The Canol Project was an oil pipeline project constructed during World War II to ensure a supply of oil for the defense of Alaska and the North American west coast. The project included a section of crude petroleum transport by barge, a refinery, and a 4 inch pipeline. It was completed in two years at great cost and was abandoned less than a year later.
67-570: Fort McMurray ( / m ə k ˈ m ʌr i / mək- MURR -ee ) 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 significant role in the development of the national petroleum industry . The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire led to
134-519: A 9.9% change from its 2011 population of 60,555. With a land area of 51.79 km (20.00 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,285.4/km (3,329.3/sq mi) in 2016. The permanent population of the Fort McMurray urban service area according to the RM of Wood Buffalo's 2021 municipal census is 72,917, a change of 1.2% from its 2018 municipal census permanent population of 72,056. In addition,
201-536: A boomtown . Housing prices and rents are far higher in Fort McMurray than most such remote areas, and in 2006, Fort McMurray had the highest prices in Alberta. The Alberta government has promised to release more Crown land for residential construction, particularly in Timberlea on the north side. There are several airports in the area , with Fort McMurray International Airport being the largest in northern Alberta . It
268-454: A city. The population peaked at almost 37,000 in 1985, then declined to under 34,000 by 1989. Low oil prices since the oil price collapse in 1986 slowed the oil sands production greatly, as oil extraction from the oil sands is a very expensive process and lower world prices made this uneconomical. On April 1, 1995, the City of Fort McMurray and Improvement District No. 143 were amalgamated to form
335-453: A city. Fort McMurray was known simply as McMurray between 1947 and 1962. Before the arrival of Europeans in the late 18th century, the Cree were the dominant First Nations people in the Fort McMurray area. The Athabasca oil sands were known to the locals and the surface deposits were used to waterproof their canoes. During the fur trade , the location of Fort McMurray, west of Methye Portage ,
402-465: A combined population totaling 2,146. With some exceptions, their boundaries are coterminous with that of a national or provincial park. Five of them are located within national parks, and two are within provincial parks. Special areas are rural municipalities created in 1938 under the authority of the Special Areas Act. A special area is not to be confused with a specialized municipality , which
469-492: A combined population totalling 466,470 as of 2019. According to Section 80 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), an area may incorporate as a village if: Essentially, villages are formed from urban communities with populations of at least 300 people. When a village's population exceeds 1,000 people, its council may apply to change its status to that of a town , but the change in incorporated status
536-603: A combined population totalling 471,852 as of 2019. According to Section 581 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), Alberta's Lieutenant Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Municipal Affairs, may form an improvement district. Section 582 of the MGA requires that the order to form an improvement district must describe its boundaries and give it an official name. Alberta currently has seven improvement districts, which have
603-545: A consortium to construct the project. Known as Bechtel-Price-Callahan it also included six associated companies. Standard Oil Company was a consultant on the project and would operate the refinery in Whitehorse. Imperial Oil owned the Norman Wells field and would be responsible for the supply of oil. J. Gordon Turnbull and Sverdrup and Parcel were chosen to the project's architect and engineer of record. The eventual scope of
670-454: A hamlet to incorporate as a village – Barnwell and Wabamun were the last two to do so both on January 1, 1980. It is much more common these days for villages to revert to hamlet status through the dissolution process instead. Canol Project During World War II the United States was concerned about Japan attacking the west coast and cutting off supply lines to Alaska. They built
737-490: A significant role in the history of the petroleum industry in Canada . Oil exploration is known to have occurred in the early 20th century, but Fort McMurray's population remained small, no more than a few hundred people. By 1921, there was serious interest in developing a refining plant to separate the oil from the sands. Alcan Oil Company was the first outfit to begin bulk tests at Fort McMurray. The nearby community of Waterways
SECTION 10
#1732837526362804-457: A specialized municipality on January 1, 1996. According to Section 59 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), hamlets are unincorporated communities that: Further, Section 59 of the MGA provides the councils of municipal districts (or counties ) and specialized municipalities the authority to designate unincorporated communities within its boundaries as hamlets. Hamlets may also be designated within improvement districts and special areas by
871-965: A state-of-the-art theatre and recital hall, hosting a variety of musical and theatrical events that attract upwards of 50,000 visitors each season. Local teams include the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), the Fort McMurray Giants of the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL), and the Keyano Huskies of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC). List of communities in Alberta#Urban service areas The province of Alberta , Canada,
938-402: A total of 19 cities with a combined population totalling 2,959,559 as of 2019. According to Section 81 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), an area may incorporate as a town if: Essentially, towns are formed from urban communities with populations of at least 1,000 people. When a town's population exceeds 10,000 people, its council may apply to change its status to that of a city , but
1005-519: A village, but the change in incorporated status is not mandatory. Alberta currently has a total of 51 summer villages, with a combined population totalling 5,200 as of 2019. According to Section 83 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), a municipality may incorporate as a specialized municipality under one of the following three scenarios: Essentially, specialized municipalities are municipalities that are unconventional in nature compared to other municipalities in Alberta, and they are incorporated under
1072-475: Is a completely different municipal status. Alberta's three special areas had a combined population totalling 4,184 in 2016. An urban service area is a type of hamlet that is not officially defined under the Municipal Government Act (MGA). However, the province of Alberta recognizes it as equivalent to a city for the purposes of program delivery and grant eligibility according to the Orders in Council that established
1139-416: Is considered the heart of one of Alberta's (and Canada's) hubs of petroleum production, located near the Athabasca oil sands . Besides the oil sands , the economy also relies on natural gas and pipeline transport , forestry and tourism. Oil sands producers include Syncrude , Suncor Energy , Canadian Natural Resources , and CNOOC Petroleum North America ULC . Fort McMurray's growth is characteristic of
1206-465: Is different from that of a municipal district. As such, Alberta Municipal Affairs provides municipal districts with the opportunity to brand themselves either as municipal districts or counties in their official names. Of Alberta's 63 municipal districts, 46 of them brand themselves as counties . Over the past 30 years, Alberta has observed a trend of numerous municipal districts rebranding themselves as counties through official name changes. Some of
1273-458: Is divided into ten types of local governments – urban municipalities (including cities , towns , villages and summer villages ), specialized municipalities , rural municipalities (including municipal districts (often named as counties), improvement districts , and special areas ), Métis settlements , and Indian reserves . All types of municipalities are governed by local residents and were incorporated under various provincial acts, with
1340-487: Is higher than 10.0 °C (50.0 °F), Fort McMurray has a borderline subarctic climate ( Köppen : Dfc ), being just below the threshold of humid continental climate ( Dfb ), with May and September average temperature of 9.9 °C (49.8 °F). It falls into the Natural Resources Canada (NRC) Plant Hardiness Zone 3a. The community lies at a lower elevation than most other parts of Alberta, so under
1407-603: Is located in Fort McMurray, which accounts for the great majority of the RM's population; all but 5,000 of the RM's residents live in the Fort McMurray urban service area. The city continued to grow for a few years even after the oil bust caused by the 2003 collapse in world oil prices. Oil price increases since 2003 made oil extraction profitable again for around a decade, until another slump in oil prices which began in December 2014 and deepened in 2015 resulted in layoffs and postponement of projects. In June 2013, heavy rains caused
SECTION 20
#17328375263621474-485: Is not mandatory. Communities with shrinking populations are allowed to retain village status even if the number of residents falls below the 300 limit. Some of Alberta's villages have never reached a population of 300 people, but were incorporated as villages before there was a requirement to have a population of 300 or more. Alberta currently has a total of 81 villages, with a combined population totalling 34,600 as of 2021. According to former Section 79 of
1541-432: Is serviced by Air Canada , Air Canada Express , McMurray Aviation , Northwestern Air , WestJet and WestJet Encore , with scheduled flights to Calgary , Edmonton , Fort Chipewyan , Fort Smith , Montreal and Toronto . The airport is also serviced by various oil companies with corporate and charter flights heading north to private airstrips at oil sands operations. Flights are frequently booked to capacity because of
1608-607: Is the largest community in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. White spruce , trembling aspen , balsam poplar and white birch are the most prominent native trees in and around town. Black spruce and tamarack occur in poorly drained areas and jack pine may be seen on the driest sites. European aspen , blue spruce and sand cherry are among the exotic trees occasionally seen. With severe winters except during periods of warming chinook winds , mild to warm summers and only three months which average temperature
1675-447: Is the only highway between Fort McMurray and Edmonton . Due to the industrial demands of the oilsands, Highway 63 boasts some of the highest tonnage per kilometre in Canada, and the largest and heaviest loads that trucks have ever carried. Highway 63 was fully twinned in May 2016. Highway 881 also provides access to the region from Lac La Biche . Canadian National Railway (CN) discontinued
1742-474: The 2021 census , the Fort McMurray population centre recorded 68,002 residents living in 24,505 of its 28,670 total private dwellings, a change of 1.3% from its 2016 population of 67,123 . With a land area of 52.17 km (20.14 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,303.5/km (3,376.0/sq mi) in 2021. In the 2016 census , the Fort McMurray population centre recorded 66,573 residents living in 23,937 of its 28,567 total private dwellings,
1809-529: The Advanced Placement program at one of their schools, being Westwood Community High School . On Abasand Drive, École Boréal is the only francophone school in the area and goes from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. Keyano College is a publicly funded college and vocational institute based in the area and plays a role in training workers for the oil sands. Known as the cultural hub of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Keyano College contains both
1876-773: The Alaska Highway to connect Alaska to the rest of the United States and conceived the CANOL (Canadian Oil) project to ensure a supply of oil from Norman Wells in the Canadian Northwest Territories . The US War Department decided to construct the project in April 1942 and it was assigned to the United States Army Corps of Engineers . W.A. Bechtel Co , H. Price & Co. and W. E. Callahan Construction Co. formed
1943-531: The Great Canadian Oil Sands (now Suncor ) plant opened and Fort McMurray's growth soon took off. More oil sands plants were opened, especially after the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis , when serious political tensions and conflicts in the Middle East triggered oil price spikes. The population of the town reached 6,847 by 1971 and climbed to 31,000 by 1981, a year after its incorporation as
2010-475: The Hangingstone River to flood, causing a six-day state of emergency , a bridge collapse, the closure of highways 63 and 881 , and the evacuation of 150 people. On May 3, 2016, a large wildfire burning southwest of Fort McMurray resulted in the mandatory evacuation of the community. Record-breaking temperatures, reaching 32.8 °C (91 °F), low relative humidity and strong winds contributed to
2077-505: The Muskeg Mixed ( mixed train ) to Fort McMurray in 1989, and there has been no passenger rail service since. CN continues to operate freight service on its Lac La Biche subdivision and stations beyond. Canada Post identified Fort McMurray as "having a particularly high cost to serve" in January 2014, and planned to institute a surcharge of $ 5.00 for all parcels shipped to the area. However,
Fort McMurray - Misplaced Pages Continue
2144-531: The North West Company were in fierce competition in this region. Fort McMurray was established there as a Hudson's Bay Company post by 1870, named for the Chief Factor William McMurray. It continued to operate as a transportation stopover in the decades afterwards. The Alberta and Great Waterways Railway arrived in 1915 complementing existing steamboat service. The community has played
2211-687: The Pelly River . There are several old vehicle dumps remaining on the Yukon side and an old pipeline crossing remains in Ross River. The bridge has been used as a footbridge and was recently refurbished. In the Northwest Territories the road is no longer maintained and is now the Canol Heritage Trail . It is estimated that 46,000 barrels of crude oil were spilled along the pipeline route. Many of
2278-519: The Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo and Strathcona County as specialized municipalities . These Orders in Council (see Schedule 1, Section 7 and Schedule 1, Section 3 respectively) also state that: Essentially, urban services areas meet the eligibility requirements of the MGA to incorporate as a city. As such, they are Alberta's largest hamlets. There are currently two urban services areas in Alberta: Fort McMurray, within
2345-483: The evacuation of its residents and caused widespread damage. Formerly a city, Fort McMurray became an urban service area when it amalgamated with Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995, to create the Municipality of Wood Buffalo (renamed the RM of Wood Buffalo on August 14, 1996). Despite its current official designation of urban service area, many locals, politicians and the media still refer to Fort McMurray as
2412-401: The 2021 municipal census counted a shadow population of 3,089 non-permanent residents for a combined population of 76,006, while the 2018 municipal census counted 3,559 non-permanent residents for a combined population of 75,615. Fort McMurray is an increasingly multicultural community. The 2021 census published by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo found roughly 6,700 people moved to
2479-587: The Athabasca River near Lake Athabasca . However, his post closed in 1788 in favour of Fort Chipewyan , now the oldest continuous settlement in Alberta . In 1790, the explorer Alexander MacKenzie made the first recorded description of the oil sands . By that time, trading between the explorers and the Cree was already occurring at the confluence of the Clearwater and Athabasca rivers. The Hudson's Bay Company and
2546-411: The Minister of Municipal Affairs pursuant to Section 590 of the MGA and Section 10 of the Special Areas Act respectively. When a hamlet's population reaches 300, it becomes eligible to incorporated as a village under Section 80 of the MGA, so long as the majority of the buildings are still on parcels of land smaller than 1,850 m (19,900 sq ft). However, it is a modern-day rarity for
2613-430: The Municipal Government Act (MGA), a municipal district is an area in which: Essentially, municipal districts are large rural areas in which their citizens reside on farms, country residential subdivisions or unincorporated communities (i.e., hamlets, localities and other settlements). In Alberta, the term county is synonymous with the term municipal district – it is not its own incorporated municipal status that
2680-431: The Municipal Government Act (MGA), a summer village is an area that: As a result of Section 79 being repealed, summer villages can no longer be formed in Alberta. Essentially, summer villages were once formed from urban communities with populations of less than 300 people and significant non-permanent populations. When a summer village's population exceeds 300 people, its council may apply to change its status to that of
2747-416: The Municipality of Wood Buffalo. The new municipality was subsequently renamed the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo on August 14, 1996. As a result, Fort McMurray was no longer officially designated a city. Instead, it was designated an urban service area within a specialized municipality . The amalgamation resulted in the entire RM of Wood Buffalo being under a single government. Its municipal office
Fort McMurray - Misplaced Pages Continue
2814-525: The Norman Wells crude as fuel. An additional 19 pump stations moved the refined fuel along the Alaska Highway from Whitehorse as far as Watson Lake and Fairbanks. The final construction cost for the Canol Project construction has been estimated at $ 134 million (equivalent to $ 2,319,289,225 in 2023) and may have been closer to $ 300 million when military personnel are included. The last pipeline weld
2881-539: The US War Department made the decision to shut the project down. Work began immediately to winterize all equipment, clean and stock camps and remove all personnel. Shortly after the line was declared as surplus to the war effort. Imperial Oil purchased equipment at Norman Wells for $ 3 million. Imperial also paid $ 1 million for the Whitehorse refinery, which had been installed at a cost of $ 27 million, which they then dismantled and shipped to Alberta. The salvage rights for
2948-410: The abandoned buildings and vehicles contain hazardous materials and telegraph wire has entangled animals such as moose and caribou. Clean-up of telegraph wire began in 2015 and most of the wire along the trail has been coiled up for removal. Remediation work began in 2018 to remove contaminants, telegraph wire and other safety hazards along the trail and expected to be completed in 2020. Remediation of
3015-475: The authority of the existing MGA instead of relying on the creation of their own separate acts (i.e., the Special Areas Act allowed the incorporation of Alberta's three special areas and the Metis Settlements Act allowed the incorporation of Alberta's eight Métis settlements). Alberta's six specialized municipalities have a combined population totalling 242,395 as of 2019. According to Section 78 of
3082-415: The change in incorporated status is not mandatory. Communities with shrinking populations are allowed to retain town status even if the number of residents falls below the 1,000 limit. Some of Alberta's towns have never reached a population of 1,000 people, but were incorporated as towns before the current requirement to have a population of 1,000 or more. Alberta currently has a total of 107 towns, with
3149-423: The community were reported to be destroyed in the fire. On April 27, 2020, massive ice jams along the Athabasca River resulted in a major flood. It devastated the downtown of Fort McMurray, submerging streets and ruining businesses, cars and houses. Approximately 13,000 people from Fort McMurray and the surrounding area were evacuated. On 14 May 2024, a wildfire led to the evacuation of several neighborhoods in
3216-579: The exception of Indian reserves, the administration of municipalities in Alberta is regulated by the Municipal Government Act, the Special Areas Act and the Metis Settlements Act. As of 2019, the combined unofficial population of all of Alberta's municipalities was 4,271,759. According to Section 82 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), an area may incorporate as a city if: Essentially, cities are formed from urban communities with populations of at least 10,000 people. Alberta currently has
3283-471: The exception of improvement districts (governed by either the provincial or federal government), and Alberta's Indian reserves (governed by local band governments under federal jurisdiction). Alberta also has numerous unincorporated communities (including urban service areas , hamlets and a townsite ) that are not independent municipalities in their own right. However, they are all recognized as sub-municipal entities by Ministry of Municipal Affairs under
3350-401: The fire's rapid growth in forests affected by "an unusually dry and warm winter". Upwards of 88,000 people in the community and surrounding region were evacuated. It was Canada's largest recorded wildfire evacuation in history and third-largest recorded environmental disaster evacuation behind the 1979 Mississauga train derailment and the 1950 Red River flood . About one-fifth of homes in
3417-580: The high transient worker population and workers who commute to Fort McMurray from other parts of Canada. Fort McMurray Transit operates in the community, with routes that extend to all subdivisions on the south side and subdivisions on the north side. Although the service concentrates on Fort McMurray it does operate to hamlets in the RM including Anzac , Janvier , Conklin and Fort McKay . Ebus and Red Arrow operate scheduled passenger bus services to Edmonton and other communities along Highway 63 , as well as other destinations farther south. Highway 63
SECTION 50
#17328375263623484-762: The jurisdiction of specialized municipalities or rural municipalities, with the exception of the lone townsite (its jurisdiction is shared with an Indian reserve that surrounds it). With the exception of Métis settlements, Statistics Canada recognizes all of Alberta's municipalities as census subdivisions and groups them into 19 census divisions based on geography. Within census divisions, Statistics Canada groups some of Alberta's municipalities/census subdivisions into two census metropolitan areas (CMAs) or 12 census agglomerations (CAs) for enumeration purposes. All CMAs include large urban centres and surrounding census subdivisions. All CAs also include large urban centres and in some cases their surrounding census subdivisions. With
3551-420: The jurisdiction of the RM of Wood Buffalo, was formerly a city prior its amalgamation with Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995. It was designated an urban service area at the time of the amalgamation. Sherwood Park has always been an unincorporated community under the jurisdiction of Strathcona County. It became an urban service area when Strathcona County changed its status from a municipal district to
3618-781: The population of the region's First Nation reserves because they do not fall under municipal jurisdiction. First Nations people represent four percent of the municipality's population. Métis people represent 2.89 percent of the population, followed by Inuk (0.16 percent) and non-Status First Nation (0.13 percent). About 3.2 percent of people identified as African , followed by mixed ethnicities (2.44 percent), Black or African Canadian (2 percent), European (1.73 percent), Arab (1.41 percent), Hispanic or Latin American (1.08 percent), Caribbean (0.67 percent) and Oceanic (0.13 percent). 2.88 percent of respondents did not answer and 0.52 said they did not know their ethnicity. Fort McMurray
3685-457: The population. The 2021 census found 61.5 percent of residents are white, compared to 64 percent in 2016. The second largest pan ethnic group is Indigenous (10 percent), South East Asian (9.2 percent), followed by South Asian (7 percent). People identifying as Chinese , Japanese or Korean represented 1.3 percent of the population. Indigenous peoples represented 7 percent, remaining consistent from 2018. The municipal survey did not count
3752-418: The postal service retracted this decision before the rate change went into effect. The Fort McMurray Public School District (FMPSD) and Catholic School District both serve the primary, elementary, and secondary education needs of students in Fort McMurray. Each school district offers diverse programs like French immersion , performing arts or a dedicated technology and science lab, however only FMPSD offers
3819-453: The project included: The pipeline was just 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. The low gravity crude oil from Norman Wells had a pour point well below the freezing mark and could be run through a narrow pipeline without being heated. The pipeline was laid on the surface of the ground to simplify construction and maintenance. Ten pump stations were needed to move the crude oil to Whitehorse. The pumps were specially designed to be able to use
3886-488: The reasons why a municipal district would rebrand itself as a county include that the term county is: more recognizable by the general public; has a more traditional appeal; and is more marketable from an economic development perspective. The last municipal district (MD) to rebrand itself as a county was the MD of Foothills No. 31, which was renamed as Foothills County on January 1, 2019. Alberta's 63 municipal districts have
3953-665: The region since the 2018 census. The top four provinces that sent people were other communities in Alberta (55 per cent), followed by Newfoundland and Labrador (13 percent), and British Columbia and Ontario (nine percent each). This is a drastic change from the 2012 municipal census, which was taken when Fort McMurray and the oil sands was undergoing a huge period of economic and population growth. That census reported people from Ontario represented 27.5 percent of Canadians coming to Fort McMurray, followed by British Columbia (26.3 percent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (17.5 percent). People from elsewhere in Alberta made up 3.1 per cent of
4020-399: The remainder of the line were sold for $ 700,000 and carried out by George Price of Dawson Creek, British Columbia . Some valuable equipment was salvaged but much of the pipeline, telegraph wire, vehicles and buildings were left in place. The Canol Road is still seasonally maintained within the Yukon and is known as Highway 6. A ferry in the community of Ross River, Yukon is used to cross
4087-499: The right conditions it can be a "hot spot" for Alberta. Temperatures range from an average of −17.2 °C (1.0 °F) in January, to 17.3 °C (63.1 °F) in July. The average annual precipitation is 404.6 mm (15.93 in) and falls mainly in the summer months. Average annual snowfall is 110.6 cm (43.5 in), with almost all of it falling between October and April. The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort McMurray
SECTION 60
#17328375263624154-763: The urban service area. The evacuation displaced upwards of 6,000 people from their homes in these neighborhoods. Fort McMurray is 435 km (270 mi) northeast of Edmonton on Highway 63 , about 60 km (37 mi) west of the Saskatchewan border, nestled in the boreal forest at the confluence of the Athabasca River , the Clearwater River , the Hangingstone River, and the Horse River. It sits at 370 m (1,210 ft) above sea level. Fort McMurray
4221-421: Was 40.3 °C (104.5 °F) on June 30, 2021. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −53.3 °C (−63.9 °F) on February 1, 1917 and December 31, 1933. Neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray include Abasand Heights, Beacon Hill, Dickinsfield, Eagle Ridge, Grayling Terrace, Gregoire, Lower Townsite, Parsons Creek, Prairie Creek, Saline Creek, Stone Creek, Thickwood Heights, Timberlea, and Waterways . In
4288-519: Was an important junction on the fur trade route from eastern Canada to the Athabasca Country . In 1778, the first European explorer, Peter Pond , came to the region in search of furs, as the European demand for this commodity at the time was strong. Pond explored the region farther south along the Athabasca River and the Clearwater River , but chose to set up a trading post much farther north by
4355-542: Was completed on February 16, 1944 near Macmillan Pass . The first crude oil reached the refinery in Whitehorse on April 16 and the grand opening was held on April 30. Initially only able to produce gasoline, it was finally able to produce aviation gas in November 1944. Due to its remoteness and challenging conditions the costs to provide fuel from the Canol were considerably higher than having fuel arrive via tanker. On March 8, 1945
4422-415: Was established to provide a southern terminus for waterborne transportation when the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway reached there in 1921. Abasands Oil was the first company to successfully extract oil from the oil sands through hot water extraction by the 1930s, but production was very low. Fort McMurray's processing output gradually grew to over 1,100 barrels/day by World War II , and Fort McMurray
4489-525: Was set up by the US and Canadian forces as staging ground for the Canol Project . Fort McMurray and Waterways amalgamated as the village of McMurray (the "Fort" was dropped until 1962, when it was restored to reflect its heritage) by 1947, and became a town a year later. Fort McMurray was granted the status of new town so it could get more provincial funding. By 1966, the town's population was over 2,000. In 1967,
#361638