Slave Lake is a town in

northern Alberta Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the cen ...

, Canada that is surrounded by the

Municipal District of Lesser Slave River No. 124 The Municipal District of Lesser Slave River No. 124 is a municipal district (MD) in north-central Alberta, Canada. Its municipal office is located in the Town of Slave Lake. Located in Census Division 17, the MD takes its name from Lesser S ...

. It is approximately northwest of

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 ...

. It is located on the southeast shore of

Lesser Slave Lake Lesser Slave Lake (french: Petit lac des Esclaves)—known traditionally as "Beaver Lake" (ᐊᒥᐢᐠ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amisk sâkâhikan in the Plains Cree language, and T’saat’ine migeh in Dene Zhatıé) or "Beaver people were over the ...

at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 88. Slave Lake serves as a local centre for the area. The administrative office for the Sawridge First Nation is also located in the town.

History

The first European known to visit the area of the present-day Town of Slave Lake was the British explorer David Thompson, who arrived in 1799. Following his brief visit, other British agents established several

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

posts around Slave Lake, including a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

post at the mouth of the lake. A settlement developed around the post and became known as Sawridge. It was renamed as Slave Lake in 1923. After a flood in the 1930s destroyed much of the town, it was relocated and rebuilt at its current location on higher ground. It was incorporated as a town in 1965. The Town of Slave Lake was inundated by a flood of Sawridge Creek in July 1988.

2011 wildfire

On May 15, 2011, large parts of the town were affected by wildfires in the area. Winds pushed the flames into town, destroying many houses and businesses. Mandatory evacuation orders were issued, but highways had been closed and residents were urged to seek refuge at beaches, large parking lots, and open spaces. Highway 2 had been closed at the outset of the fire, but eventually re-opened for evacuation. Full evacuation of all residents was ordered for Slave Lake. On May 16, 2011, provincial officials said that 40% of the town had been destroyed or damaged by the fires, including the town hall, the library, a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

, a mall, and a significant number of homes and other buildings. No injuries or deaths were reported. On May 17, 2011, Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee indicated one-third of the town had been destroyed by the wildfire. On May 20, 2011, a firefighting helicopter crashed into the Lesser Slave Lake near Canyon Creek; its pilot died at the scene. It crashed about off shore into water that was deep. On July 6,

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educa ...

and

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, visited the town to offer encouragement to residents and support for rebuilding efforts.

Geography

Climate

Slave Lake experiences a subarctic climate (

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'') that borders on a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Köppen ''Dfb''). Summers tend to be mild with cool nights, while winters are long and severely cold.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Slave Lake had a population of 6,836 living in 2,405 of its 2,681 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 6,651. 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 Slave Lake recorded a population of 6,651 living in 2,329 of its 2,762 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 6,782. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The population of the Town of Slave Lake according to its 2007 municipal census was 7,031.

Sports

In 1994, the town hosted the

Arctic Winter Games The Arctic Winter Games is a biennial multi-sport and indigenous cultural event involving circumpolar peoples residing in communities or countries bordering the Arctic Ocean. Background The Arctic Winter Games were founded in 1969 under the lea ...

. This is a celebration of circumpolar sports and culture.

Government

Residents of Slave Lake are in the electoral district of

Peace River—Westlock Peace River—Westlock is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. Peace River—Westlock was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and w ...

for elections to the House of Commons of Canada, and

for elections to the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from sin ...

Media

Media outlets serving Slave Lake and surrounding area include BOOM (FM) and the Lakeside Leader, a local community newspaper.

Notable people

Walter Patrick Twinn Walter Patrick Twinn (March 29, 1934 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian Chief of the Sawridge First Nation starting in 1966, and Senator from 1990 to 1997. He took control as chief just after oil was discovered on Sawridge reserve land; ...

- Chief of the Sawridge First Nation starting in 1966, and Senator from 1990 to 1997. *

Scott Cyr Scott Joseph Cyr (born 1972 or 1973) is a Canadian politician who represents the electoral district of Bonnyville-Cold Lake in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Political career Cyr was first elected in 2015, defeating his Progressive Cons ...

, Member of the

for Bonnyville-Cold Lake, May 5, 2015 – March 19, 2019 * Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, Professional Hockey Player of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Gallery

File:Mainstreet Alberta Slave Lake 3985.jpg, Main Street in 2006 File:Albert Mainstreet Slave Lake3984.jpg, Main Street in 2006 File:View of Slave Lake Shoreline.png, Slave Lake shoreline

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1961 establishments in Alberta Towns in Alberta