The Peace River (French: rivière de la Paix ) is a 1,923-kilometre-long (1,195 mi) 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 Slave River , a tributary of the Mackenzie River . The Finlay River , the main headwater of the Peace River, is regarded as the ultimate source of the Mackenzie River. The combined Finlay–Peace–Slave–Mackenzie river system is the 13th longest river system in the world .
25-518: Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement is a Metis settlement in northern Alberta , Canada within Smoky Lake County . It is located along Highway 855 , approximately 125 km (78 mi) northeast of Edmonton . As a designated place in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Buffalo Lake had a population of 379 living in 128 of its 131 total private dwellings, a change of -46.8% from its 2016 population of 712. With
50-506: A land area of 335.68 km (129.61 sq mi), it had a population density of 1.1/km (2.9/sq mi) in 2021. The population of the Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement according to its 2018 municipal census is 702, an increase from its 2015 municipal census population count of 676. As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement had
75-398: A population of 712 living in 225 of its 240 total private dwellings, a change of 44.7% from its 2011 population of 492. With a land area of 336.97 km (130.10 sq mi), it had a population density of 2.1/km (5.5/sq mi) in 2016. This Northern Alberta location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Northern Alberta Northern Alberta
100-407: A singular gray fox ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus ) was recorded close to Lake Athabasca , and multiple vagrant birds including northern cardinals ( Cardinalis cardinalis ), wandering tattlers ( Tringa incana ), and northern wheatears ( Oenanthe oenanthe) . Alberta also has reports of wild boars ( Sus scrofa ) coming into the province. Highway 43 and Highway 2 pass through the southwest of
125-647: Is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta . An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the centre of the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor , including most of the province's landmass as well as its capital, Edmonton . Other schemes place Edmonton and its surrounding farmland in Central Alberta , limiting Northern Alberta to
150-668: Is also an important centre of oil and natural gas production. There are also pulp and paper plants along the river in Alberta and British Columbia. The Peace River has two navigable sections, separated by the Vermilion Chutes , near Fort Vermilion . The first steam-powered vessel to navigate the Peace River was the Grahame , a Hudson's Bay Company vessel built at Fort Chipewyan , on Lake Athabasca . Brothers of
175-630: Is also used by the University of Alberta to define eligibility for northern research grants. The region consists of aspen parkland in the south, grading to boreal forest and muskeg in the north. The southwest of the region is part of the Peace Country , an area that stretches into northeastern British Columbia consisting of fertile prairie , ranchland , and farmland along the Peace River and its tributaries. Northern Alberta
200-821: Is conserved by the Caribou Mountains Wildland Park . The adjacent Wood Buffalo National Park is Canada's largest protected area. Other tourist attractions in Northern Alberta include the Fort McMurray Historical Society-Heritage Park, Historic Dunvegan , Kimiwan Birdwalk and Interpretive Centre, Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory in the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park , Muskoseepi Park , Kakwa Wildland Provincial Park , Willmore Wilderness Park and
225-781: Is controlled by Alberta Health Services . On a provincial level, Northern Alberta is represented in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta by Members of the Legislative Assembly elected in the ridings of Athabasca-Redwater , Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock , Bonnyville-Cold Lake , Dunvegan-Central Peace , Fort McMurray-Conklin , Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo , Grande Prairie Smoky , Grande Prairie Wapiti , Lac La Biche-St. Paul , Lesser Slave Lake , and Peace River . 57°N 115°W / 57°N 115°W / 57; -115 Peace River (Canada) The regions along
250-741: Is crossed by the Peace River and the Athabasca River , both of which eventually convene to form the Slave River that ultimately drains into the Arctic Ocean via Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River within the Northwest Territories . Other major rivers are Wapiti , Smoky , Hay , Chinchaga , Petitot Rivers in the west, Wabasca River in the centre and Firebag , Beaver and Clearwater River in
275-621: The Oblate Order of Mary Immaculate built the St. Charles to navigate the upper reaches of the River, from Fort Vermilion to Hudson's Hope . Approximately a dozen vessels were to navigate the river. Most of the early vessels were wood-burning steamships, fueled by wood cut from the river's shore. The last cargo vessel was the Watson's Lake , retired in 1952. Hydroelectric development began on
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#1732788107943300-1171: The Oil Sands Discovery Centre. Northern Alberta contains several diamond bearing diatremes associated with kimberlite fields, including the Buffalo Head Hills and Birch Mountains kimberlite fields which in turn form the Northern Alberta kimberlite province . Animals of Northern Alberta include the Mackenzie Valley gray wolf ( Canis lupus occidentalis ), British Columbian red fox ( Vulpes vulpes abietorum ), fishers ( Pekania pennanti ), American black bear ( Ursus americanus ), northwestern moose ( Alces alces anderson i), white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ), wood bison ( Bison bison athabascae ), groundhogs ( Marmota monax canadensis ), northern coyotes ( Canis latrans incolatus ), wolverines ( Gulo gulo ), and mountain lions ( Puma concolor ). Multiple elusive and out-of-range animals have been reported in this region, including
325-478: The Slave River , it has an annual discharge of 68.2 billion cubic metres (55.3 million acre-feet). A large man-made lake, Williston Lake , has been formed on the upper reaches by the construction of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam for hydroelectric power generation. Prior to its flooding, the confluence of the Finlay and Parsnip Rivers at Finlay Forks was distinct. A half mile east of that location were
350-544: The boreal forests of this region. As of 2023, the region had a population of approximately 374,572. Various definitions exist of Northern Alberta's boundaries. The definition used by the Northern Alberta Development Council, an agency of the provincial government, includes the communities of Whitecourt , Athabasca , Saddle Lake , St. Paul , and Cold Lake , while excluding Hinton , Edson , Mayerthorpe , and Westlock . This definition
375-442: The Alberta government and private producers were studying the possibility of hydroelectric development on the Alberta stretch of the river with one run-of-the-river project currently being proposed. ( MW ) This river is 1,923 kilometres (1,195 mi) long (from the head of Finlay River to Lake Athabasca). It drains an area of approximately 302,500 square kilometres (116,800 sq mi). At Peace Point, where it drains in
400-456: The Peace River in 1968 and continues to be an important source of renewable energy for British Columbia's main electricity provider, BC Hydro . The river’s first dam, the W. A. C. Bennett Dam , was completed in 1968 and is British Columbia's largest dam and the third-largest hydroelectric facility in Canada. It supplies over 30% of British Columbia's total power demand. Engineers took advantage of
425-670: The South. In 1794, a fur trading post was built on the Peace River at Fort St. John ; it was the first settlement established on the British Columbia mainland by Europeans. The rich soils of the Peace River valley in Alberta have been producing wheat crops since the late 19th century. In the early 21st century, the BC Grain Producers Association was researching the productivity of wheat and other grain crops near Dawson Creek . The Peace River region
450-480: The W. A. C. Bennet Dam's large reservoir storage to further develop the river with the Peace Canyon Dam opened in 1980. The Site C dam is under construction and scheduled to be finished in 2025; it will further benefit from the upstream dams and generate additional electrical capacity to meet British Columbia's growing demand for green energy and reduce the carbon footprint of residents. As of 2020 both
475-483: The east. Alberta's two largest waterbodies, Lake Athabasca and Lake Claire are located in the wetlands of northeastern Alberta , forming the Peace-Athabasca Delta , that drains through the Slave River towards the Arctic Ocean . The Caribou Mountains are an elevated plateau in the relatively flat Albertan north which provide core habitat for an endangered woodland caribou herd. This area
500-838: The half-mile long Finlay Rapids and a further seven miles east is the Peace Pass , which separates the Muskwa Ranges and the Hart Ranges of the Canadian Rockies . The only river cutting completely through the Rockies, it nowadays flows into Dinosaur Lake, a reservoir for the Peace Canyon Dam . After the dams, the river flows east into Alberta and then continues north and east into the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Wood Buffalo National Park , at
525-506: The northern half of the province, where forestry , oil, and gas are the dominant industries. Its primary industry is oil and gas , with large heavy oil reserves being exploited at the Athabasca oil sands and Wabasca area in the east of the region. Natural gas is extracted in Peace region and Chinchaga - Rainbow areas in the west, and forestry and logging are also developed in
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#1732788107943550-633: The region, this being the end of the CANAMEX corridor. Other important routes are the Mackenzie Highway and Bicentennial Highway in the northwest, the Northern Woods and Water Route in the southeast and Highway 63 in the east. Grande Prairie Airport , Peace River Airport , Fort Vermilion (Wop May Memorial) International Airport and Fort McMurray Airport are regional air transportation hubs. Northern Alberta's health region
575-794: The river are the traditional home of the Dane-zaa people , called the Beaver by the Europeans. The fur trader Peter Pond is believed to have visited the river in 1785. In 1788 Charles Boyer of the North West Company established a fur trading post at the river's junction with the Boyer River . In 1792 and 1793, the explorer Alexander Mackenzie travelled up the river to the Continental Divide . Mackenzie referred to
600-719: The river as Unjegah , from the Dane-zaa meaning "large river." The decades of hostilities between the Dane-zaa and the Cree , (in which the Cree dominated the Dane-zaa), ended in 1781 when a smallpox epidemic decimated the Cree. The Treaty of the Peace was celebrated by the smoking of a ceremonial pipe . The treaty made the Peace River a border, with the Dane-zaa to the North and the Cree to
625-924: The western end of Lake Athabasca. Water from the delta flows into the Slave River east of Peace Point and reaches the Arctic Ocean via the Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie River . Communities located directly on the river include: Many provincial parks and wildland reserves are established on the river, such as Butler Ridge Provincial Park , Taylor Landing Provincial Park , Beatton River Provincial Park , Peace River Corridor Provincial Park in British Columbia and Dunvegan Provincial Park , Dunvegan West Wildland Provincial Park , Peace River Wildland Provincial Park , Greene Valley Provincial Park , Notikewin Provincial Park , Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta. A few Indian reserves are also on
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