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30-629: The company was an outgrowth of the competition in the Northwest Territories and Northern Alberta between the new Northern Traders Company and the entrenched Hudson's Bay Company . Colonel James Cornwall , one of the principals of the Northern Traders Company, ran his first steamer, a stern wheeler The Midnight Sun , on the Lesser Slave River in 1904. The company acted as a kind of subsidiary of

60-677: A billion litres of slurry poured into the Plante and Apetowun Creeks. The plume of waste products then joined the Athabasca River, travelling downstream for a month before settling in Lake Athabasca near Fort Chipewyan , over 500 kilometres (310 mi) away. The Lake Athabasca Sand Dunes , the largest active sand dunes in the world north of 58°, are adjacent to the southern shore in Saskatchewan. The dunes were designated

90-407: 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

120-865: 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 the Oil Sands Discovery Centre. Northern Alberta contains several diamond bearing diatremes associated with kimberlite fields, including

150-623: Is 283 kilometres (176 mi) long, has a maximum width of 50 kilometres (31 mi), and a maximum depth of 124 metres (407 ft), and holds 204 cubic kilometres (49 cu mi) of water, making it the largest and one of the deepest lakes in both Alberta and Saskatchewan (nearby Tazin Lake is deeper), and the eighth largest in Canada. Water flows northward from the lake via the Slave River and Mackenzie River systems, eventually reaching

180-957: 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 Lake Athabasca Lake Athabasca ( / ˌ æ θ ə ˈ b æ s k ə / ATH -ə- BASK -ə ; French: lac Athabasca ; from Woods Cree: ᐊᖬᐸᐢᑳᐤ aðapaskāw , "[where] there are plants one after another")

210-733: Is in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake is 26% in Alberta and 74% in Saskatchewan. The lake is fed by the Athabasca River and other rivers, and its water flows northward via the Slave River to the Mackenzie River system, eventually reaching the Arctic Ocean . The name in the Woods Cree language originally referred only to

240-581: The Watson Lake , Horn River , Sandy Jane and Great Bear , did not include "Radium" in their name. Construction of Distant Early Warning communication sites along the Arctic Ocean coastline in the 1950s provided an opportunity for the company to expand and engineer larger and more efficient tugboats and barges. In 1975, then under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard Northern Division of Transport Canada , it became

270-479: The Arctic Ocean . Fort Chipewyan , one of the oldest European settlements in Alberta, is on the western shore of the lake, where the Rivière des Rochers drains the lake and flows toward Slave River , beginning its northward journey along the eastern boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park . The eastern section of the lake narrows to a width of about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) near the community of Fond du Lac on

300-508: 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 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

330-944: 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

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360-639: The Canol pipeline in 1942), and the growth of settlements in these districts lead to a growth in demand for NTCL's services. Its flagships were the Radium Queen and Radium King both commissioned in 1937 for use on the upper and lower Slave Rivers. Other vessels in this fleet included the Radium Express , Radium Yellowknife , Radium Prince , Radium Cruiser , Radium Scout , Radium Charles , Radium Gilbert and Radium Lad , earning

390-629: The Peace–Athabasca Delta formed by the confluence of the Peace and Athabasca rivers at the southwest corner of the lake. Prior to 1789, Sir Alexander Mackenzie explored the lake. In 1791, Philip Turnor , cartographer for the Hudson's Bay Company , wrote in his journal, "low swampy ground on the South side with a few willows growing upon it, from which the Lake in general takes its name Athapison in

420-491: 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 the east. Alberta's two largest waterbodies, Lake Athabasca and Lake Claire are located in

450-568: 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 is conserved by the Caribou Mountains Wildland Park . The adjacent Wood Buffalo National Park

480-529: The Government of the Northwest Territories later that year in order to ensure that the essential fuel transportation service continued for residents of the Northwest Territories. Northern Alberta Northern Alberta 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,

510-539: The Inuvialuit Development Corporation and Nunasi Corporation, two native -owned corporations. On April 1, 2014, the Inuvialuit Development Corporation (IDC) bought the 50% share of NorTerra held by Nunasi. This purchase of NorTerra gave the IDC complete control of Canadian North , NTCL and other companies that were jointly held. NTCL filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and its assets were acquired by

540-555: 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 is also used by the University of Alberta to define eligibility for northern research grants. The region consists of aspen parkland in

570-615: The Northern Trading Company until its formal creation in 1930 as Northern Waterways Limited , but its name was changed in 1934 to the Northern Transportation Company Limited. In the summer of 1934, the company's first season, it operated with small tugboats and power barges . From Waterways to Fort Fitzgerald on the Athabasca / Slave River , it used the motor tugboat Mabel with three barges; from Fort Smith to Aklavik on

600-622: The Slave/ Mackenzie Rivers , it used a 90-foot twin diesel powered barge with two barges carrying 300-tons per trip; from Fort Smith to Fort Rae (now Behchokǫ̀) on the north end of Great Slave Lake it used a power barge with 100-ton capacity. On the Bear River route into Great Bear Lake , where significant silver and uranium mineral exploration was underway in 1934, the company used a series of boats and barges. The tugboat Norman operated from Fort Norman (now Tulita) to

630-564: The Southern Cree tongue which signifies open country such as lakes with willows and grass growing about them". Peter Fidler originally recorded the name for the river in 1790 as the Great Arabuska . By 1801, the name had gained a closer spelling to the current name—Athapaskow Lake. By 1820, George Simpson referred to both the lake and the river as "Athabasca". The lake covers 7,850 square kilometres (3,030 sq mi),

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660-542: The fleet the name "The Radium Line" . Port Radium on Great Bear Lake, a mine that supplied much of the uranium used by the Manhattan Project , and later the uranium mines on Lake Athabasca in northern Saskatchewan , were key destinations for the fleet. All of the tugs had extremely shallow draft, and mounted their propellers in cavities under their hull. Five vessels in the fleet, the George Askew ,

690-625: The head of the first rapids with a 50-ton barge. Freight was then transferred around the rapid portage to the vessel Sternwheeler with 20-ton capacity, operating up the Bear River to the next set of rapids. After that portage, freight was transferred to a tugboat pushing a 50-ton barge to Fort Franklin (now Délı̨nę) on Great Bear Lake. Finally, freight was transferred onto a 90-foot power barge suitable for lake traffic pushing two 90-foot barges with carrying capacity of 350-tons, destined for Port Radium and Cameron Bay mining camps. In 1936, NTCL

720-471: The northern shore resulted in the birth of Uranium City, Saskatchewan , which was home to mine workers and their families. While the last mine closed in the 1980s, the effects of mining operations had already heavily contaminated the northern shores. The large oil sands mining nearby is suspected to have added to the current pollution levels in the lake. On October   31, 2013, one of Obed Mountain coal mine 's pits failed, and from between 600 million to

750-948: The northern shore then continues to its most easterly point at the mouth of the Fond du Lac River. Fidler Point on the north shore of Lake Athabasca is named for Peter Fidler , a surveyor and map maker for the Hudson's Bay Company . Along with other lakes such as the Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake , Lake Athabasca is a remnant of the vast Glacial Lake McConnell . Tributaries of Lake Athabasca include (going clockwise); Fond du Lac River, Otherside River, Helmer Creek, MacFarlane River, Archibald River, William River, Ennuyeuse Creek, Dumville Creek, Debussac Creek, Jackfish Creek, Claussen Creek, Old Fort River, Crown Creek, Athabasca River, Colin River, Oldman River, Bulyea River, Grease River and Robillard River. Uranium and gold mining along

780-594: 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 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

810-633: 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

840-537: The sole marine shipper in the Canadian Arctic operating of out of Churchill , Manitoba . In 1959, it moved its operational headquarters from Fort Smith on the Slave River, to the town of Hay River . In 1965 NTCL purchased Yellowknife Transportation Company and Arctic Transportation to become sole commercial marine freighter in the Northwest Territories and Arctic Ocean. In 1985, NTCL was purchased by

870-530: 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 is crossed by the Peace River and the Athabasca River , both of which eventually convene to form

900-815: Was taken over by the Eldorado Gold Mines Limited and Arthur Berry was appointed manager in Edmonton . In 1944, it became a Crown corporation when its parent, then known as Eldorado Mining and Refining, was nationalized by the Government of Canada . NTCL's water freighting activities in the early years were focused on the Athabasca/Slave/Mackenzie River systems as a means to supply the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta with freight. Mineral development, commercial sawmills, wartime strategic projects (such as

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