Wood Buffalo, Alberta
Encyclopedia
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is a specialized municipality
Specialized municipalities of Alberta
A specialized municipality is a type of municipal status used in the Canadian Province of Alberta. Alberta specialized municipalities are unique local governments that can be formed without resorting to special acts of Alberta's legislature...
located in northeastern Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. Formed as a result of the amalgamation of the City of Fort McMurray and Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995, it is the second largest municipality in Alberta by area. Underlying its 63343 km² (24,456.9 sq mi) of wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
lie vast oil sand deposits, also known as the Athabasca Oil Sands
Athabasca Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray...
, helping to make the region one of the fastest growing industrial areas in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Until the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution
Alberta Electoral Boundary Re-distribution, 2004
Current electoral laws in Alberta, Canada fix the number of legislature seats at 83. Prior to the 26th general election, the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission was given the task of re-distributing the province's electoral divisions. In February 2003] the Commission recommended 83 new...
of 2004, the municipality was divided between the provincial
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
electoral district
Electoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...
s of Fort McMurray (the community itself) and Athabasca
Athabasca, Alberta
Athabasca is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It lies north of Edmonton on Highway 2, on the banks of the Athabasca River. It is the centre of Athabasca County. Until 1913 it was known as Athabasca Landing.- History :...
-Wabasca (the surrounding area). The re-distribution amalgamated the municipality into a single electoral district covering the entire municipality. As a result, the new Wood Buffalo electoral district became the most populous such district in Alberta.
List of communities
Urban service areas- Fort McMurray
Hamlets
- AnzacAnzac, AlbertaAnzac is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is located on Highway 881 along the east shore of Gregoire Lake, approximately southeast of Fort McMurray....
- ConklinConklin, AlbertaConklin is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is located on Highway 881 between Fort McMurray and Lac La Biche. It has an elevation of .The hamlet is located in census division No...
- Fort ChipewyanFort Chipewyan, AlbertaFort Chipewyan, commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is located on the western tip of Lake Athabasca, adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park, approximately north of Fort McMurray.Fort Chipewyan is one of...
- Fort Mackay
- Gregoire Lake EstatesGregoire Lake Estates, AlbertaGregoire Lake Estates is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is located on Highway 881, approximately southeast of Fort McMurray.- Demographics :...
- Janvier SouthJanvier South, AlbertaJanvier South or Janvier is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. The hamlet's official name is Janvier South according to Alberta Municipal Affairs. However, it is more commonly known and referred to as Janvier by the R.M. of Wood Buffalo and its...
- Saprae CreekSaprae Creek, AlbertaSaprae Creek is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is located north of Highway 69, approximately east of Fort McMurray.- Demographics :...
Other communities
- DraperDraper, AlbertaDraper is an unincorporated community in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is located approximately southeast of Fort McMurray on the southern bank of the Clearwater River...
- Fort Fitzgerald
- Mariana LakeMariana Lake, AlbertaMariana Lake is an unincorporated community in northern Alberta within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, located on Highway 63, southwest of Fort McMurray....
Demographics
| Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo population breakdown |
|||
| Component | Permanent population |
Shadow population |
Total population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban service area (Fort McMurray) | 62,589 | 1,539 | 64,128 |
| Rural service area | 4,159 | 23,325 | 27,484 |
| Total R.M. of Wood Buffalo | 66,748 | 24,864 | 91,612 |
The population of the Regional Municipality (R.M.) of Wood Buffalo is 91,612, which includes 66,748 permanent residents counted by the R.M. of Wood Buffalo's 2007 municipal census and the 24,864 non-permanent residents counted by Wood Buffalo's 2010 shadow population update. Within, the total population of the Fort McMurray urban service area is 64,128 (62,589 permanent and 1,539 non-permanent residents) and the rural service area is 27,484 (4,159 permanent and 23,325 non-permanent residents).
In 2006, the R.M. of Wood Buffalo had a population of 51,496 living in 20,505 dwellings
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
, a 24.3% increase from 2001. However, this population has since been revised by Statistics Canada to 51,924. Using the pre-revised Statistics Canada data, Wood Buffalo had a land area of 63342.89 km² (24,456.8 sq mi) and a population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 0.8 /km2 in 2006.
In 2001, the R.M. of Wood Buffalo had a population of 41,466 in 14,793 dwellings, a 17.8% increase from 1996. On a surface area of 63,400.51 km² it had a density of 0.7 /km2.
Population controversy
The determination of the R.M. of Wood Buffalo's population has twice been subject to controversy since 2007. First, Statistics Canada's March 2007 release of the population and dwelling counts from the 2006 censusCanada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
reported an overall population that was 18,000 residents less than the amount of permanent residents the municipality counted in its own census conducted in 2006.
Second, the R.M. of Wood Buffalo published a total population of 103,334 as a result of its 2008 municipal census, which included both its permanent and non-permanent (shadow) populations. Alberta Municipal Affairs
Alberta Municipal Affairs
Alberta Municipal Affairs is a ministry of the Executive Council of Alberta. Its major responsibilities include assisting municipalities in the provision of local government, administering a safety system for the construction and maintenance of buildings and equipment, and managing Alberta's...
rejected the census result as the total population was generated through the use of extrapolation instead of door-to-door census enumeration.
Aboriginal identity
As of the 2006 census more than 12% of residents identified as aboriginal.Mother tongue
Nearly 85% of residents identified EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and 3% identified French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, as their first language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
. The next most common languages are Cree
Cree language
Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
at 1.2% each; Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
at 0.8% each; Dene/Chipewyan
Dene Suline language
Dene Suline or Chipewyan is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of central Canada. It is a part of the Athabaskan family...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
at 0.6% each, and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
at 0.5%.
Immigration
Wood Buffalo is home to almost 2,000 recent immigrants (arriving between 2001 and 2006) who now make up more than 3% of the population. About 21% of these immigrants came from IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, while about 10% came from each of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, and about 9% came from Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, and about 8% from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, about 6% from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and about 3% came from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
Religion
More than 80% of residents identified as ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
at the time of the 2001 census while almost 17% indicated they had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
counted 15,880 Roman Catholics
Roman Catholicism in Canada
The Catholic Church in Canada is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the Canadian Bishops Conference. It has the largest number of followers of a religion in Canada with 46% of Canadians baptized as Catholics...
(37.4%), 4,985 Anglicans
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
(11.7%), 4,225 for the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
(9.9%), 1,730 Pentecostals
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
(4.1%), 1,195 Baptists (2.8%), 965 for the Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
(2.3%), 900 Lutherans (2.1%), 690 Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s (1.6%), 350 Latter-day Saints
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
(0.8%), and 320 Presbyterians (0.8%).