City Profile
Community Summary
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The City of Grande Prairie is located 456 kilometres northwest of the province’s capital of Edmonton. It is the metropolitan service center for one of Canada's most promising regions: the Peace Country Region.
As the hub for this region, Grande Prairie contains an abundance of both renewable and non-renewable resources ranging from agriculture and forestry, to oil and natural gas. Grande Prairie is also noted as the "Shopping Capital of the North."
Alberta is on Mountain Time: Eastern -2 hrs; Pacific +1 hr.
COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS
The population of Grande Prairie is currently over 50,000 people. Surrounding the City is the County of Grande Prairie and the smaller towns of Sexsmith, Wembley, Hythe, and Beaverlodge. These areas contribute an additional 20,000 people, for an overall total of over 65,000. Deemed the second fastest growing city in Alberta, the City of Grande Prairie’s population is increasing at an average annual growth of 5.33%.
As a service center to Northwest Alberta, the City serves a market area in excess of 200,000 people within a 200- kilometre radius.
The region offers a full range of educational facilities, both public and private. University programs and other post-secondary education are available at the Grande Prairie Regional College, and Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
The Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, a major regional facility, is one of the most modern in Alberta. A new, state of the art hospital complex is expected to be completed in 2009.
The Grande Prairie area provides manufacturing components to each of the oil and gas, agriculture, and forestry industries and is the administrative center for government and most industries in the Peace Region. The area's economy is expected to continue to grow substantially over the next five years with employment opportunities increasing accordingly.
The area offers a wide variety of sports, sports organizations and facilities. A vibrant arts and cultural community thrives in Grande Prairie with well-equipped facilities including live theatre, museums, art galleries, and libraries. A new cultural centre, which will house the newly relocated library and museum, will open its doors in 2008. The Community Knowledge Campus is slated for expansion, with a state of the art Aquatic Centre. This facility will open in 2009.
Outdoor recreational opportunities abound in neighbouring communities, such as hunting, fishing, camping, boating, snowmobiling, and hiking.
Manufacturing plays a major role in Grande Prairie and employs hundreds of workers, mainly in the manufacturing of lumber and pulpwood. Other activities include steel manufacturing, machinery, hydraulics, and welding.
Due to the diversity of the area's economy and the resulting number of economic activities, the region has evolved a highly trained and diversified work force. This work force and the infrastructure within which it works responds to the needs of forestry (pulp, sawmill plant maintenance, and repair), agriculture (farm machinery, processing plants) and oil and gas (oil and gas field servicing, gas plant construction, maintenance, and repair).
Grande Prairie Regional College and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology ( Nait) offer a full range of university, vocational and technical programs.
Major Economic Sectors:
· Agriculture
· Forestry
· Oil and Gas
· Retail Services
· Service Industry
· Regional Services
Businesses range from small, one-person operations, to world –class operations, employing hundreds of people. A healthy business climate is responsible for the strong economic position that this City and area currently enjoys.
CLIMATE AND LANDFORM
| Latitude | 55 degrees 11' N |
| Longitude | 118 degrees 55' W |
| Altitude | 2,190' (668 m) |
| Land Area | 6230 hectares |
Grande Prairie is situated amidst rolling prairie and aspen poplar forest. The prairie to the north, east, and west contain good farmland. The aspen poplar forest to the south and west becomes coniferous as the land rises to the foothills and mountains. The forest serves as a vast reservoir for the local pulp and lumber industries.
The mountains west of Grande Prairie are lower than in the rest of the province. This allows Pacific air to enter the region with less modification resulting in greater precipitation than is the case in Southern and Central Alberta. Grande Prairie is also subject to warm "chinook" winds which moderate winter temperatures.
The combination of a longer than average (for its latitude) frost free periods, ample precipitation, and arable soils explains why the Peace Region is one of the most northerly and productive agricultural areas of North America.
Average number of frost free days | 116 days |
Average hours of sunlight | 2,109 annually |
Average wind speed | 14 km (8.5 m.p.h.) W.N.W. |
Precipitation | 295 mm average rainfall
180 cm average snowfall |
Temperature range | -40 to +30 degrees Celsius |
Average winter temperature | -12 degrees Celsius |
Average summer temperature | +15 degrees Celsius |
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HISTORY
Important dates: April 30, 1914 - Village
March 15, 1919 - Town
January 1, 1958 - Incorporated as a City
Grande Prairie is located in Alberta's Peace Country, so named for the Peace River which flows through it. European settlement of the Peace Country dates back to 1770 when the first fur traders came to the region.
The Hudson Bay Company opened a trading post in the Glace Lake area in 1880. By 1908 an estimated 75 potential farmers are squatting on the Grande Prairie waiting for surveyors to complete their work so the land can be opened for homesteading. A large surge of settlers, many who are veterans, begin to arrive after the First World War in 1918. In the 1930s, farmers from the drought stricken southern prairies came north to farm the moister soils of the Peace. The Grande Prairie region farmers are winning awards for the best in the world wheat and timothy seed at the World Grain Fairs in Chicago.
The discovery of oil at Leduc, Alberta in 1947 ignited a series of explorations leading to the discovery of bountiful reserves of oil and natural gas in the Peace. As the reserves were exploited the economy expanded and the region's population increased dramatically.
The community was incorporated as a City in 1958.
Strategically located in a vast expanse of fertile land to the north, east, and west, the settlement quickly grew into the most important wholesale and retail center for the Peace Region.
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The region offers a full range of educational facilities, both public and private. University programs and other post-secondary education are available at the Grande Prairie Regional College.
The Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, a major regional facility, is one of the most modern in Alberta. See also, a picture of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, a city scene, with the Provincial building in the foreground (14 Kb).
The Grande Prairie area provides manufacturing components to each of the oil and gas, agriculture, and forestry industries and is the administrative center for government and most industries in the Peace Region. The area's economy is expected to grow substantially over the next five years with employment opportunities increasing accordingly.
The area offers a wide variety of sports group and facility. Cultural facilities include live theater, museums, art galleries, libraries, all modern and well-equipped. The neighbouring communities feature fine community centers, arenas with artificial ice, museums, libraries, ball diamonds, and many other recreational facilities. The opportunities afforded by the outdoors such as hunting, fishing, camping, boating, snowmobiling, and hiking, abound.
See also the Photo Gallery, containing a selection of scenes in and around Grande Prairie, including its buildings and amenities, some recreation activities, its parks and its natural wildlife.
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OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
There are hundreds of manufacturing workers in the Grande Prairie area. The majority are involved in the manufacturing of lumber and pulp. Other activities include steel manufacturing, machinery, hydraulics, and welding.
Due to the diversity of the area's economy and the resulting number of economic activities, the region has evolved a highly trained and diversified work force. This work force and the infrastructure within which it works responds to the needs of forestry (pulp, sawmill plant maintenance, and repair), agriculture (farm machinery, processing plants) and oil and gas (oil and gas field servicing, gas plant construction, maintenance, and repair).
Grande Prairie Regional College (frames; heavy graphics) and Fairview College's Grande Prairie campus offer a full range of university, vocational and technical programs.
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A Mayor and eight Aldermen elected to City Council serve a three-year term.
Mayor:
Dwight Logan
Aldermen:
Gladys Blackmore
Alex Gunderson
Elroy Deimert
Lorne Radbourne
Bill Given
Dan Wong
Yad Minhas
Helen Rice
Contact information for the Mayor and Aldermen can be found on the Council Membership page by the City Clerk.
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BUSINESS REGISTRATION AND LICENSING
Business Registration
Corporate Registry - Call 310-0000 and dial 780-427-7013.
Licensing
To obtain information on business licensing at the municipal level call 780-538-0378.
GOVERNMENT FINANCING & BUSINESS INFORMATION
Alberta Economic Development
For a wide range of information on business programs including starting-up guides, exporting and industry development call 780-538-5230.
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC)
For information on business loans call 780-538-5355 in Grande Prairie.
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
For small business management counseling and loans call 780-532-8875 or toll free
888-336-3335.
Saskatoon Mountain Economic Development Corporation (SMEDA)
For information on financial and counseling services offered by Community Futures offices, call 780-354-2122.
Alberta Research Council
An international leader in developing and commercializing technologies to give their clients a competitive advantage. Call 780-450-5111.
Business Link Business Service Center
Call toll free 800-272-9675 for access to federal business programs and information.
Western Economic Diversification
Call for information about federal financial assistance, business planning and business counselling toll free 888-338-9378 or the Alberta Regional Office in Edmonton at 780-495-4164
| Employment Standards | 310-0000 and dial 780-427-3731 |
| Alberta Human Rights | 310-0000 and dial 780-427-7661 |
| Workers' Compensation | 780-498-3999 |
| Workplace Health & Safety | 1-866-415-8690 |
FOOD INDUSTRY
| Peace Country Health Unit | 780-513-7500 |
| Canadian Food Inspection Agency | 780-831-0335 |
IMPORTING/EXPORTING
| Customs Information | 800-461-9999 |
| Financial Consumer Agency of Canada | 866-461-3222 |
| Competition Bureau of Canada | 800-348-5358 |
| Alberta Economic Development | 780-538-5230 |
| International Trade Center Alberta | 780-495-2944 |
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
| Alberta Environment | 780-538-5351 |
| Dangerous Goods & Rail Safety | 1-800-272-9600 |
| Local Hazardous Goods Routes | 780-538-0393 |
HIRING AND TRAINING ASSISTANCE
|
Canada/Alberta Service Centre |
780-538-6241 |
|
Human Resource Development Canada |
780-532-3488 |
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