Cold Lake is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in east-northern

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada and is named after the

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

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 ( CFB Cold Lake) 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.

Fossil record

Cold Lake preserves an extensive

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

and subfossil record from the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

after the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

to the Late Holocene. By the Middle Holocene, the mammalian biota in the region was essentially modern.

Geography

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

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, near the Alberta-

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

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

Climate

Cold Lake's climate is humid continental (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''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 conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, 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

Canada 2016 census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial censu ...

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 and more than 7% identified French as their

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

. Almost 1% identified German, 0.5% identified Chinese, 0.4% each identified Dutch and Ukrainian, and 0.3% each identified

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

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

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

at the time of the 2001 census, while more than 17 percent indicated they had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations

found that 40% of residents identified as

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 14% identified with the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

, 5.5% identified as

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

, 3% as

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, 2.5% as

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, and 2% as

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Economy

The city's economy is inextricably linked to military spending at CFB Cold Lake. The region also supports oil and gas exploration and production. The Athabasca Oil Sands project in Fort McMurray is having a growing influence in the region as well. The Cold Lake oil sands may become a significant contributor to the local economy. A job market analysis from December 2024 to January 2025 showed that the Oil & Gas sector accounted for 33% of job postings in the region, with administrative roles and skilled trades also in high demand. 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.

In popular culture

Cold Lake is the home of Marvel comic book character

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

Sports

Cold Lake has a variety of sports, including: *Hockey (Home to the

Cold Lake Ice The Cold Lake Ice are a junior ice hockey#Junior B, C, D, junior "B" ice hockey team based in Cold Lake, Alberta, Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League (NEAJBHL). They play their home gam ...

, 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 (Hetlinger taekwondo, and occasionally International Taekwon-Do Federation or

World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, formerly the World Taekwondo Federation, is an international federation governing the sport of Taekwondo and Para Taekwondo. WT is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The World Taek ...

) *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 a racket or paddle sport in which two or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played i ...

*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. Its current representative is Scott Cyr, from the United Conservative Party. At the federal level, the city is in the district of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake. Its current representative is Laila Goodridge, from the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

Education

Portage College 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 3 programming) *Ecole North Star Elementary School (offering kindergarten through grade 3 English and French programming) *Nelson Heights School (offering grade 4 through grade 6 programming) *Cold Lake Junior High (offering grade 7 through grade 9) *Cold Lake High School (offering grade 10 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)

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 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, boat launch and a powered section. Nearby Meadow Lake Provincial Park 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 or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, 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 rail corr ...

) 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 *scuba diving *Fishing *Downhill SkiingKinosoo Ridge Snow Resort
*Roller Derby

Museums

Air Force Museum

The Air Force Museum preserves and exhibits the history of CFB Cold Lake and of 42 Radar Squadron. 42 Radar was on this site from 1954 to 1992, so

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

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, 1 Air Maintenance Squadron, Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment and others are displayed in the Museum. There are a few exhibits of purely historic nature, such as displays on

441 __NOTOC__ Year 441 (Roman numerals, CDXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cyrus of Panopolis, Seleucus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 119 ...

and 416, 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 CT-114 Tutor and the CT-134 Musketeer. 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 ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

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, subarctic and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages and it is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term ...

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

Notable people

* Alex Auld, NHL goaltender * Garry Howatt, NHL forward * Alex Janvier, artist * Bonnie McFarlane, comedian * René Richard, artist * Curtis Hargrove, charity runner * James "Logan" Howlett, The Wolverine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine_(character)#Publication_history

References

External links

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