Fort McKay ( ) or Fort MacKay is a community in northeast Alberta, Canada that is located at the confluence of the

Athabasca Athabasca (also Athabaska) is an anglicized version of the Cree name for Lake Athabasca in Canada, āthap-āsk-ā-w (pronounced ), meaning "grass or reeds here and there". Most places named Athabasca are found in Alberta, Canada. Athabasca may a ...

and MacKay rivers. It is approximately north of

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significant ...

via Highway 63 and Fort McKay Road. The community has an elevation of . The majority of the community is an

Indian settlement An Indian settlement is a census subdivision outlined by the Canadian government Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada for census purposes. These areas have at least 10 status Indian or non-status Indian people who live, m ...

of the

Fort McKay First Nation The Fort McKay First Nation (FMFN) is a First Nations government in northeast Alberta comprising five Indian reserves – Fort McKay 174, Fort McKay 174C, Fort McKay 174D, Namur Lake 174B and Namur River 174A. The FMFN, signed to Treaty 8, is ...

(FMFN). The smaller portion of the community, known as Fort MacKay before 2018, is located adjacent to the FMFN lands to the south within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. The portion of the community within the RM of Wood Buffalo is designated as a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

History

The community was named in 1912 after Dr. Williams Morrison MacKay, the first president of the Northern Alberta Medical Association. The community's name is spelled ''Fort McKay'' by the

. In August 2012, the Fort McKay Métis Community requested the RM of Wood Buffalo to change the name of the hamlet to ''Fort McKay''. The change was recognized by the RM on January 22, 2018. ;2016 wildfire Fort McKay hosted 5000 evacuees from the

2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire On May 1, 2016, a wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. On May 3, it swept through the community, forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history, with upwards of 88,000 people forced from their ho ...

but itself was put under an evacuation notice due to the northward advance of the flames toward the community.

Geography

;Climate Fort McKay has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Dfc''). and falls into the NRC

Plant Hardiness Zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

3a. Summers are mild and short, and winters can be long and cold.

Demographics

;Settlement In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, the Fort McKay settlement recorded a population of 742 living in 250 of its 303 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 562. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. In the 2011 Census, the Fort McKay settlement had a population of 562 living in 201 of its 235 total dwellings, a 7.9% change from its 2006 population of 521. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2011. ;Hamlet The population of the hamlet portion of Fort McKay according to the 2018 municipal census conducted by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is 59, an increase from its 2015 municipal census population count of 51.

Economy

The economy is centred on the development of the Athabasca oil sands to the immediate south and north. Motorists travelling north on Highway 63 pass through oil sands developments en route to the community.

Government

The community is located in the federal riding of

Fort McMurray—Cold Lake Fort McMurray—Cold Lake is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. It was Canadian federal electoral redistribution, 2012, created in ...

Infrastructure

The community is located north of Highway 63 via Fort McKay Road, and is served by air at the Fort MacKay/Horizon Airport.

References

External links

Fort McKay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Mckay, Alberta Hamlets in Alberta Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Hudson's Bay Company forts