page_title: Fort Saskatchewan
section_title: 1950-present
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Saskatchewan / History / 1950-present
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial view of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, in 1980. This picture was taken from the west.
context_page_description: Fort Saskatchewan is a mid-sized city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is located 25 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, Alberta's capital city. Fort Saskatchewan is part of the Edmonton census metropolitan area and is one of 24 municipalities that constitute the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board. Fort Saskatchewan's population in the 2016 federal census was 24,149. Its population has since increased to 26,942 according to the city's 2019 municipal census.
  The city was founded as a North-West Mounted Police fort, and was later home to a large provincial gaol; the city prides itself on its "law and order" history. The original fort was located across the river from the hamlet of Lamoureux, and the city opened a replica of the fort next to its original site in 2011. Fort Saskatchewan is bordered by Strathcona County to the south and east, Sturgeon County to the north and west, and the City of Edmonton to the southwest. Sturgeon County is across the North Saskatchewan River.
  The city is most well known for its proximity to petrochemical facilities, including Dow Chemical, Sherritt International, Nutrien, and Shell Canada.
context_section_description: In 1952, Sherritt Gordon Mines started construction on a $25-million nickel refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, which started production in 1954. Following Sherritt Gordon's locating in Fort Saskatchewan, more industries constructed plants in the town. Between 1951 and 1956, the town's population doubled from 1,076 to 2,582. Dow Chemical acquired 700 acres in Fort Saskatchewan in 1959, opening its plant in 1961 and further expanding it in 1967. Within five years of beginning operation at Dow, the population increased to 4,152 in 1966, from 2,972 in 1961.
  In 1972, the Fort Saskatchewan Town Police force (est. 1904) was disbanded and the RCMP resumed policing duties in Fort Saskatchewan for the first time since 1917. On August 2, 1978, as part of a royal tour during the XI Commonwealth Games, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip arrived in Fort Saskatchewan from Vegreville via a special train. The royal couple met with then-Premier Lougheed on the platform of the CNR station, gave a speech to local residents at Turner Park, and then traveled to Edmonton in a limousine.
  In 1980, the Town of Fort Saskatchewan elected Muriel Abdurahman (1938-2013), previously a town councillor, as its first female mayor. Abdurahman was elected for a second term in 1983, and she became the first mayor of the City of Fort Saskatchewan after it gained official city status in 1985. She later resigned as mayor to pursue a career in provincial politics, and she was succeeded by Pryce Alderson.
  On January 1, 2020, the city annexed 952 hectares of land from Strathcona County. The land is mainly located south of the city's old boundaries. Fort Saskatchewan had originally requested 2,000 hectares from Strathcona County, including industrial land to the north, but the two municipalities negotiated an agreement involving less land.
  Since Fort Saskatchewan was incorporated as a town in 1904, it has had 30 residents serve as its mayor.
caption: Fort Saskatchewan in 1980
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