Fort Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald, also known as Fort Fitzgerald and originally Smith's Landing, is an unincorporated community in northern Alberta, Canada. The hamlet^[3] portion of the community (Fort Fitzgerald) is within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, while the locality portion (Fitzgerald) is Thebathi 196. It is 15.4 km (9.6 mi) south of the Northwest Territories border and 23 km (14 mi) southeast of Fort Smith.

Fitzgerald Fort Fitzgerald Smith's Landing
Hamlet / locality
Fitzgerald Location of Fitzgerald in Alberta
Coordinates: 59°51′35″N 111°36′15″W
Country	Canada
Province	Alberta
Region	Northern Alberta
Census division	16
Specialized municipality	RM of Wood Buffalo
Government [1]
• Mayor	Sandy Bowman
• Governing body	Wood Buffalo Municipal Council Funky Banjoko Lance Bussieres M. Shafiq Dogar Allan Grandison Nicholas Keith McGrath Kendrick Cardinal Loretta Waquan Stu Wigle Stella Lavallee
Elevation	200 m (660 ft)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	6
Time zone	UTC−7 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Postal code	T0V 1A0
Area code	+1-867
Website	RM of Wood Buffalo page

History

The Radium Queen, and other tugboats, pushed barges to and from the portage at Fort Fitzgerald to the railhead at Waterways, Alberta.

Prior to the extension of railway service to Hay River, Northwest Territories, on Great Slave Lake, all cargo being shipped to or from the north had to be portaged from Fitzgerald to Fort Smith, to avoid four impassable rapids.^[4] The community was known as Smith's Landing until 1915 when it was renamed Fort Fitzgerald after the late Francis Joseph Fitzgerald.^[5]

Demographics

Population history
of Fort Fitzgerald

Year	Pop.	±%
1941	210	—
1951	155	−26.2%
1956	101	−34.8%
1961	149	+47.5%
1966	68	−54.4%
1971	27	−60.3%
1981	27	+0.0%
1986	16	−40.7%
1991E	26	+62.5%
Source: Statistics Canada [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Fort Fitzgerald had a population of 6 people in the 2021 Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo census.^[2] The population living in Thebathi 196 in the federal 2016 census was 20,^[14] a 33.3% decrease from the 2011 census which had a population of 30.^[15]

Infrastructure

Smith's Landing, circa 1910

Most of the community's services are provided from Fort Smith, including fire, law enforcement, health care, social services, and telecommunications.^[16] Law enforcement is part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 'G division' in the Northwest Territories.^[16] Since telecommunication services, including cellular and internet, are from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, the area code is 867, although Fitzgerald is located in what would be area code 780 in Alberta.^[17]

An all-weather road, named Hay Camp Road, links Fort Smith and Hay Camp through Fitzgerald.^[18]

See also

• List of communities in Alberta
  • List of localities in Alberta