Fort McMurray, Alberta is home to Canada’s oil sands industry, and widely regarded as Alberta’s economic engine.
On Monday, Global National‘s Francis Silvaggio began a special two-part series on Fort McMurray. Part I explored the community’s image problem. Branded as “dirty oil” and even the target of boycotts, the industry is on a crusade to give itself a public relations makeover, inviting the international media and critics to see for themselves what the oil sands are all about. Will it work?
Part II, which aired Tuesday, explores Fort McMurray’s employment problem. Businesses are screaming “help wanted” as nearly 100,000 jobs are expected to be created over the next decade. Can companies keep up with all the growth?
In conjunction with this special series, here is a look at the background of this booming community.
Fort McMurray, located in northeastern Alberta, is an urban service area – a hamlet in the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo. Officially, it is not labelled a city, but recognized as one for political program, funding, and infrastructure purposes – so many still refer to it as such. Fort McMurray was officially designated a city prior to 1995.
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According to Statistics Canada’s census data from 2011, more than 61,000 people now call Fort McMurray home. Compare that figure to 2006, when nearly 48,000 lived there, demonstrating the community’s rapid growth.
Males outnumber females in the community: 33,450 versus 27,920. The trend remains consistent in demographics of residents aged 0 to 70 years. But beyond that, interestingly enough, the data show there are more elderly women (270) than men (180) in Fort McMurray.
Fort McMurray is a relatively young community. The median age is 31.6. In this interactive map, compare that with the rest of Canada, where the median age is 40.6.
View Comparing Fort McMurray’s median age with the rest of Canada in a larger map
Fort McMurray is named after William McMurray, the son of Tomas McMurray. The elder McMurray worked at the North West company. In 1821, North West was amalgamated with its chief competitor, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC).
Three years later, William McMurray was born. When he was older, he joined HBC, and eventually became chief trader, a position his father also held.
In 1858, the junior McMurray’s career continue to flourish when he was promoted to chief factor. Nine years later, he was transferred to Fort Chipewyan (located in what is now the northeastern part of Alberta).
In 1869, John Moberly, one of McMurray’s old friends and colleagues, moved to Fort Chipewyan. McMurray campaigned and was successful in building a new HBC outpost in an area known back then as “the Forks,” assigning Moberly to manage the construction.
Moberly would remain at the new post, working as a clerk, and decided to name the new facility after his friend, calling it Fort McMurray. The post became a main pit stop for both explorers and traders.
In 1911, the area was designated as the McMurray Settlement. In 1947, it amalgamated with the Waterways Settlement, forming the village of McMurray. Just one year later, it was declared a town.
In 1964, the town was re-classified as the new town of Fort McMurray. The new town would later become a city in 1980, before being re-designated as an urban service area within the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo in 1995.
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