Recreation, Culture & Social Support Services
Fort McMurray Rural Unit
The Fort McMurray Rural Unit is part of the Eastern Alberta District and is responsible for policing the areas outside the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta.
The communities of Fort MacKay, Gregoire Lake Estates, Fort McMurray First Nations (Gregoire Lake Reserve), Anzac, Janvier, and Conklin are patrolled by the Rural Unit. Within the rural area there are various industry/oil sands work camps housing in excess of 40,000 individuals at any given time.
Fort McMurray First Nations have 4 reservations within the Rural Unit’s policing area. Fort MacKay is located approximately 65 kms north from Fort McMurray along highway 63 with a population of approximately 536 individuals. The community was named after Dr. Williams Morrison MacKay, the first President of the Northern Alberta Medical Association. Fort MacKay services consist of an elementary school, community hall/band office, elders' centre and a local store.
Fort McMurray First Nations (Gregoire Lake Reserve) consists of approximately 555 band members, located approximately 33 kms southeast of Fort McMurray. Services include a health centre, band office and local store with a gas bar.
Chipewyan Prairie First Nations, (Janvier) located approximately 120 kms southeast of Fort McMurray, has a population of approximately 614 individuals. Janvier has an elementary school, multiplex, health centre, band office, community hall and local store with a gas bar.
The community of Anzac, located 45 kms southeast of Fort McMurray, with a population of approximately 800 has an elementary school, community hall, volunteer fire department and a licensed drinking establishment. Anzac was established in 1917 as a point on the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway line. The name is a combination of the first letters of World War I's Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.
The most southeastern community within the Rural Unit’s policing region is the community of Conklin, located approximately 200 kms southeast of Fort McMurray with a population of more than 1000 individuals. Conklin has an elementary school, community hall, restaurant, gas bar, licensed drinking establishment and many work camps within the community.
Members of the Rural Unit are in the first nation communities daily participating in various activities, including but definitely not limited to, Treaty Days, ATV Safety, Impaired Driving Presentations, Youth Floor Hockey Nights, Bicycle Helmet Safety, Carnival Days, Remembrance Day Celebrations, and school presentations including D.A.R.E. and community clean up days.
