Cold Lake is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

in northeastern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada and is named after the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

nearby. Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake (CFB Cold Lake) is situated within the city's outer limits.

History

Cold Lake was first recorded on a 1790 map, by the name of Coldwater Lake. Originally three communities, Cold Lake was formed by merging the Town of Grand Centre, the Town of Cold Lake, and Medley ( Canadian Forces Base 4 Wing) on October 1, 1996. Grand Centre was renamed Cold Lake South, and the original Cold Lake is known as Cold Lake North. Because of its origins, the area is also known as the Tri-Town.

Geography

The city is situated in Alberta's "Lakeland" district, northeast 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 anc ...

, near the Alberta-

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

provincial border. The area surrounding the city is sparsely populated, and consists mostly of farmland.

Climate

Cold Lake's climate is

humid continental 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 freez ...

(

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, nota ...

''Dfb''). Summers are generally warm with cool nights, and winters are very cold with moderate snowfall.

Demographics

The population of the City of Cold Lake according to its 2022 municipal census is 16,302, a change of from its 2014 municipal census population of 15.736. 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 City of Cold Lake had a population of 15,661 living in 6,114 of its 6,767 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 14,976. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Cold Lake had a population of 14,961 living in 5,597 of its 6,657 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 13,839. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. About 8.7% of residents identified themselves as aboriginal at the time of the 2006 census. Almost 89% of residents identified

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

and more than 7% identified French as their

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tong ...

. Almost 1% identified

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, 0.5% identified

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 v ...

, 0.4% each identified

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

, and 0.3% each identified Cree and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

as their first language learned. About 82 percent of residents identified as

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

at the time of the 2001 census, while more than 17 percent indicated they had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations Statistics Canada found that 40% of residents identified as

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, 14% identified with the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catho ...

, 5.5% identified as Anglican, 3% as

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

, 2.5% as

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

, and 2% as

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Economy

The city's economy is inextricably linked to military spending at

CFB Cold Lake Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake , abbreviated as CFB Cold Lake, is a Canadian Forces Base in the City of Cold Lake, Alberta. The facility is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is approximately south of the ...

. The region also supports oil and gas exploration and production. The Athabasca Oil Sands project in

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 significa ...

is having a growing influence in the region as well. The

Cold Lake oil sands The Cold Lake oil sands are a large deposit of oil sands located near Cold Lake, Alberta. Cold Lake is east of Alberta's capital, Edmonton, near Alberta's border with Saskatchewan, and a small portion of the Cold Lake field lies in Saskatchewan. ...

may become a significant contributor to the local economy. Every year Cold Lake hosts military forces from around the world for Exercise Maple Flag, a training exercise where pilots and support staff of NATO allies can take advantage of the Air Weapons Range and relatively open rural air space. Running from 4 to 6 weeks and starting in May of each year, commercial accommodations in the entire region are left with little to no vacancy. This annual exercise contributes a substantial amount of capital into these industries and other hospitality-related businesses.

Sports

Cold Lake has a variety of sports, including: *Hockey (Home to the Cold Lake Ice, Junior B Team) & (Home to the Cold Lake Freeze, Minor Hockey Teams) *Lacrosse (Home to the ''Cold Lake Heat'', Minor Lacrosse Teams) *Volleyball (Assumption and CLHS Royals) *Football (CLHS Royals) *Basketball (Assumption and CLHS Royals) *Soccer (Indoor and outdoor-Cold Lake Minor Soccer) *Baseball *Rugby (Assumption Crusader's and CLHS Royals combined team and Cold Lake Penguins Men's RFC) *Hapkido *Tae Kwon Do (unified taekwondo, and occasionally

International Taekwon-Do Federation International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by General Choi Hong Hi (Korean: 최홍희) in Seoul, South Korea. The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the ...

World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The ''World Taekwo ...

) *Figure Skating (Cold Lake Figure Skating Club) *Figure Skating (Norlight Skating Club) *Downhill Skiing (Kinosoo Ridge Snow Resort) *Dancing (Pirouette School of Dance with award-winning dance team, Fame Dance (Located at the Energy Centre) *Mixed Martial Arts (Team Sparta) *Roller Derby (Lakeland Ladykillers Roller Derby League) *Swimming (Cold Lake Marlins Swim Club) *Powerlifting (Cold Lake Bar Benders) *Gymnastics (Lakeland Gymnastics Club) *Disc Golf *

Pickleball Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport where two players (singles), or four players (doubles), hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a net using solid-faced paddles. Opponents on either side of the net hit the ball back and ...

*Bowling (Marina Bowling Centre)

Government

Mayors: * Craig Copeland, 2007–present * Allan Buck, 2004–2007 * Hansa Thaleshvar, 1998–2004 * Raymond Coates, 1996–1998 The last local election was held in October 2021. As of 2021, the councillors of Cold Lake are Bob Mattice, Chris Vining, Vicky Lefebvre, Adele Richardson, Ryan Bailey, and Bill Parker. At the provincial level, the city is in the district of

Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul is a current provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post metho ...

. Its current representative is David Hanson, from 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 Part ...

. At the federal level, the city is in the district of

Fort McMurray—Cold Lake Fort McMurray—Cold Lake is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. It was created in 2012, mostly from the more urbanized portion of Fort McMurray—Athabasca ...

. Its current representative is

Laila Goodridge Laila Goodridge is a Canadian politician in Alberta, Canada, who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake from the Conservative Party since 2021. Goodridge served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) ...

, from the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

Education

Portage College Portage College is a public board-governed community college in Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada. Portage has seven campus locations throughout northeastern Alberta. History In 1968, Alberta NewStart was established in Lac La Biche as part of th ...

operates a campus at Cold Lake. Program offerings include academic upgrading, accounting, community social works, nursing, power engineering and university studies among others. Lakeland Catholic School District No. 150 and Northern Lights School Division No. 69 operate public schools within Cold Lake. Cold Lake also hosts a Francophone school named École Voyageur that offers French programming for kindergarten through grade 12, as well as the Cold Lake Cadet Summer Training Centre. ;Lakeland Catholic School District No. 150 *Holy Cross Elementary School (offering kindergarten through grade 6 programming) *École St. Dominic School (offering pre-kindergarten through grade 6 English and French programming) *Assumption Junior/Senior High School (offering grade 7 through grade 12 English and French programming) ;Northern Lights School Division No. 69 *Cold Lake Elementary School (offering pre-kindergarten through grade 4 programming) *Ecole North Star Elementary School (offering kindergarten through grade 3 English and French programming) *Nelson Heights School (offering grade 5 through grade 8 programming) *Cold Lake Middle School (offering grade 4 through grade 8) *Cold Lake High School (offering grade 9 through grade 12 programming) *Bridges Outreach School (offering grade 8 and grade 9 programming) *Cold Lake Outreach School (offering grade 10 through grade 12 programming)

Media

The ''Cold Lake Sun'' is a local weekly newspaper that serves Cold Lake.

Recreation

Cold Lake is situated near many campgrounds due to its proximity to the lake. The M.D. campground has powered sites, shower facilities with flush toilets, and a covered camp picnic area. The

Cold Lake Provincial Park Cold Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in northeastern Alberta, Canada. It is located east of the city of Cold Lake, on Highway 28, and extends to the Saskatchewan border. The park protects the boreal forest in a number of design ...

has many sites, and is more secluded than the M.D. site (which is surrounded by development). The Provincial campground boasts a wilderness trail system, a beach, boatlaunch and a powered section. Nearby

Meadow Lake Provincial Park Meadow Lake Provincial Park is a northern boreal forest provincial recreational park along the Waterhen and Cold Rivers in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The park was founded on 10 March 1959, is the largest provincial park in Sa ...

to the east, across the border in

, has facilities similar to Cold Lake Provincial Park. Cold Lake featuring Kinosoo Beach

Kinosoo Beach is a favorite destination during the hot summer months between June and August. The Iron Horse Trail, a recreational trail situated on a former railway line (see

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetca ...

) has its easternmost terminus in Cold Lake. Recreational pastimes include, among others: *Hockey *Box Lacrosse *Geocaching *Martial Arts *Rugby *Soccer *Swimming *Bowling *Curling *Gymnastics *Golf *Horseback Riding *4H (in Cherry Grove) *Rodeo (Cold Lake Ag Society) *Dance *Sailing *Boating *Fishing *Downhill SkiingKinosoo Ridge Snow Resort
*Roller Derby

Museums

Air Force Museum

The Air Force Museum preserves and exhibits the history of

and of 42 Radar Squadron. 42 Radar was on this site from 1954 to 1992, so Cold War era technology is mostly on display in their exhibit. An example of this is the General Electric Height Finder Radar on display. The Museum has much 4 Wing history on display. The current 4 Wing standing squadrons such as 409 Squadron, 410 Squadron,

419 Squadron 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (French: ) is a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The squadron was originally formed during the Second World War and is currently based at CFB Cold Lake. It is responsible for advanced tactical fighte ...

1 Air Maintenance Squadron 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

and others are displayed in the Museum. There are a few exhibits of purely historic nature, such as displays on

441 __NOTOC__ Year 441 ( CDXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Seleucus without colleague (or, less frequently, year ...

and

416 __NOTOC__ Year 416 ( CDXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Palladius (or, less frequently, year 1169 ...

, Squadrons which stood down in 2006 to be amalgamated into 409 Squadron. The Museum also has four aircraft on display outside, including the CF-5 Freedom Fighter,

CT-133 Silver Star The Canadair CT-133 Silver Star (company model number CL-30) is the Canadian license-built version of the Lockheed T-33 jet trainer aircraft, in service from the 1950s to 2005. The Canadian version was powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene 10 turboj ...

, the CT-114 Tutor and the

CT-134 Musketeer The Beechcraft CT-134 Musketeer is a military training derivative of the Musketeer built by Beechcraft for the Canadian Armed Forces. The CT-134 was a single engine, low-wing, four-seat light aircraft with fixed landing gear and a limited a ...

. The newest addition to the air park is a CF-188 Decoy.

Oil and Gas Museum

This exhibit was designed, researched and constructed by Grand Centre High School students. This museum explains the history of Oil and gas in the Cold Lake area from

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...

times to the present.

Heritage Museum

The Heritage Museum exhibits a time line of life in Cold Lake, both domestic and commercial. The museum also boasts some impressive murals.

Aboriginal Museum

The Aboriginal Museum displays the history of the

Dene The Dene people () are an indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages. ''Dene'' is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term "Dene" h ...

, Cree and

Metis Metis or Métis may refer to: Ethnic groups * Métis, recognized Indigenous communities in Canada and America whose distinct culture and language emerged after early intermarriage between First Nations peoples and early European settlers, primar ...

peoples in time lines, maps, crafts and cultural displays. There are also bears on display.

Notable people

Alex Auld Alexander James Auld (born January 7, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Auld played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Dal ...

, NHL goaltender *

Garry Howatt Garry Robert Charles Howatt (born September 26, 1952) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the New York Islanders, Hartford Whalers, and New Jersey Devils between 1972 and 1984. With the Islander ...

, NHL forward *

Alex Janvier Alex Simeon Janvier, LL.D (; born February 28, 1935) is a First Nation artist in Canada. As a member of the commonly referred to " Indian Group of Seven", Janvier is a pioneer of contemporary Canadian Aboriginal art in Canada. Career Alex Jan ...

, artist *

Bonnie McFarlane Bonnie McFarlane (born March 28, 1969) is a Canadian-American comedian and writer. She is best known for appearing on the second season of the TV reality show ''Last Comic Standing'' and for co-hosting the podcast ''My Wife Hates Me'' with her h ...

, comedian *

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a musc ...

, comic book character *Adam Blank, comedian & podcast host

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1953 establishments in Alberta Cities in Alberta Hudson's Bay Company trading posts