Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is a specialized municipality in northeast Alberta, Canada. It is the largest regional municipality in Canada by area, covering ; this number includes the Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada. It is home to oil sand deposits known as the Athabasca oil sands.

History

The Municipality of Wood Buffalo was incorporated as a specialized municipality on April 1, 1995 as a result of the amalgamation of the City of Fort McMurray and Improvement District No. 143. Specialized municipality status was granted to provide "for the unique needs of a municipality including a large urban centre and a large rural territory with a small population." The Municipality of Wood Buffalo subsequently changed its name to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo on August 14, 1996.

June 2013 floods

By June 12, 2013, after many days of heavy rain, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo declared a state of emergency. They organized evacuations from some areas and placed others under boil water advisories as local waterways, such as the Hangingstone River, rose to dangerously elevated levels south of Fort McMurray, causing the closure of Highway 63.

“The Beast” Horse River Wildfire (2016)

From May 3, 2016 on, over 80,000 people were affected by evacuations, by May 3 at 6:49 pm, the entirety of Fort McMurray and surrounding areas were placed under a mandatory evacuation. making it Alberta's largest evacuation for a wildfire.

April 2020 floods

By April 30, 2020, after a 25-kilometre-long ice jam formed in the Athabasca River, flooding the northern Alberta city's downtown and surrounding areas, and forcing 13,000 people from their home, Fort McMurray's spring flood caused more than $520 million in insured damage, according to new numbers from the Insurance Bureau of Canada. That flood damage was followed by $1.2 billion in damage from a hailstorm in Calgary, Airdrie and Rocky View County, flooding in Edmonton in July and another storm in Calgary on July 24.

Geography

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is in the northeast corner of the province of Alberta. It borders the province of Saskatchewan to the east; the Northwest Territories to the north; Improvement District No. 24, Mackenzie County, and the Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 to the west; and Athabasca County and the Municipal District of Bonnyville No. 87 to the south. The Athabasca River meanders northward through the central portion of the RM of Wood Buffalo before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Some of its water bodies include Christina Lake, Gardiner Lakes, Garson Lake, Gipsy Lake, Gordon Lake, Gregoire Lake, McClelland Lake, Namur Lake, Richardson Lake, and Winefred Lake. Discharging northward from Lake Athabasca is Riviere des Rochers, which at its confluence with the Peace River becomes the Slave River. The Slave River forms much of the RM of Wood Buffalo's boundary with Improvement District No. 24 north of the confluence. Land formations include the Birch Mountains northwest of Fort McKay, Fort Hills north of Fort McKay, and Thickwood Hills west of Fort McMurray. A portion of the Peace-Athabasca Delta is also within the RM of Wood Buffalo.

Communities and localities

The following urban municipalities are surrounded by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo:
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;Towns

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;Villages

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;Summer villages

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The following hamlets are located within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo:
;hamlets in Alberta|Hamlets]

The following localities are located within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo:

Almac Subdivision
Beaver Lake-Young's Beach
Bechtel Syncrude Camp
Berdinskies
Berny
Big Eddy
Billos
Bitumount
Brièreville
Chard
Charron
Cheecham
Christina Crossing
Corbetts
Devenish
Dog Head
Draper
Egg Lake
Portage
Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald 196
Fitzgerald Settlement
Fort Smith Settlement
Gourin
Grandin
Improvement District No.143
Kenny Woods
Kinosis
Le Goff
Leismer
Lenarthur
Lynton
Maloy
Mariana Lake
Mildred Lake
Old Fort
Pelican Settlement
Pingle
Point Brule
Quigley
Rossian
Sandy Rapids
Tar Island
Waterways
Willow Trail
Wolyn

The following settlements in Alberta|settlements] are within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo:

Chipewyan
Fitzgerald
Janvier South
Mariana
McKay
St. Bruno Farm

First Nations have the following Indian reserves in Alberta|Indian reserves] within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo:

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is in the lower basin of the Athabasca River watershed and Fort McMurray is the largest community on the banks of the river. Local rivers include the Hangingstone River, Clearwater River and Christina River, a tributary of the Clearwater River.
The Hangingstone River drains an area of, which is dominated by muskeg, and flows into the Clearwater River just upstream of the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. The river often experiences high flows in the spring during snow melt, during heavy rainfall events and when ice jams occur during spring ice break. The RMWB warns citizens of the potential for sudden flash floods "especially in populated areas adjacent to the Athabasca River, Clearwater River and Christina River." Water levels have been monitored by the Water Survey of Canada since 1970. During the spring months there is increased monitoring of the "Clearwater River to the south of the urban service area to provide warning of an ice break" and the "Athabasca River upper basin, local river levels, precipitation and overall weather patterns."
The Clearwater River, designated as part of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, flows from its headwaters at Lloyd Lake in northwest Saskatchewan into northeast Alberta before joining the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. "The lack of significant oil sands developments means that the Clearwater River can be used as a baseline river system to provide information on the variability and characteristics of natural systems."

Demographics

Federal census

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo had a population of 72,326 living in 25,934 of its 30,451 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 71,594. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.
In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo had a population of 71,594 living in 25,659 of its 30,713 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 65,565. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2016.

Municipal census

The permanent population of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo according to its 2021 municipal census is 75,555, a change of from its 2018 municipal census permanent population of 75,009. In addition, the 2021 municipal census counted a shadow population of 30,504 non-permanent residents for a combined population of 106,059, while the 2018 municipal census counted 36,678 non-permanent residents for a combined population of 111,687.

Ethnicity

Language

Mother tongue	Responses	%
English	54,020
Tagalog	2,920
French	1,880
Arabic	1,270
Gujarati	1,070
Urdu	1,035
Spanish	805
Somali	730
Amharic	455
Punjabi	425
Hindi	415
Mandarin	335

Knowledge of language	Responses	%
English	70,750
French	5,125
Tagalog	4,250
Arabic	1,830
Spanish	1,375
Urdu	1,340
Hindi	1,130
Gujarati	1,130
Somali	730
Punjabi	640
Mandarin	580
Cree	535

Immigration

Wood Buffalo is home to almost 2,000 recent immigrants who now make up more than 3% of the population. About 21% of these immigrants came from India, while about 10% came from each of Pakistan and the Philippines, and about 9% came from Venezuela, and about 8% from South Africa, about 6% from China, and about 3% came from Colombia.

Religion

More than 80% of residents identified as Christian at the time of the 2001 census while almost 17% indicated they had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations Statistics Canada counted 15,880 Roman Catholics, 4,985 Anglicans, 4,225 for the United Church of Canada, 1,730 Pentecostals, 1,195 Baptists, 965 for the Salvation Army, 900 Lutherans, 690 Muslims, 350 Latter-day Saints, and 320 Presbyterians.

Economy

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is home to vast oil sand deposits, also known as the Athabasca Oil Sands, helping to make the region one of the fastest growing industrial areas in Canada.

Attractions

Wood Buffalo National Park is adjacent to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to the northwest. The following provincial protected areas are also within the RM of Wood Buffalo:

The municipality's current mayor is Sandy Bowman, who was first elected in 2021. Its first mayor upon its creation in 1995 was Guy Boutilier, who had previously been the mayor of Fort McMurray and was subsequently elected as the region's provincial MLA. Doug Faulkner served as mayor from 1997 to 2004, and Melissa Blake from 2004 to 2017.
In the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, the municipality was served by the electoral district of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo until 2010, when a second district, Fort McMurray-Conklin, was created due to population growth. The new riding then became Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche in 2018.
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo is currently represented by Tany Yao and Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche is represented by Brian Jean. Both MLAs are former members of the Wildrose Party and are current members of the United Conservative Party.
As of 2016, the municipality is located in the federal electoral district of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake. The riding has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada by former UCP MLA for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche Laila Goodridge of the Conservative Party of Canada since 2021.