Mackenzie is a

district municipality A district municipality is a designation for a class of municipalities found in several locations, including Canada, Lithuania, and South Africa. Canada British Columbia Under provincial law, municipalities in British Columbia are to be desig ...

within the Fraser-Fort George Regional District in central

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. The community is located at the south end of

Williston Lake Williston Lake is a reservoir created by the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and is located in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Geography The lake fills the basin of the upper Peace River, backing into the Rocky Mountain Trench which is ...

. The townsite, established by Alexandra Forest Industries (acquired by BC Forest Products in 1967) and Cattermole Timber (partnered with Jujo Paper in 1970 to create Finlay Forest Industries), was named for Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764–1820).

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 ...

, Mackenzie had a population of 3,281 living in 1,515 of its 1,837 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 3,714. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Mackenzie included: *

Irreligion Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and a ...

(2,095 persons or 61.5%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(1,260 persons or 37.0%) *

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

(20 persons or 0.6%) *Other (25 persons or 0.7%)

Economy

Mackenzie's main industries are

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, market pulp and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. Duz Cho Logging, sawmills, such as the Canfor Corporation Mackenzie sawmill (successor to BCFP's lumber division) and Conifex Timber (successor to FFI), and the Paper Excellence

kraft pulp Kraft paper or kraft is paper or paperboard (cardboard) produced from chemical pulp produced in the kraft process. Sack kraft paper (or just sack paper) is a porous kraft paper with high elasticity and high tear resistance, designed for packag ...

mill (successor to BCFP's pulp division), are major employers in town. As of July 2019, Canfor sawmill ceased production indefinitely as part of a province-wide curtailment of operations. The nearby

Centerra Gold Centerra Gold Inc. is a Canadian mining company that owns and operates the Mount Milligan copper-gold mine in British Columbia, Canada, and the Öksüt gold mine in Turkey. Through its Thompson Creek Metals subsidiary company, it also owns the En ...

Mount Milligan copper-gold operation provides secondary economic activity for the town.

Recreation

In the winter, Mackenzie hosts

dog sled racing Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sled dogs t ...

, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling competitions, and maintains 32 km of groomed cross-country ski trails. Morfee Mountain overlooks Mackenzie and is suitable for hiking and off-road vehicle usage. Mackenzie has a swimming pool, indoor skating rink, a curling rink, and two beaches on Morfee Lake; First Beach is used primarily for recreational swimming, and Second Beach includes a boat launch. Mackenzie is home to Little Mac Ski Hill, a small local ski hill and mountain-bike park located east of town and a 45-minutes drive from Powder King ski resort. The nearby lakes and forests are suitable for fishing and hunting. Mackenzie's welcome sign

Mackenzie Golf and Country Club is a semi-private, nine-hole golf course with a driving range. It is situated within walking distance of most of the town.

Community facilities

Community facilities include a recreation centre that houses the public library, gym, swimming pool, ice rink, and community hall. There is also an art centre, a museum, two shopping malls and two schools: Mackenzie Secondary School (which also serves

McLeod Lake McLeod Lake is an unincorporated community located on Highway 97 in northern British Columbia, Canada, north of Prince George. It is notable for being the first continuously inhabited European settlement established west of the Rocky Mountains ...

), and Morfee Elementary School. The schools are operated by the Prince George School District (No. 57). Mackenzie also has several religious establishments, including a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

temple, St. Peter's

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 ...

, Mackenzie

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

and Hope Trinity (converging the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

and

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

faiths) churches and Living Joy Christian Centre. Mackenzie has been served by CHMM-FM, a not-for-profit radio station since 2003. Mackenzie has its own

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

detachment, a provincial courtroom, a volunteer fire department, and a municipal hospital.

Transportation

Mackenzie is located on Highway 39, from Highway 97. There is scheduled bus service to Chetwynd and Prince George. It is served by a small

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

. There is no scheduled passenger service but charter services are available.

Tourist attractions

Mackenzie is situated less than east of Williston Lake reservoir, the largest man-made lake in British Columbia.Atlas of Canada
Lakes
Mackenzie is also the home of the world's largest tree crusher.

Notable people

* Turner Stevenson – Former

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 ...

player * Leah Callahan – Canadian Olympic wrestler (

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

)

Climate

Mackenzie 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 ...

that has influences from the Pacific Ocean resulting in less cold winters than expected for its northerly latitude compared to other Canadian locations. It has warm summer days, but the cool nights ensure that only three months go above in mean temperatures. Winters are very cold on occasion, although relatively short for a subarctic climate with a January mean of as the coldest month.

Image gallery

References

External links

districtofmackenzie.ca
{{Authority control District municipalities in British Columbia Populated places in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George