Sylvan Lake is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately west of the City of Red Deer along Highway 11 or Highway 11A. It is on the southeast edge of Sylvan Lake, a freshwater lake that straddles the boundary between Red Deer County and Lacombe County. The lake is a popular destination for tourists from around Alberta, with around 1 million visitors each year. Popular tourist activities include sunbathing, swimming, water-skiing, and visiting Camp Woods. Camp Woods in Sylvan Lake hosted the 12th Canadian Scout Jamboree in July 2013.

History

The land that would later become the town was ceded to the Crown by the First Nations with Treaty 6 in 1877. Sylvan Lake was originally settled by French-speaking immigrants from Quebec and the United States. Arriving in 1898 from Michigan, Alexandre Loiselle and his family homesteaded the quarter section that later became the west side of today's Main (50th) Street and the businesses and homes immediately to the west. When the first settlers arrived at Sylvan Lake in 1899, the lake was named Snake Lake from the Cree name () which referred to the numerous garter snakes in the area. The name was officially changed to Sylvan Lake in 1903 (Gaetz 1948). "Sylvan" is from the Latin , which means "of a forest". Palliser's map of 1859 gives the name Swan Lake for the location. In the early twentieth century, groups of

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

and then Finnish settlers moved to homesteads to the south and west of the fledgling settlement at Sylvan Lake. With their arrival came the early business community, a general store, a blacksmith, a hardware store, post office, barber, and restaurants. The completion of the

Canadian Northern The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic 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 Edmonton. Mani ...

line to Rocky Mountain House and

Nordegg Nordegg is a hamlet in west-central Alberta, Canada within Clearwater County. It is located in the North Saskatchewan River valley in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, just east of the intersection of the David Thompson Highway and the Hig ...

in 1912 and the parallel Canadian Pacific in 1914 opened the west country to settlement and resulted in the incorporation of Sylvan Lake in 1913 under Mayor E. S. Grimson, a local hardware store owner. The anniversary of the founding of the town is celebrated every year in Sylvan Lake as "1913 Days". Farming quickly became a mainstay in the area and in 1923 an

Alberta Pacific Grain Company The Alberta Pacific Grain Company Limited began in 1900 as the Alberta Grain Company, founded by Nicholas Bawlf and associates. In 1911 Alberta Grain Co. was merged with the Alberta Pacific Company Limited to form the Alberta Pacific Grain Comp ...

elevator was built on the CPR line immediately north of what is now Cottonwood Estates. The elevator was torn down in the 1970s and the CPR line was abandoned in 1983 and removed in 1986. Since then, the right of way has survived as a natural area and walking path through Sylvan Lake. Elevators were also constructed along the CN line and were used by local farmers in the mid-century decades. They were torn down in the late 1990s. Even prior to the building of the railways, Sylvan Lake was becoming a summer resort for families in Red Deer. With the coming of the trains, "the Lake" became a favourite of families from both Edmonton and

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. The summer visitors camped in tents, but soon the "Cottage Area" east of 46 Street and in "Lower Camp" on the southeast shore began to fill with summer cottages. In the 1930s and 1940s people began arriving by car and the areas around

Norglenwold Norglenwold is a summer village in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on the southeast shore of Sylvan Lake adjacent to the Town of Sylvan Lake. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Summer Vil ...

Sylvan Lake Provincial Park Sylvan Lake Park, previously Sylvan Lake Provincial Park, is an urban park in the Town of Sylvan Lake on the southern shore of Sylvan Lake in central Alberta, Canada. Prior to early 2018, it existed a provincial park for 38 years until its owne ...

and Jarvis Bay Provincial Park began to fill up with summer visitors. The influx of summer residents and visitors also brought businesses and services that catered to the ever-increasing number of tourists. In 1913, the first motor launch took paying passengers on tours around the lake. A large boathouse was constructed in 1926, allowing visitors to rent a boat, canoe, swimsuit, or buy ice cream, pop and other items necessary to a summer day at the lake. Regattas were held on the lake for a number of years beginning in 1923. In 1928, the Dominion Government, assisted by the Sylvan Lake Women's Institute (WI), built the long pier that jutted out into the lake from the bottom of Main Street. This pier was connected to the earlier WI Pier and formed a square area used for swimming and mooring boats. The first "waterslide" at Sylvan Lake was part of this facility. The piers were prone to ice damage over the winter and were replaced by the existing "landfill" that now hosts beach volleyball tournaments, dragon boat racing and the lake tour on the "Zoo Cruise". In 1983, the original waterslide was replaced by the Wild Rapids Waterslides, which was the largest facility of its kind in western Canada until its closure in 2016. Another byproduct of losing the piers and later the government boat launch was the construction of the Sylvan Lake Marina, home of many of the permanent boats on the lake, boating facilities, and the Sylvan Lake lighthouse. In 2014, Sylvan Lake won the Kraft Hockeyville contest, which included a large cash prize and the rights to host an NHL pre-season game between the Calgary Flames and the Arizona Coyotes.

Geography

The Town of Sylvan Lake is located on the southeast shore of Sylvan Lake. The summer villages of

and

Jarvis Bay Jarvis Bay is a summer village in Alberta, Canada. It is located on the eastern shore of Sylvan Lake south of Jarvis Bay Provincial Park. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Summer Village of Ja ...

border the town to the northwest and northeast respectively.

Climate

Sylvan Lake 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 ...

( Dfc) with long, cold winters and short, mild summers. Seasonal mean temperatures: * Winter * Spring * Summer * Fall Annual precipitation: * Rain: * Snow: * Total: Average hours of sunshine: 2,125 hours

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; 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 ...

, the Town of Sylvan Lake had a population of 15,995 living in 6,396 of its 7,141 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 14,816. 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 Sylvan Lake recorded a population of 14,816 living in 5,616 of its 6,567 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 12,362. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The population of the Town of Sylvan Lake according to its 2015 municipal census is 14,310, a change from its 2013 municipal census population of 13,015. At its current population, Sylvan Lake is one of the largest towns in the province and is eligible for city status. According to Alberta's ''Municipal Government Act'', a town is eligible for city status when it reaches 10,000 residents.

;Visible minority status * Black: 0.9% *

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

: 0.7% *

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

: 0.5% *

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 ...

: 0.5% *

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-et ...

: 0.4% *

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 0.3% *

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

: 0.1% *

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

: 0.1% *

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 0.1% *

West Asian Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

: 0.0% *Visible minority, n.i.e: 0.1% *Multiple visible minorities: 0.1% *Not a visible minority: 96.2% ;Religion *

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

: 2,805 or 37.6% *

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

: 1,815 or 24.4% *Other Christian: 380 or 5.1% *

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

: 25 or 0.3% *

Eastern religions The Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western, African and Iranian religions. This includes the East Asian religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese ...

: 10 or 0.1% *Other: 1 or 0.01% *No religion: 2,410 or 32.4%

Government

;Federal Sylvan Lake is within the

Red Deer—Lacombe Red Deer—Lacombe is an electoral district in Alberta. It was created in 2012 from the more urbanized southern portion of Wetaskiwin (51%) and the northern portion of Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer s ...

federal electoral district. It is represented by

Blaine Calkins Blaine F. Calkins (born December 25, 1968) is a Conservative Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada. He has represented the riding of Red Deer—Lacombe in Alberta since 2015, having previously represented its predecessor, Wetas ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. ;Provincial Sylvan Lake is within the

Innisfail-Sylvan Lake Innisfail-Sylvan Lake is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 87 current districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The distr ...

provincial electoral district. It is represented by

Devin Dreeshen Devin Dreeshen (born 1987/1988) is a Canadian politician. A member of the United Conservative Party, Dreeshen was the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry from April 30, 2019 until his resignation on November 5, 2021 due to rumours of alcohol usa ...

of 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 ...

. ;Municipal Sylvan Lake Town Council consists of one Mayor and six Councillors that are elected every four years. The current mayor is Sean McIntyre, who was first elected as a Councillor in 2010 and as mayor in the 2013 municipal election. Councillors elected in the 2017 municipal election were Megan Hanson (Chernoff), Jas Payne, Theresa Rilling, Tim Mearns, Graham Parsons, and Kendall Kloss. Payne, Hanson (Chernoff) and Parsons were the only re-elected

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

councillors.

Education

The town has six public schools in the Chinook's Edge School District. * Beacon Hill Elementary School * C. P. Blakely School * Fox Run School * H.J. Cody School * Steffie Woima Elementary School * Sylvan Lake Career High Two Catholic Schools in the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Division. * École Mother Teresa Catholic School * Our Lady of the Rosary Also, Lighthouse Christian Academy and Sylvan Meadows Adventist School are two private schools that operate in Sylvan Lake.

Media

Sylvan Lake is served by one local newspaper, ''The Sylvan Lake News''.

Sports

The

Sylvan Lake Gulls The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league based in Saskatchewan and Alberta that descends from leagues dating to 1931. History The league can trace its roots back to 1931, via its predecessors. The South ...

of the

Western Canadian Baseball League The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league based in Saskatchewan and Alberta that descends from leagues dating to 1931. History The league can trace its roots back to 1931, via its predecessors. The South ...

play at Pogadl Park.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1912 establishments in Alberta Populated places established in 1898 Towns in Alberta