1962 |
| Amalgamated[5] | April 1, 1995[6] |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Sandy Bowman |
| • Governing body | Wood Buffalo Municipal Council
|
| • MP | Laila Goodridge (CPC) |
| • MLA |
|
| Area (2021) | |
| • Urban | 52.17 km2 (20.14 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 260 m (850 ft) |
| Population (2021)[6] | |
| • Urban | 68,002 |
| • Urban density | 1,303.5/km2 (3,376/sq mi) |
| • Municipal census (2021) | 72,917[9] |
| SeeDemographics section for population counts from RM of Wood Buffalo's recent municipal censuses. | |
| Demonym | Fort McMurrayites |
| Time zone | UTC−07:00 (MST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−06:00 (MDT) |
| Forward sortation areas | |
| Area code(s) | 780,587, 825,368 |
| Highways | 63,69 |
| Waterways | Athabasca River,Clearwater River, Hangingstone River, Horse River |
| Website | RM of Wood Buffalo |
Fort McMurray (/məkˈmʌri/mək-MURR-ee) is anurban service area in theRegional Municipality of Wood Buffalo inAlberta, Canada.[10][11] It is located innortheast Alberta, in the middle of theAthabasca oil sands, surrounded byboreal forest. It has played a significant role in thedevelopment of the national petroleum industry. The2016 Fort McMurray wildfire led to theevacuation of its residents and caused widespread damage.
Formerly a city, Fort McMurray became an urban service area when it amalgamated with Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995, to create the Municipality of Wood Buffalo (renamed the RM of Wood Buffalo on August 14, 1996).[12] Despite its current official designation of urban service area, many locals, politicians and the media still refer to Fort McMurray as a city. Fort McMurray was known simply as McMurray between 1947 and 1962.
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Before the arrival of Europeans in the late 18th century, theCree were the dominantFirst Nations people in the Fort McMurray area. TheAthabasca oil sands were known to the locals and the surface deposits were used to waterproof their canoes. During thefur trade, the location of Fort McMurray, west ofMethye Portage, was an important junction on the fur trade route from eastern Canada to theAthabasca Country.
In 1778, the first European explorer,Peter Pond, came to the region in search of furs, as the European demand for this commodity at the time was strong. Pond explored the region farther south along theAthabasca River and theClearwater River, but chose to set up atrading post much farther north by the Athabasca River nearLake Athabasca. However, his post closed in 1788 in favour ofFort Chipewyan, now the oldest continuous settlement inAlberta.[13]
In 1790, the explorerAlexander MacKenzie made the first recorded description of theoil sands. By that time, trading between the explorers and the Cree was already occurring at the confluence of the Clearwater and Athabasca rivers. TheHudson's Bay Company and theNorth West Company were in fierce competition in this region. Fort McMurray was established there as a Hudson's Bay Company post by 1870, named for the ChiefFactor William McMurray.[14] It continued to operate as a transportation stopover in the decades afterwards. TheAlberta and Great Waterways Railway arrived in 1915 complementing existing steamboat service.[15]
The community has played a significant role in thehistory of the petroleum industry in Canada. Oil exploration is known to have occurred in the early 20th century, but Fort McMurray's population remained small, no more than a few hundred people. By 1921, there was serious interest in developing a refining plant to separate the oil from the sands.Alcan Oil Company was the first outfit to begin bulk tests at Fort McMurray. The nearby community ofWaterways was established to provide a southern terminus for waterborne transportation when the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway reached there in 1921.
Abasands Oil was the first company to successfully extract oil from the oil sands through hot water extraction by the 1930s, but production was very low.[16] Fort McMurray's processing output gradually grew to over 1,100 barrels/day byWorld War II, and Fort McMurray was set up by the US and Canadian forces as staging ground for theCanol Project.
Fort McMurray and Waterways amalgamated as the village of McMurray (the "Fort" was dropped until 1962, when it was restored to reflect its heritage) by 1947, and became a town a year later. Fort McMurray was granted the status of new town so it could get more provincial funding. By 1966, the town's population was over 2,000.
In 1967, theGreat Canadian Oil Sands (nowSuncor) plant opened and Fort McMurray's growth soon took off. More oil sands plants were opened, especially after the1973 oil crisis and the1979 energy crisis, when serious political tensions and conflicts in the Middle East triggered oil price spikes. The population of the town reached 6,847 by 1971 and climbed to 31,000 by 1981, a year after its incorporation as a city.
The population peaked at almost 37,000 in 1985,[17] then declined to under 34,000 by 1989.[18] Low oil prices since theoil price collapse in 1986 slowed the oil sands production greatly, as oil extraction from the oil sands is a very expensive process and lower world prices made this uneconomical.
On April 1, 1995, the City of Fort McMurray and Improvement District No. 143 were amalgamated to form the Municipality of Wood Buffalo. The new municipality was subsequently renamed the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo on August 14, 1996.[12] As a result, Fort McMurray was no longer officially designated a city. Instead, it was designated an urban service area within aspecialized municipality. The amalgamation resulted in the entire RM of Wood Buffalo being under a single government. Its municipal office is located in Fort McMurray, which accounts for the great majority of the RM's population; all but 5,000 of the RM's residents live in the Fort McMurray urban service area.
The city continued to grow for a few years even after the oil bust caused by the 2003 collapse in world oil prices.Oil price increases since 2003 made oil extraction profitable again for around a decade, until anotherslump in oil prices which began in December 2014 and deepened in 2015 resulted in layoffs and postponement of projects.[19]
In June 2013, heavy rains caused theHangingstone River to flood, causing a six-daystate of emergency, a bridge collapse, the closure of highways63 and881, and the evacuation of 150 people.[20][21]
On May 3, 2016, a largewildfire burning southwest of Fort McMurray resulted in the mandatory evacuation of the community.[22][23] Record-breaking temperatures, reaching 32.8 °C (91 °F),[24] low relative humidity and strong winds contributed to the fire's rapid growth[23] in forests affected by "an unusually dry and warm winter".[25]
Upwards of 88,000 people in the community and surrounding region were evacuated.[26][27] It was Canada's largest recorded wildfire evacuation in history and third-largest recordedenvironmental disaster evacuation[28] behind the1979 Mississauga train derailment and the1950 Red River flood.[29]
About one-fifth of homes in the community were reported to be destroyed in the fire.[26][27]
On April 27, 2020, massiveice jams[30] along the Athabasca River resulted in a major flood. It devastated the downtown of Fort McMurray, submerging streets and ruining businesses, cars and houses.[31]
Approximately 13,000 people from Fort McMurray and the surrounding area were evacuated.[32]
On 14 May 2024, a wildfire led to the evacuation of several neighborhoods in the urban service area.[33]
The evacuation displaced upwards of 6,000 people from their homes in these neighborhoods.[34]
Fort McMurray is 435 km (270 mi) northeast ofEdmonton onHighway 63, about 60 km (37 mi) west of theSaskatchewan border, nestled in theboreal forest at the confluence of theAthabasca River, theClearwater River, the Hangingstone River, and the Horse River. It sits at 370 m (1,210 ft) above sea level. Fort McMurray is the largest community in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
White spruce,trembling aspen,balsam poplar andwhite birch are the most prominent native trees in and around town.Black spruce andtamarack occur in poorly drained areas andjack pine may be seen on the driest sites.European aspen,blue spruce andsand cherry are among the exotic trees occasionally seen.[citation needed]
With severe winters except during periods of warmingchinook winds, mild to warm summers and only three months which average temperature is higher than 10.0 °C (50.0 °F), Fort McMurray has a borderlinesubarctic climate (Köppen:Dfc), being just below the threshold ofhumid continental climate (Dfb), with May and September average temperature of 9.9 °C (49.8 °F). It falls into theNatural Resources Canada (NRC)Plant Hardiness Zone 3a.[35]
The community lies at a lower elevation than most other parts of Alberta, so under the right conditions it can be a "hot spot" for Alberta.[citation needed]
Temperatures range from an average of −17.2 °C (1.0 °F) in January, to 17.3 °C (63.1 °F) in July. The average annual precipitation is 404.6 mm (15.93 in) and falls mainly in the summer months. Average annual snowfall is 110.6 cm (43.5 in),[36] with almost all of it falling between October and April.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort McMurray was 40.3 °C (104.5 °F) on June 30, 2021.[37] The lowest temperature ever recorded was −53.3 °C (−63.9 °F) on February 1, 1917 and December 31, 1933.[38][39]
| Climate data for Fort McMurray (Fort McMurray International Airport) Climate ID: 3062693; coordinates56°39′N111°13′W / 56.650°N 111.217°W /56.650; -111.217 (Fort McMurray Airport); elevation: 369.1 m (1,211 ft); 1991−2020 normals, extremes 1908−present[a] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record highhumidex | 14.6 | 13.4 | 19.8 | 30.4 | 35.6 | 38.3 | 45.6 | 40.5 | 33.7 | 28.4 | 15.5 | 10.4 | 45.6 |
| Record high °C (°F) | 15.1 (59.2) | 16.1 (61.0) | 20.1 (68.2) | 35.0 (95.0) | 36.7 (98.1) | 40.3 (104.5) | 38.9 (102.0) | 37.0 (98.6) | 32.4 (90.3) | 29.4 (84.9) | 18.9 (66.0) | 10.7 (51.3) | 40.3 (104.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −11.9 (10.6) | −7.3 (18.9) | 0.1 (32.2) | 9.3 (48.7) | 17.2 (63.0) | 21.7 (71.1) | 23.9 (75.0) | 22.2 (72.0) | 16.2 (61.2) | 7.3 (45.1) | −3.2 (26.2) | −9.9 (14.2) | 7.1 (44.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −17.2 (1.0) | −13.6 (7.5) | −6.7 (19.9) | 2.7 (36.9) | 9.9 (49.8) | 14.9 (58.8) | 17.3 (63.1) | 15.6 (60.1) | 9.9 (49.8) | 2.4 (36.3) | −7.6 (18.3) | −14.8 (5.4) | 1.1 (34.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −22.3 (−8.1) | −19.9 (−3.8) | −13.5 (7.7) | −3.9 (25.0) | 2.6 (36.7) | 8.0 (46.4) | 10.6 (51.1) | 8.8 (47.8) | 3.5 (38.3) | −2.5 (27.5) | −11.9 (10.6) | −19.6 (−3.3) | −5.0 (23.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −51.7 (−61.1) | −53.3 (−63.9) | −44.4 (−47.9) | −34.4 (−29.9) | −17.3 (0.9) | −6.1 (21.0) | −3.3 (26.1) | −6.1 (21.0) | −15.6 (3.9) | −24.5 (−12.1) | −41.7 (−43.1) | −53.3 (−63.9) | −53.3 (−63.9) |
| Record lowwind chill | −58.4 | −59.6 | −56.8 | −45.8 | −21.0 | −7.2 | 0.0 | −6.1 | −16.0 | −31.7 | −50.1 | −53.2 | −59.6 |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 15.7 (0.62) | 13.0 (0.51) | 15.3 (0.60) | 18.1 (0.71) | 31.0 (1.22) | 78.0 (3.07) | 77.4 (3.05) | 55.9 (2.20) | 43.7 (1.72) | 25.8 (1.02) | 17.2 (0.68) | 13.4 (0.53) | 404.6 (15.93) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0.2 (0.01) | 0.3 (0.01) | 2.3 (0.09) | 12.1 (0.48) | 30.8 (1.21) | 77.9 (3.07) | 80.0 (3.15) | 56.7 (2.23) | 43.1 (1.70) | 11.4 (0.45) | 1.8 (0.07) | 0.2 (0.01) | 316.7 (12.47) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 20.3 (8.0) | 18.9 (7.4) | 17.1 (6.7) | 7.2 (2.8) | 2.5 (1.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.4 (0.6) | 8.3 (3.3) | 18.3 (7.2) | 16.6 (6.5) | 110.6 (43.5) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.2 mm) | 13.3 | 11.3 | 10.7 | 9.5 | 11.2 | 16.0 | 17.1 | 13.6 | 13.2 | 11.0 | 12.5 | 12.0 | 151.4 |
| Average rainy days(≥ 0.2 mm) | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 6.3 | 10.7 | 14.5 | 16.7 | 13.8 | 13.6 | 6.0 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 86.1 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.2 cm) | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 5.6 | 11.2 | 11.5 | 66.7 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%)(at 1500 LST) | 69.9 | 60.9 | 49.0 | 40.5 | 37.3 | 46.0 | 49.8 | 49.6 | 51.8 | 58.9 | 71.6 | 74.3 | 55.0 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 77.7 | 113.8 | 176.0 | 217.3 | 276.5 | 264.5 | 285.5 | 265.8 | 165.2 | 118.4 | 63.2 | 65.2 | 2,088.9 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 33.2 | 42.5 | 48.1 | 50.9 | 54.4 | 49.9 | 53.9 | 56.5 | 42.9 | 36.6 | 25.6 | 30.3 | 43.7 |
| Source:Environment and Climate Change Canada (sun 1981–2010)[36][40][38][39][41][42][37] | |||||||||||||
Neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray include Abasand Heights, Beacon Hill, Dickinsfield, Eagle Ridge, Grayling Terrace, Gregoire, Lower Townsite, Parsons Creek, Prairie Creek, Saline Creek, Stone Creek, Thickwood Heights, Timberlea, andWaterways.[43][44]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 926 | — |
| 1956 | 1,110 | +19.9% |
| 1961 | 1,186 | +6.8% |
| 1966 | 2,614 | +120.4% |
| 1971 | 6,847 | +161.9% |
| 1976 | 15,424 | +125.3% |
| 1981 | 31,000 | +101.0% |
| 1986 | 34,949 | +12.7% |
| 1991 | 34,706 | −0.7% |
| 1996 | 33,078 | −4.7% |
| 2001 | 38,667 | +16.9% |
| 2006 | 47,705 | +23.4% |
| 2011 | 61,374 | +28.7% |
| 2016 | 66,573 | +8.5% |
| 2021 | 68,002 | +2.1% |
| Source:Statistics Canada [45][46][47][48][49][50][51] [52][53][54][55][56][57][58] | ||
In the2021 census, the Fort McMurraypopulation centre recorded68,002 residents living in24,505 of its28,670 total private dwellings, a change of1.3% from its 2016 population of67,123. With a land area of 52.17 km2 (20.14 sq mi), it had a population density of1,303.5/km2 (3,376.0/sq mi) in 2021.[6]
In the2016 census, the Fort McMurray population centre recorded 66,573 residents living in 23,937 of its 28,567 total private dwellings, a9.9% change from its 2011 population of 60,555. With a land area of 51.79 km2 (20.00 sq mi), it had a population density of1,285.4/km2 (3,329.3/sq mi) in 2016.[59]
The permanent population of the Fort McMurray urban service area according to the RM of Wood Buffalo's2021 municipal census is 72,917,[9] a change of1.2% from its2018 municipal census permanent population of 72,056.[60] In addition, the 2021 municipal census counted a shadow population of 3,089 non-permanent residents for a combined population of 76,006,[9] while the 2018 municipal census counted 3,559 non-permanent residents for a combined population of 75,615.[60]
Fort McMurray is an increasinglymulticultural community.[61] The 2021 census published by theRegional Municipality of Wood Buffalo found roughly 6,700 people moved to the region since the 2018 census.
The top four provinces that sent people were other communities inAlberta (55 per cent), followed byNewfoundland and Labrador (13 percent), andBritish Columbia andOntario (nine percent each).[9]
This is a drastic change from the 2012 municipal census, which was taken when Fort McMurray and the oil sands was undergoing a huge period of economic and population growth. That census reported people from Ontario represented 27.5 percent of Canadians coming to Fort McMurray, followed by British Columbia (26.3 percent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (17.5 percent). People from elsewhere in Alberta made up 3.1 per cent of the population.[62]
The 2021 census found 61.5 percent of residents are white, compared to 64 percent in 2016.[63] The second largest pan ethnic group is Indigenous (10 percent),South East Asian (9.2 percent), followed bySouth Asian (7 percent).[63] People identifying asChinese,Japanese orKorean represented 1.3 percent of the population.[63]
Indigenous peoples represented 7 percent, remaining consistent from 2018. The municipal survey did not count the population of the region'sFirst Nation reserves because they do not fall under municipal jurisdiction.First Nations people represent four percent of the municipality's population.Métis people represent 2.89 percent of the population, followed byInuk (0.16 percent) and non-Status First Nation (0.13 percent).
About 3.2 percent of people identified asAfrican, followed bymixed ethnicities (2.44 percent),Black or African Canadian (2 percent),European (1.73 percent),Arab (1.41 percent),Hispanic or Latin American (1.08 percent),Caribbean (0.67 percent) andOceanic (0.13 percent).
2.88 percent of respondents did not answer and 0.52 said they did not know their ethnicity.[64][9]
| Panethnic group | 2021[63] | 2016[65] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
| European[b] | 41,705 | 61.53% | 42,495 | 64.01% |
| Indigenous | 6,755 | 9.97% | 5,195 | 7.83% |
| Southeast Asian[c] | 6,240 | 9.21% | 5,295 | 7.98% |
| South Asian | 4,755 | 7.02% | 4,785 | 7.21% |
| African | 4,685 | 6.91% | 4,110 | 6.19% |
| Middle Eastern[d] | 1,500 | 2.21% | 1,935 | 2.91% |
| East Asian[e] | 850 | 1.25% | 1,250 | 1.88% |
| Latin American | 635 | 0.94% | 925 | 1.39% |
| Other/multiracial[f] | 650 | 0.96% | 405 | 0.61% |
| Total responses | 67,780 | 99.67% | 66,385 | 98.9% |
| Total population | 68,002 | 100% | 67,123 | 100% |
| Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses | ||||
Fort McMurray is considered the heart of one of Alberta's (and Canada's) hubs ofpetroleum production, located near theAthabasca oil sands. Besides theoil sands, the economy also relies onnatural gas andpipeline transport, forestry and tourism. Oil sands producers includeSyncrude,Suncor Energy,Canadian Natural Resources, andCNOOC Petroleum North America ULC. Fort McMurray's growth is characteristic of aboomtown. Housing prices and rents are far higher in Fort McMurray than most such remote areas, and in 2006, Fort McMurray had the highest prices in Alberta.[1] TheAlberta government has promised to release moreCrown land for residential construction, particularly in Timberlea on the north side.
There areseveral airports in the area, withFort McMurray International Airport being the largest innorthern Alberta. It is serviced byAir Canada,Air Canada Express,McMurray Aviation,Northwestern Air,WestJet andWestJet Encore, with scheduled flights toCalgary,Edmonton,Fort Chipewyan,Fort Smith,Montreal andToronto. The airport is also serviced by various oil companies with corporate and charter flights heading north to private airstrips at oil sands operations. Flights are frequently booked to capacity because of the high transient worker population and workers who commute to Fort McMurray from other parts of Canada.
Fort McMurray Transit operates in the community, with routes that extend to all subdivisions on the south side and subdivisions on the north side.[66] Although the service concentrates on Fort McMurray it does operate to hamlets in the RM includingAnzac,Janvier,Conklin andFort McKay.[67]
Ebus andRed Arrow operate scheduled passenger bus services to Edmonton and other communities alongHighway 63, as well as other destinations farther south.
Highway 63 is the only highway between Fort McMurray andEdmonton. Due to the industrial demands of the oilsands, Highway 63 boasts some of the highest tonnage per kilometre in Canada, and the largest and heaviest loads that trucks have ever carried. Highway 63 was fully twinned in May 2016.[68]Highway 881 also provides access to the region fromLac La Biche.[69]
Canadian National Railway (CN) discontinued theMuskeg Mixed (mixed train) to Fort McMurray in 1989, and there has been no passenger rail service since. CN continues to operate freight service on its Lac La Biche subdivision and stations beyond.
Canada Post identified Fort McMurray as "having a particularly high cost to serve" in January 2014, and planned to institute a surcharge of $5.00 for all parcels shipped to the area.[70] However, the postal service retracted this decision before the rate change went into effect.[71]
TheFort McMurray Public School District (FMPSD) andCatholic School District both serve the primary, elementary, and secondary education needs of students in Fort McMurray. Each school district offers diverse programs likeFrench immersion, performing arts or a dedicated technology and science lab, however only FMPSD offers theAdvanced Placement program at one of their schools, beingWestwood Community High School.
On Abasand Drive,École Boréal is the onlyfrancophone school in the area and goes from pre-kindergarten to grade 12.
Keyano College is a publicly funded college and vocational institute based in the area and plays a role in training workers for the oil sands. Known as the cultural hub of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Keyano College contains both a state-of-the-art theatre and recital hall, hosting a variety of musical and theatrical events that attract upwards of 50,000 visitors each season.
Local teams include theFort McMurray Oil Barons of theAlberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), theFort McMurray Giants of theWestern Canadian Baseball League (WCBL), and theKeyano Huskies of theAlberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC).
The MacDonald Island Park recreation centre is located on MacDonald Island north-east of downtown. The centre contains the Wood Buffalo Regional Library, indoor water park, basketball, tennis and squash courts, rock climbing, fitness centre, indoor playground, ice rinks and public rental space. Shell Place, a connected recreational facility, and a seasonal golf course surround the centre.Fort McMurray Knights Rugby Football Club is also based in the town.
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Fort McMurray travel guide from WikivoyagePlaces adjacent to Fort McMurray | |
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