Edson is a town in west-central Alberta, Canada. It is located in

Yellowhead County Yellowhead County is a municipal district in west central Alberta, Canada. It is the only municipal district within Alberta census division No. 14. History *1994: Established as a ''Municipal District of Yellowhead No. 94'' on January 1. ...

, west 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 ...

along the

Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway () is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg west to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western provinces of Britis ...

and east of the intersection with Highway 47.

History

The town was founded as Heatherwood, but the name was changed around 1911 in honour of Edson Joseph Chamberlin, vice-president of the

Grand Trunk Pacific Railway The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National ...

. When Edson was declared the local rail centre, smaller communities such as Rosevear (abandoned), Wolf Creek, Carrot Creek and

Niton Junction Niton Junction is a hamlet in west-central Alberta, Canada within Yellowhead County. It is located on the Yellowhead Highway ( Highway 16) approximately east of Edson and west of Edmonton. It is east of the Yellowhead Highway's junction with ...

fell into a decline that continues today. In the 1950s, upgrading of Highway 16 caused a dramatic increase in private, commercial and industrial traffic. Today, the Yellowhead Highway carries some of the heaviest traffic flow in Alberta and has been declared the second

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

. In the 1970s, a revitalized coal industry launched the Cardinal River Coal and Luscar Sterco mines in the area. In the 1980s Pelican Spruce Mills (now

Weyerhaeuser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

Company Limited) and Sundance Forest Industries (now Edson Forest Products a division of

West Fraser Timber West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., commonly known as "West Fraser", is a Canadian forestry company that produces lumber, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), medium-density fibreboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, pulp, newsprint, and wood ch ...

) became two of Edson's major employers. The former hamlets of Glenwood and Grande Prairie Trail were annexed from Yellowhead County by the Town of Edson on 1 January 1984. In 2023, Edson was evacuated twice due to

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

and later declared a local state of emergency due to floods.

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 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 Town of Edson had a population of 8,374 living in 3,386 of its 3,768 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 8,414. 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 Edson recorded a population of 8,414 living in 3,359 of its 3,762 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 8,475. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The Town of Edson's 2012 municipal census counted a population of 8,646.

Geography

Edson lies in the

McLeod River The McLeod River is a river in west-central Alberta, Canada. It forms in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, and is a major tributary of the Athabasca River. __TOC__ Course The river begins in the southern arm of Whitehorse Wildland Prov ...

valley, immediately east of the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

foothills. The surrounding landscape consists of primarily

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

forest with sand hills and

muskeg Muskeg (; ; , lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal ecosystem, boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland, bog or peatland, and is a standard te ...

. The town is located at an altitude of . Two provincial parks are located west of Edson: Sundance Provincial Park along Sundance Creek and

Obed Lake Provincial Park Obed Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in Alberta, Canada, located west of Edson and east of Hinton, on the north side of the Yellowhead Highway. The park surrounds the Obed Lakes. It is situated in a wetland system in the central fo ...

surrounding the three Obed Lakes.

Climate

Due to Edson's high elevation, the community experiences a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental 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 ...

(

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 ...

''Dfc''). The highest temperature ever recorded in Edson was on 30 June 2021, with the

humidex The humidex (short for humidity index) is an index number used by Canadian meteorologists to describe how hot the weather feels to the average person, by combining the effect of heat and humidity. The term ''humidex'' was coined in 1965. The humid ...

reaching 41. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 22 January 1943, and 14 January 1950. Summers in Edson are generally mild to warm with chilly nights and moderate precipitation. Winters are long and severely cold with relatively high snowfall, higher than surrounding areas due to the town's high elevation.

Economy

The main industries that drive the local economy are resource based – coal, oil, natural gas and forestry products.

Sports

Edson was home to Canada's largest slo-pitch tournament until 2017.

Culture

The Galloway Station Museum, established in 1981, explores the history of Edson and the surrounding area. It contains an original

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canada, 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 Edmonto ...

station used by several communities around Edson as well as large modern gallery spaces, an archives and public events space. The museum is located in RCMP Centennial Park, a large park at the centre of town created in 1974 to honour the 100th anniversary of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

in Alberta. The park, run by the Town of Edson, also contains an event pavilion, a

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting; as well as in keeping a lookout for load ...

, a preserved RCAF Lockheed T-33 Silver Star aircraft, and giant squirrel statue that depicts the town's mascot, "Eddie the Squirrel".

Infrastructure

Edson is connected to the

from east to west and to Coal Valley via Highway 47 to the south.

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

's ''

The Canadian ''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...

'' calls at the Edson railway station twice per week in each direction as a flag stop.

Education

; Grande Yellowhead Public School Division No. 77 * Mary Bergeron Elementary School (K-5) * Parkland Composite High School (9-12 English, French) * École Pine Grove Middle School (6-8 English, French) * Westhaven Elementary School (K-5 English, French) ; Living Waters Catholic Regional Division No. 42 * Holy Redeemer Junior Senior Catholic High School (7-12) * Vanier Community Catholic School (K-6) ;Private * Yellowhead Koinonia Christian School (K-12)

Media

;Newspapers Edson has one weekly paper, ''The Weekly Anchor'', published every Monday. A second paper, ''

Edson Leader The ''Edson Leader'' was a weekly newspaper serving the Edson, Alberta, Edson, Alberta area. The Leader was owned by Postmedia Network and ceased publication on January 13, 2020. The Edson and area are still served by The Weekly Anchor Newspaper, ...

'', was established in 1911 before ceasing publication in 2020. ;Radio stations * CBXD 1540

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

* CFXE 94.3

Newcap Broadcasting Stingray Radio Inc. is a Canadian radio broadcasting conglomerate owned by Stingray Group. It owns and operates 101 radio stations in Canada, making it the largest radio conglomerate in Canada. It also once owned two now-defunct television statio ...

* CKUA-FM-8 103.7

CKUA Radio Network CKUA Radio is a Canadian donor-funded community radio station based in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally located on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton (hence the UA of the call letters), it was the first public broadcaster in Canada ...

Coat of arms

On 15 October 2019, the town was granted a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

by the

Canadian Heraldic Authority The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA; ) is part of the Canadian honours system under the Monarchy of Canada, Canadian monarch, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General of Canada. The authority is responsible for the creation and gran ...

, while the announcement of the

Letters Patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

was made on 28 March 2020, in Volume 154, page 692 of the

Canada Gazette The ''Canada Gazette'' () is the official government gazette of the Government of Canada. It was first published on October 2, 1841. While it originally published all acts of the Parliament of Canada, it later also published treaties, hearing an ...

Notable people

* George VanderBurg, Canadian politician, Progressive Conservative MLA (2001-2013)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1911 establishments in Alberta Towns in Alberta