Sylvan Lake is a town in

central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordere ...

, Canada. It is located approximately west of the City of

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

along Highway 11 or Highway 11A. It is on the southeast edge of Sylvan Lake, a freshwater lake that straddles the boundary between

Red Deer County Red Deer County is a List of municipal districts in Alberta, municipal district in central Alberta, Canada within Division No. 8, Alberta, Census Division No. 8 and surrounding the Red Deer, Alberta, City of Red Deer. The neighbouring municipali ...

and

Lacombe County Lacombe County is a municipal district in central Alberta, Canada. It is within in Census Division No. 8 north of the City of Red Deer. Its municipal office is west of Highway 2 and the City of Lacombe, and east of the Summer Village of ...

. The lake is a popular destination for tourists from around Alberta, with around 1 million visitors each year. Popular tourist activities include sunbathing, swimming, water-skiing, and visiting Camp Woods. Camp Woods in Sylvan Lake hosted the 12th Canadian Scout Jamboree in July 2013.

History

The land that would later become the town was ceded to the Crown by the First Nations with

Treaty 6 Treaty 6 is the sixth of the numbered treaties that were signed by the Canadian Crown and various First Nations between 1871 and 1877. It is one of a total of 11 numbered treaties signed between the Canadian Crown and First Nations. Specifica ...

in 1877. Sylvan Lake was originally settled by French-speaking immigrants from Quebec and the United States. Arriving in 1898 from

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, Alexandre Loiselle and his family homesteaded the quarter section that later became the west side of today's Main (50th) Street and the businesses and homes immediately to the west. When the first settlers arrived at Sylvan Lake in 1899, the lake was named Snake Lake from the Cree name () which referred to the numerous

garter snake Garter snake is a common name for generally harmless, small to medium-sized snakes belonging to the genus ''Thamnophis'' in the family Colubridae. Native to North and Central America, species in the genus ''Thamnophis'' can be found from the sub ...

s in the area. The name was officially changed to Sylvan Lake in 1903 (Gaetz 1948). "Sylvan" is from the Latin , which means "of a forest". Palliser's map of 1859 gives the name Swan Lake for the location. In the early twentieth century, groups of

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

and then

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

settlers moved to homesteads to the south and west of the fledgling settlement at Sylvan Lake. With their arrival came the early business community, a general store, a blacksmith, a hardware store, post office, barber, and restaurants. The completion of the

Canadian Northern The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Mani ...

line to

Rocky Mountain House Rocky Mountain House is a town in west-central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately west of Red Deer at the confluence of the Clearwater and North Saskatchewan Rivers, and at the crossroads of Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail) and Highway 11 (David Th ...

and

Nordegg Nordegg is a hamlet in west-central Alberta, Canada within Clearwater County. It is located in the North Saskatchewan River valley in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, just east of the intersection of the David Thompson Highway and the Hig ...

in 1912 and the parallel

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

in 1914 opened the west country to settlement and resulted in the incorporation of Sylvan Lake in 1913 under Mayor E. S. Grimson, a local hardware store owner. The anniversary of the founding of the town is celebrated every year in Sylvan Lake as "1913 Days". Farming quickly became a mainstay in the area and in 1923 an Alberta Pacific Grain Company elevator was built on the CPR line immediately north of what is now Cottonwood Estates. The elevator was torn down in the 1970s and the CPR line was abandoned in 1983 and removed in 1986. Since then, the right of way has survived as a natural area and walking path through Sylvan Lake. Elevators were also constructed along the CN line and were used by local farmers in the mid-century decades. They were torn down in the late 1990s. Even prior to the building of the railways, Sylvan Lake was becoming a summer resort for families in

. With the coming of the trains, "the Lake" became a favourite of families from both

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. The summer visitors camped in tents, but soon the "Cottage Area" east of 46 Street and in "Lower Camp" on the southeast shore began to fill with summer cottages. In the 1930s and 1940s people began arriving by car and the areas around

Norglenwold Norglenwold is a summer village in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on the southeast shore of Sylvan Lake adjacent to the Town of Sylvan Lake. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Summer Vil ...

Sylvan Lake Provincial Park Sylvan Lake Park, previously Sylvan Lake Provincial Park, is an urban park in the Town of Sylvan Lake on the southern shore of Sylvan Lake in central Alberta, Canada. Prior to early 2018, it existed a provincial park for 38 years until its owne ...

and

Jarvis Bay Provincial Park Jarvis Bay Provincial Park is a provincial park in Alberta, Canada, located north from Sylvan Lake and west from Red Deer, along Highway 20. The park is situated on the eastern shores of Sylvan Lake, at an elevation of and has a surface of ...

began to fill up with summer visitors. The influx of summer residents and visitors also brought businesses and services that catered to the ever-increasing number of tourists. In 1913, the first motor launch took paying passengers on tours around the lake. A large boathouse was constructed in 1926, allowing visitors to rent a boat, canoe, swimsuit, or buy ice cream, pop and other items necessary to a summer day at the lake. Regattas were held on the lake for a number of years beginning in 1923. In 1928, the Dominion Government, assisted by the Sylvan Lake Women's Institute (WI), built the long pier that jutted out into the lake from the bottom of Main Street. This pier was connected to the earlier WI Pier and formed a square area used for swimming and mooring boats. The first "waterslide" at Sylvan Lake was part of this facility. The piers were prone to ice damage over the winter and were replaced by the existing "landfill" that now hosts beach volleyball tournaments,

dragon boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

racing and the lake tour on the "Zoo Cruise". In 1983, the original waterslide was replaced by the

Wild Rapids Waterslides Wild Rapids Waterslide Park was located on the shores of Sylvan Lake in the resort town of Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada. Wild Rapids opened to the public in 1982, and it was Alberta's second-largest water park after the World Waterpark in West ...

, which was the largest facility of its kind in western Canada until its closure in 2016. Another byproduct of losing the piers and later the government boat launch was the construction of the Sylvan Lake Marina, home of many of the permanent boats on the lake, boating facilities, and the Sylvan Lake lighthouse. In 2014, Sylvan Lake won the

Kraft Hockeyville ''Kraft Hockeyville'' is an annual competition sponsored by Kraft Heinz, the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association in which communities compete to demonstrate their commitment to the sport of ice hockey. The winning community ...

contest, which included a large cash prize and the rights to host an NHL pre-season game between the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

and the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

Geography

The Town of Sylvan Lake is located on the southeast shore of Sylvan Lake. The summer villages of

and

Jarvis Bay Jarvis Bay is a summer village in Alberta, Canada. It is located on the eastern shore of Sylvan Lake south of Jarvis Bay Provincial Park. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Summer Village of Ja ...

border the town to the northwest and northeast respectively.

Climate

Sylvan Lake 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 ...

( Dfc) with long, cold winters and short, mild summers. Seasonal mean temperatures: * Winter * Spring * Summer * Fall Annual precipitation: * Rain: * Snow: * Total: Average hours of sunshine: 2,125 hours

Demographics

In the 2021 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 Town of Sylvan Lake had a population of 15,995 living in 6,396 of its 7,141 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 14,816. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Sylvan Lake recorded a population of 14,816 living in 5,616 of its 6,567 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 12,362. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The population of the Town of Sylvan Lake according to its 2015 municipal census is 14,310, a change from its 2013 municipal census population of 13,015. At its current population, Sylvan Lake is one of the largest towns in the province and is eligible for city status. According to Alberta's ''Municipal Government Act'', a town is eligible for city status when it reaches 10,000 residents.

;Visible minority status *

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

: 0.9% *

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

: 0.7% *

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

: 0.5% *

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: 0.5% *

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

: 0.4% *

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 0.3% *

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

: 0.1% *

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

: 0.1% *

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 0.1% *

West Asian Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes An ...

: 0.0% *Visible minority, n.i.e: 0.1% *Multiple visible minorities: 0.1% *Not a visible minority: 96.2% ;Religion *

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

: 2,805 or 37.6% *

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

: 1,815 or 24.4% *Other Christian: 380 or 5.1% *

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

: 25 or 0.3% *

Eastern religions The Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western, African and Iranian religions. This includes the East Asian religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese fol ...

: 10 or 0.1% *Other: 1 or 0.01% *No religion: 2,410 or 32.4%

Government

;Federal Sylvan Lake is within the

Red Deer—Lacombe Red Deer—Lacombe is an electoral district in Alberta. It was created in 2012 from the more urbanized southern portion of Wetaskiwin (51%) and the northern portion of Red Deer (49%). The riding was originally intended to be named Red Deer—Wo ...

federal electoral district. It is represented by

Blaine Calkins Blaine F. Calkins (born December 25, 1968) is a Conservative Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada. He has represented the riding of Red Deer—Lacombe in Alberta since 2015, having previously represented its predecessor, Wetas ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. ;Provincial Sylvan Lake is within the

Innisfail-Sylvan Lake Innisfail-Sylvan Lake is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 87 current districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The distric ...

provincial electoral district. It is represented by

Devin Dreeshen Devin Dreeshen (born 1987/1988) is a Canadian politician. A member of the United Conservative Party, Dreeshen was the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry from April 30, 2019 until his resignation on November 5, 2021 due to rumours of alcohol usa ...

of the

United Conservative Party The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party. ...

. ;Municipal Sylvan Lake Town Council consists of one Mayor and six Councillors that are elected every four years. The current mayor is Sean McIntyre, who was first elected as a Councillor in 2010 and as mayor in the 2013 municipal election. Councillors elected in the 2017 municipal election were Megan Hanson (Chernoff), Jas Payne, Theresa Rilling, Tim Mearns, Graham Parsons, and Kendall Kloss. Payne, Hanson (Chernoff) and Parsons were the only re-elected

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

councillors.

Education

The town has six public schools in the Chinook's Edge School District. * Beacon Hill Elementary School * C. P. Blakely School * Fox Run School * H.J. Cody School * Steffie Woima Elementary School * Sylvan Lake Career High Two Catholic Schools in the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Division. * École Mother Teresa Catholic School * Our Lady of the Rosary Also, Lighthouse Christian Academy and Sylvan Meadows Adventist School are two private schools that operate in Sylvan Lake.

Media

Sylvan Lake is served by one local newspaper, ''The Sylvan Lake News''.

Sports

The Sylvan Lake Gulls of the

Western Canadian Baseball League The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league based in Saskatchewan and Alberta that descends from leagues dating to 1931. History The league can trace its roots back to 1931, via its predecessors. The South ...

play at Pogadl Park.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1912 establishments in Alberta Populated places established in 1898 Towns in Alberta