Wabasca ( ), also known as Wabasca-Desmarais, is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in 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 within the Municipal District (MD) of Opportunity No. 17. It is located between and along the South and

North Wabasca Lake North Wabasca Lake is located in northern Alberta, Canada, north of Edmonton and is the fifteenth largest lake in Alberta. The hamlet of Wabasca is located on the southeast shore of the lake, and along the path of the river flowing north from S ...

s, at the intersection of Highway 813 and Highway 754. It is approximately northeast of

Slave Lake Slave Lake is a town in northern Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by the Municipal District of Lesser Slave River No. 124. It is approximately northwest of Edmonton. It is located on the southeast shore of Lesser Slave Lake at the junction ...

. Wabasca, which is the location of the MD of Opportunity No. 17's municipal office, consists of two historical communities – ''Wabasca'' and ''Desmarais''. The hamlet has a population of 1,585 which is largely

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

. Another 2,157 additional residents live on five

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

s in the immediate surrounding area. These

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

reserves include Wabasca 166, 166A, 166B, 166C and 166D of the

Bigstone Cree Nation The Bigstone Cree Nation () is a First Nations band government in Alberta, Canada. As Woodland Cree, they are a western branch of the larger Cree nation, and are a party to Treaty 8 with Canada. The Bigstone Cree Nation was divided into two band ...

, and the

Woodland Cree The ''Sakāwithiniwak'' or Woodland Cree, are a Cree people, calling themselves Nîhithaw in their own dialect of the language. They are the largest indigenous group in northern Alberta and are an Algonquian people. Prior to the 18th century, ...

people. The name ''Wabasca'' originates from the

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 ...

word ''wâpaskâw'', meaning "white grass," the name for the

Wabasca River The Wabasca River is the largest tributary of the Peace River watershed in northern Alberta, Canada. The Wabasca River has a total drainage area of . Course The Wabasca River originates in the ''Sandy Lake'', north-east of Slave Lake, then ...

. ''Desmarais'' was named after Father Alphonse Desmarais, the first missionary in this area.

History

Early history

The Hudson's Bay company opened their first trading post in the Wabasca area in the 1880s. This was followed by the St. John’s Anglican Mission in 1894 and St. Martin’s Catholic Boarding School in 1901. 1899 saw the signing of

Treaty 8 Treaty 8, which concluded with the June 21, 1899, signing by representatives of the Crown and various First Nations of the Lesser Slave Lake area, is the most comprehensive of the eleven Numbered Treaties. The agreement encompassed a land m ...

and this combined with a booming

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

attracted more settlers and indigenous to the region. The first Indian reserve in the area, Wabasca 166 was surveyed in 1913.

2019 wildfire

In May 2019, the McMillan complex forest fire burning to the West of the hamlet was characterized as out of control. On May 29, strong easterly winds pushed smoke into the community and an overnight evacuation order was placed at 8:44 pm affecting 3,300 people. The fire, suspected of being caused by arson, would go on to burn of forest in the MD of Opportunity No. 17, and kept residents from returning to their homes until June 11, 2019. The fire came as close as to the Bigstone Cree Nation communities on the western shore of the lakes.

Geography

Wabasca is located in the Boreal Plains of Northern Alberta, part of the largest intact forest on earth. Two large lakes border the town along the west,

and

South Wabasca Lake South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. The Wabasca River runs along downtown and connects the two lakes before continuing to the

Peace River The Peace River () is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to form the ...

as part of the

Mackenzie River The Mackenzie River (French: ; Slavey language, Slavey: ' èh tʃʰò literally ''big river''; Inuvialuktun: ' uːkpɑk literally ''great river'') is a river in the Canadian Canadian boreal forest, boreal forest and tundra. It forms, ...

watershed. Wabasca's hamlet boundary includes three census geographic units – the Wabasca and Desmarais

designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the s ...

s and the Desmarais

Indian settlement An Indian settlement is a census subdivision outlined by the Canadian government Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada for census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acqui ...

– as well as additional lands.

Climate

Wabasca has 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'').

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 ...

, Wabasca-Desmarais had a population of 1,594 living in 522 of its 619 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,480. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, by combining the Wabasca and Desmarais designated places and the Desmarais Indian settlement, the Hamlet of Wabasca had a population of 1,585 living in 527 of its 677 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 1,569. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

Located west of the Wabasca oil field, oil and gas exploration and extraction is Wabasca's primary industry. Forestry also plays a role in the local economy with Alberta Pacific Forest Industries operating an office out of the community. The community is also within vicinity of the Wabasca oil sands, the fourth largest deposit of

oil sands Oil sands are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. They are either loose sands, or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with bitumen (a dense and extremely viscous ...

in Alberta.

Government

Municipal government

Wabasca does not have a local council and is instead represented by three councillors on the MD of Opportunity No. 17 Council. Other communities represented by the council include Calling Lake,

Red Earth Creek Red Earth Creek is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within the Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17. It is located east of Highway 88, between the town of Slave Lake and the hamlet of Fort Vermilion, and has an elevation of . This hamlet is i ...

, and Chipewyan Lake. As of 2023 the councilors representing Wabasca are Larry Cardinal, and Darlene Jackson robin guild and reeve Marcel Marcel auger.

Provincial government

The hamlet lies within the Lesser Slave Lake electoral district. Scott Sinclair handily defeated ndp star union candidate in the 2023 election.

Federal government

At the federal level, Wabasca is represented within the Fort McMurray - Cold Lake federal electoral district. This district represents a large portion of northeast Alberta, totalling more than . In the

2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', ...

, Wabasca cast 302 votes, 146 of which went for David Yurdiga, the current incumbent.

Crime

Wabasca is the location of the Desmarais Detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada's national police service. This detachment serves a large remote area including most of the MD of Opportunity No. 17. In September 2019, the RCMP moved to a new building located on Airport Road in the industrial area of the hamlet. In 2019, the Desmarais Detachment reported a crime severity index of 339.46. This is higher than the 128.91 reported in

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 ...

, the closest major city to Wabasca. Located downtown, the Wabasca/Desmarais

Provincial Court of Alberta The Alberta Court of Justice (formerly the Provincial Court of Alberta) is the provincial court for the Canadian province of Alberta. The Court oversees matters relating to criminal law, family law, youth law, civil law and traffic law. More tha ...

is a circuit court that sits on Thursdays each week.

Arts and culture

The Wabasca Public Library is located in the Lakeview Centre. Opened in October 2003, the library is a member of the Peace Library System which joins 39 communities across northern Alberta in a single library network. Wabasca hosts numerous events on an annual basis including the RCMP Fish Derby, the Wabasca Road Race, and the

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

Ski-Doo Rally among others. Wabasca has four churches including St. Charles Catholic Church, St. John's Anglican Church, St. Martins Catholic Church, and the Wabasca Revival Centre.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads and highways

Geography has played a key role in the layout of streets and roads in Wabasca. The community is spread along the shores of the lakes following a North-South corridor. Mistassiny Road is the main connector running from Bigstone Cree Nation 166A and downtown in the south, to the predominantly residential areas in the north. Streets are named after local families, native

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

, and other such practical names with no numbered system currently in use. There is also no grid system in place and the streets naturally follow the shape of the lake and avoid

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 ...

in the area. The Hamlet of Wabasca is accessed by Highway 813 from the southeast and Highway 754 from the southwest. Chipewyan Lake Road, also known as the ALPAC Road, is an unpaved industrial road heading north of Wabasca destined for the community of Chipewyan Lake.

Airports

The

Wabasca Airport Wabasca Airport is located southeast of Wabasca, Alberta, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean a ...

is located in the industrial area of Wabasca, north of downtown and east of North Wabasca Lake along Mistassiny Road and Airport Road. The airport serves as a gateway to the Wabasca oil sands as well as private flights and medical air transport for the region. Currently there are no scheduled services operating to the airport. The runway is long, wide, and maintained and operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Public transit

Bigstone Health Commission operates a shuttle service between Wabasca,

and

. The shuttle runs daily during the week and offers a single departure on Sunday.

Health care

Located in downtown Wabasca, the Wabasca/Desmarais Health Care Centre offers 24-hour emergency services, ambulatory and general medicine, laboratory services, x-ray, advanced life support ambulance service, and Indigenous health services. Also located downtown, the Golden Opportunity Medical Clinic offers

primary care Primary care is a model of health care that supports first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated person-focused care. It aims to optimise population health and reduce disparities across the groups by ensuring equitable ...

services. In August 2022, Wosler Diagnostics opened an ultrasound clinic located within the Golden Opportunity Medical Clinic and provides a wide range of diagnostic services to patients in the region. The Keekenow Senior Facility opened on June 15, 2020. The assisted living facility features 60 beds in a two-storey building and was completed at a cost of $16m.

Sports and recreation

The community is home to a recreation centre that includes a pool, jacuzzi, steam room and fitness centre. In February 2013, the Lakeview Sports Centre opened providing the community with an indoor field house complete with gymnasium, running track, stage, and concessions. Wabasca also has an ice arena, Marian Wolitiski Arena. The rink contains a single sheet of ice and concessions. The George Stoll Recreation Grounds feature baseball diamonds, batting cage, basketball courts, skateboard park, playground, and winter outdoor ice rinks. In downtown Wabasca, Sam G's Park is a central gathering place anchored around the Blue

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

Bridge. Spanning the Wabasca River, the bridge offers summer fishing. The park also contains several picnic areas and a mini-golf course. The Wabasca visitor information centre can also be found in Sam G's Park seasonally, from May to October each year. Eli Cardinal Park, formerly Fisherman’s Wharf, is an outdoor park located in the north end of the hamlet. A concrete ramp provides boat access to North Wabasca Lake in the summer and access to the ice for

ice fishing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. Shelters L ...

in the winter.

Outdoor recreation

Wabasca features opportunities for hunting and trapping year round. Common big game species in the area include

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

and

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

. Many game birds are found in the forest around the hamlet, including spruce grouse,

ruffed grouse The ruffed grouse (''Bonasa umbellus'') is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only spe ...

, and

sharp-tailed grouse The sharp-tailed grouse (''Tympanuchus phasianellus''), also known as the sharptail or fire grouse, is a medium-sized prairie grouse. One of three species in the genus ''Tympanuchus'', the sharp-tailed grouse is found throughout Alaska, much of N ...

. Fishing yields species such as

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

, and

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

. Eagle Point Golf Course is a 18 hole course that opened in 2013. Situated along North Wabasca Lake and surrounded by

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

, the course also features a driving range, practice green, and pro shop. It also has a clubhouse that features a full-service restaurant. The Wabasca Lions Campground contains 35 camping sites along the shores of North Wabasca Lake. A public sandy beach and boat launch are also located on site. There are many multi-use trails surrounding and running through Wabasca. Common users of these trails include

ATVs ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbo ...

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

s, cross country skiers, hikers, and mountain bikers. There is a paved path running along the eastern edge of North Wabasca Lake between Wabasca and Desmarais.

Education

The Northland School Division operates three schools in the community – St. Theresa School for students in kindergarten through grade 6, Mistassiniy School for students in grades 7 through 12, and an outreach school for junior and senior high students. The Bigstone Cree First Nation Education Authority operates the Bigstone Community School or Oski Pasikoniwew Kamik (OPK). OPK offers preschool to grade 9 with plans on building a future high school. A campus of

Northern Lakes College Northern Lakes College is a publicly funded comprehensive community college in northern Alberta, Canada. Administrative offices are located in Slave Lake and Grouard, Alberta, with a staff of more than 275 working in more than 25 community campu ...

is located in Wabasca. The college provides part-time and full-time programming for adult upgrading, apprenticeships, university studies, workforce development, and other careers.

References

External links

Wabasca website
{{authority control Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 Designated places in Alberta First Nations in Alberta Hamlets in Alberta