Edmonton Alberta Information

Edmonton (/??dm?nt?n/ ? ED-m?n-t?n) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta’s central region. The city anchors the northern end of what Statistics Canada defines as the “Calgary–Edmonton Corridor”, a region spanning between Edmonton and the city of Calgary, Alberta’s largest city, which includes the many smaller municipalities between the two.[14] As of 2021, Edmonton had a city population of 1,010,899 and a metropolitan population of 1,418,118, making it the fifth-largest city[15][16] and sixth-largest metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada.[17][18] Edmonton is both the northernmost city and metropolitan area in North America to have a population of over one million.[19] A resident of Edmonton is known as an Edmontonian.[20] Edmonton was first inhabited by several First Nations peoples, namely of Algonquian, Athabaskan and Siouan origin. These peoples and their ancestors inhabited the area of the modern city to varying amounts beginning at the close of the last glacial period, perhaps as early as 12,000 BC.[21] The city was also a historic site for the Métis, who held many narrow lots along the North Saskatchewan which gave access to many resources in the area. By 1882, these lots numbered about 44, which was their peak, as they would soon be displaced and integrated by the expansion of the city of Edmonton.[22] Anthony Henday may have been the first European to enter the area of modern-day Edmonton, whilst exploring the prairies of Rupert’s Land for the Hudson’s Bay Company in the autumn of 1754.[23] By 1795, many trading posts had been established around the present metropolitan area, and by 1801 they had all moved to the current site of the city of Edmonton.[24] “Fort Edmonton”, as it was known, became the main centre for trade in the area after the 1821 merger of the HBC and the NWC.[24] Edmonton remained sparse until the Canadian acquisition of Rupert’s Land in 1870, followed eventually by the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1891, its inauguration as a city in 1904 and its designation as the capital of the new province of Alberta in 1906.[25] Edmonton’s historic growth as a city has been facilitated through the absorption of five adjacent urban municipalities (Strathcona, North Edmonton, West Edmonton, Beverly and Jasper Place)[26] in addition to a series of annexations through 1982,[27] and the annexation of 8,260 ha (82.6 km2; 31.9 sq mi) of land from Leduc County and the City of Beaumont on January 1, 2019.[28] Known as the “Gateway to the North”,[29] the city is now a staging point for large-scale oil sands projects occurring in northern Alberta and large-scale diamond mining operations in the Northwest Territories.[30] Edmonton is a cultural, governmental and educational centre. It hosts a year-round slate of festivals, reflected in the nickname “Canada’s Festival City”.[1] It is home to Canada’s largest mall, West Edmonton Mall (the world’s largest mall from 1981 until 2004);[31][32][33] and Fort Edmonton Park, Canada’s largest living history museum.[34] Established as the first permanent settlement in the area of what is now Edmonton, the Hudson’s Bay Company trading post of Fort Edmonton (also known as Edmonton House) was named after Edmonton, Middlesex, England.[35] The fort’s name was chosen by William Tomison, who was in charge of its construction, taking the fort’s namesake from the hometown of the Lake family – at least five of whom were influential members of the Hudson’s Bay Company between 1696 and 1807.[36] In turn, the name of Edmonton derives from Adelmetone, meaning ‘farmstead/estate of ?adhelm’ (from ?adhelm, an Old English personal name, and t?n); this earlier form of the name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086.[37] Fort Edmonton was also called Fort-des-Prairies by French-Canadians, trappers, and coureurs des bois.[38] Indigenous languages refer to the Edmonton area by multiple names which reference the presence of fur trading posts.[39][40] In Cree, the area is known as ???????????? amiskwacîwâskahikan,[41] which translates to “Beaver Hills House” and references the location’s proximity to the Beaver Hills east of Edmonton. In Blackfoot, the area is known as Omahkoyis;[42][43] in Nakota Sioux, the area is known as Titâga;[44] in Tsuut?ina, the area is known as Nââs?ágháàchú[45] (anglicised as Nasagachoo).[46] The Blackfoot name translates to ‘big lodge’,[47] while the Nakota Sioux and Tsuut?ina names translate to ‘big house’.[39][44][46] In Denesuline, the area is known as Ku?? Nedhé,[48] a metonymic toponym which also generally means ‘city’. The earliest known inhabitants arrived in the area that is now Edmonton around 3,000 BC and perhaps as early as 12,000 BC when an ice-free corridor opened as the last glacial period ended and timber, water, and wildlife became available in the region.[49] The site of present-day Edmonton was home to several First Nations peoples, including the Cree, Nakota Sioux, Blackfoot, Tsuut’ina, Ojibwe, and Denesuline. The valley of the North Saskatchewan River, in particular the area of Edmonton, was settled to varying degrees for thousands of years, and provided many essential resources, including fish, medicine, and materials for tool making, such as chert or quartzite, which are abundant in the area around the modern city and which can be easily knapped into tools such as axes, knives, and arrowheads.[21] In 1754, Anthony Henday, an explorer for the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), may have been the first European to enter the Edmonton area.[50] His expeditions across the Prairies of Rupert’s Land were mainly to seek contact with the Indigenous population for establishing the fur trade, as the competition was fierce between the HBC and the North West Company (NWC). By 1795, Fort Edmonton was established on the river’s north bank as a major trading post for the HBC, near the mouth of the Sturgeon River close to present-day Fort Saskatchewan.[51] Fort Edmonton was built within “musket-shot range” of the rival NWC’s Fort Augustus.[36] Although both forts were initially successful, declines in beaver pelt hauls and firewood stocks forced both HBC and NWC to move their forts upstream.[36] By 1813, after some changes in location, Fort Edmonton was established in the area of what is now Rossdale, beginning Edmonton’s start as a permanent population centre.[52] The fort was located on the border of territory that was disputed by the Blackfoot and Cree nations.[36] Furthermore, the fort intersected territory patrolled by the Blackfoot Confederacy to the South, and the Cree, Dene, and Nakoda nations to the north.[36] After the NWC merged with the HBC, Fort Augustus was closed in favour of Fort Edmonton.[36] In 1876, Treaty 6, which includes what is now Edmonton, was signed between First Nations and the Crown, as part of the Numbered Treaties.[53][54] The agreement includes the Plains and Woods Cree, Assiniboine, and other band governments of First Nations at Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt, and Battle River. The area covered by the treaty represents most of the central area of the current provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta.[55] The coming of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to southern Alberta in 1885 helped the Edmonton economy, and the 1891 building of the Calgary and Edmonton (C&E) Railway resulted in the emergence of a railway townsite (South Edmonton/Strathcona) on the river’s south side, across from Edmonton. The arrival of the CPR and the C&E Railway helped bring settlers and entrepreneurs from eastern Canada, Europe, the U.S. and other parts of the world. The Edmonton area’s fertile soil and cheap land attracted settlers, further establishing Edmonton as a major regional commercial and agricultural centre. Some people participating in the Klondike Gold Rush passed through South Edmonton/Strathcona in 1897. Strathcona was North America’s northernmost railway point, but travel to the Klondike was still very difficult for the “Klondikers”, and a majority of them took a steamship north to the Yukon from Vancouver, British Columbia.[56] Incorporated as a town in 1892 with a population of 700 and then as a city in 1904 with a population of 8,350,[57] Edmonton became the capital of Alberta when the province was formed a year later, on September 1, 1905.[58] In November 1905, the Canadian Northern Railway (CNR) arrived in Edmonton, accelerating growth.[59] During the early 1900s, Edmonton’s rapid growth led to speculation in real estate. In 1912, Edmonton amalgamated with the City of Strathcona south of the North Saskatchewan River; as a result, the city held land on both banks of the North Saskatchewan River for the first time.[60] Just before World War I, the boom ended, and the city’s population declined from more than 72,000 in 1914 to less than 54,000 only two years later.[61] Many impoverished families moved to subsistence farms outside the city, while others fled to greener pastures in other provinces.[62] Recruitment to the army during the war also contributed to the drop in population.[63] Afterwards, the city slowly recovered in population and economy during the 1920s and 1930s and took off again during and after World War II. The Edmonton City Centre Airport opened in 1929,[64] becoming Canada’s first licensed airfield.[65] Originally named Blatchford Field in honour of former mayor Kenny Blatchford, pioneering aviators such as Wilfrid R. “Wop” May and Max Ward used Blatchford Field as a major base for distributing mail, food, and medicine to Northern Canada; hence Edmonton’s emergence as the “Gateway to the North”. World War II saw Edmonton become a major base for the construction of the Alaska Highway and the Northwest Staging Route.[66] The airport was closed in November 2013.[67] On July 31, 1987, an F4 tornado hit the city and killed 27 people.[68] The storm hit the areas of Beaumont, Mill Woods, Bannerman, Fraser, and Evergreen.[69] The day became known as “Black Friday” and earned the city the moniker “City of Champions”.[70] In 1892, Edmonton was incorporated as a town. The first mayor was Matthew McCauley, who established the first school board in Edmonton and Board of Trade (later Chamber of Commerce) and a municipal police service.[71] Due to McCauley’s good relationship with the federal Liberals, Edmonton maintained economic and political prominence over Strathcona, a rival town on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River.[71] Edmonton was incorporated as a city in 1904 and became Alberta’s capital in 1905.[58] In 1904, the City of Edmonton purchased the Edmonton District Telephone Company for $17,000 from Alex Taylor, a Canadian entrepreneur, inventor, and politician. Amalgamated into a city department as City of Edmonton Telephone Department, City Telephone System (CTS), ‘Edmonton telephones’. In 1989, City Council voted to create Edmonton Telephones Corporation (Ed Tel) to operate as an autonomous organization under a board of directors appointed by the city. In 1995, City of Edmonton ownership of its telephone service ended when Ed Tel was sold to the Telus corporation. City Bylaw 11713 created The Ed Tel Endowment Fund whereas the shares owned by Edmonton Telephones Corporation in Ed Tel Inc. were sold by the City of Edmonton to Telus on March 10, 1995, for $470,221,872 to be invested for the perpetual benefit of Edmontonians.[72] Unions and radical organizations such as the Industrial Workers of the World struggled for progressive social change through the early years, with the first reformer, James East, elected in 1912, followed by the first official Labour alderman, James Kinney, the following year. Many thousands of workers participated in the Edmonton general strike of 1919 and a strong block of Labour representatives were on council after the next election: East, Kinney, Sam McCoppen, Rice Sheppard and Joe Clarke.[citation needed] Labour representation on city council became a near-majority in 1929, and a full majority from 1932 to 1934, during the Great Depression.[73] Jan Reimer became the city’s first female mayor when she was elected in 1989.[74][75] In 2021, Amarjeet Sohi became the first person of colour to be elected as mayor of Edmonton.[76] Edmonton is on the North Saskatchewan River, at an elevation of 671 m (2,201 ft).[58] It is North America’s northernmost city with a population over one million. It is south of Alberta’s geographic centre, which is near the Hamlet of Fort Assiniboine.[77] The terrain in and around Edmonton is generally flat to gently rolling, with ravines and deep river valleys, such as the North Saskatchewan River valley.[78] The Canadian Rockies are west of Edmonton and about 220 km (140 mi) to the southwest. The North Saskatchewan River originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and bisects the city. It sometimes floods Edmonton’s river valley, most notably in the North Saskatchewan River flood of 1915. It empties via the Saskatchewan River, Lake Winnipeg, and the Nelson River into Hudson Bay.[79] It runs from the southwest to the northeast and is fed by numerous creeks throughout the city, including Mill Creek, Whitemud Creek and Blackmud Creek; these creeks have created ravines, some of which are used for urban parkland.[80] Edmonton is within the Canadian Prairies Ecozone.[81] Aspen parkland surrounds the city and is a transitional area from the prairies to the south and boreal forest in the north.[82] The aspen woods and forests in and around Edmonton have long since been reduced by farming and residential and commercial developments including oil and natural gas exploration.[83] Edmonton has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with typically freezing, dry winters and warm, sunny summers, prone to extremes and large swings at all times of the year. It falls into the NRC 4a Plant Hardiness Zone.[84] Summer in Edmonton lasts from June until early September, while winter lasts from November until March and in common with all of Alberta[85] varies greatly in length and severity. Spring and autumn are both short and highly variable. Edmonton’s growing season on average lasts from May 9 to September 22;[86][87] having an average 135–140 frost-free days each year,[86][88] resulting in one of the longest growing seasons on the Canadian Prairies.[89] At the summer solstice, Edmonton receives 17 hours and three minutes of daylight, with an hour and 46 minutes of civil twilight,[90] and on average receives 2,299 hours of bright sunshine[91] per year, making it one of Canada’s sunniest cities.[86] The city is known for having cold winters, though its weather is milder than Regina, Saskatoon or Winnipeg,[92] all of which are on a more southerly latitude than Edmonton. Its average daily temperatures range from a low of ?10.4 °C (13.3 °F) in January to a summer peak of 17.7 °C (63.9 °F) in July,[86] with average maximum of 23.1 °C (73.6 °F) in July and minimum of ?14.8 °C (5.4 °F) in January.[86] Temperatures can exceed 30 °C (86 °F) for an average of four to five afternoons anytime from late April to mid-September and fall below ?20 °C (?4 °F) for an average of 24.6 days in the winter. The highest temperature recorded in Edmonton was 37.2 °C (99.0 °F) on June 29, 1937[93] and on July 2, 2013, a record high humidex of 44 was recorded due to an unusually humid day with a temperature of 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) and a record high dew point of 23 °C (73 °F).[94][95] The lowest temperature ever recorded in Edmonton was ?49.4 °C (?56.9 °F) on January 19 and 21, 1886.[96] Edmonton has a fairly dry climate, receiving 455.7 mm (17.94 in) of precipitation per year, of which 347.8 mm (13.69 in) is rain and 111.2 mm (4.38 in) is the melt from 123.5 cm (48.6 in) from snowfall.[86] Over 75% of the average annual precipitation falls in the late spring, summer, and early autumn, with the wettest month being July, having a mean precipitation of 93.8 mm (3.69 in),[86] and the driest months being February, March, October, November and December.[86] Significant snowfall accumulation typically begins in late October and tapers off by late March. Dry spells are not uncommon and may occur at any time of the year. Extremes do occur, such as the 114 mm (4.49 in) of rainfall that fell on July 31, 1953.[86] Much of the precipitation that Edmonton receives in the summer comes from late-day thunderstorms,[97][98] which are frequent and occasionally severe enough to produce large hail, damaging winds, funnel clouds, and tornadoes. The summer of 2006 was particularly warm for Edmonton, as temperatures reached 29 °C (84 °F) or higher more than 20 times from mid-May to early September. Later, the summer of 2021 saw the temperature rise above 29 °C (84 °F) on 23 days between June and August, while nearly breaking the record high temperature on June 30 with a temperature of 37.0 °C (98.6 °F).[99] The winter of 2011–12 was particularly warm: from December 22 through March 20 there were 53 occasions when Edmonton saw temperatures at or above 0.0 °C (32.0 °F) at the City Centre Airport, and even warmer in the city proper.[100][101][102][103] A massive cluster of thunderstorms swept through Edmonton on July 11, 2004, with large hail and over 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain reported within an hour in many places.[104] This “1-in-200 year event” flooded major intersections and underpasses and damaged both residential and commercial properties. The storm caused extensive damage to West Edmonton Mall; a small glass section of the roof collapsed under the weight of the rainwater, causing water to drain onto the mall’s indoor ice rink. As a result, the mall was evacuated as a precautionary measure.[105] Twelve tornadoes had been recorded in Edmonton between 1890 and 1989,[106] and eight since 1990.[107] An F4 tornado that struck Edmonton on July 31, 1987, killing 27, was unusual in many respects, including severity, duration, damage, and casualties.[108][109] It is commonly referred to as Black Friday due both to its aberrant characteristics and the emotional shock it generated.[110] Then-mayor Laurence Decore cited the community’s response to the tornado as evidence that Edmonton was a “city of champions,” which later became an unofficial slogan of the city.[1][111] Edmonton is at the centre of Canada’s sixth-largest census metropolitan area (CMA),[117] which includes Edmonton and 34 other municipalities in the surrounding area.[118] Larger urban communities include Sherwood Park (an urban service area within Strathcona County), the cities of St. Albert, Beaumont, Leduc, Spruce Grove and Fort Saskatchewan, and the towns of Stony Plain, Morinville, and Devon.[119] Major employment areas outside Edmonton but within the CMA include the Nisku Industrial Business Park and the Edmonton International Airport (including a planned inland port logistics support facility in support of the Port Alberta initiative)[120] in Leduc County, the Acheson Industrial Area in Parkland County, Refinery Row in Strathcona County and Alberta’s Industrial Heartland[121] within portions of Fort Saskatchewan, Strathcona County and Sturgeon County.[122] Alberta’s Industrial Heartland also extends beyond the CMA’s northeastern boundary[14] into Lamont County.[122] The individual economic development interests and costs of service delivery in certain municipalities within the region have led to intermunicipal competition, strained intermunicipal relationships and overall fragmentation of the region. Although several attempts have been made by the City of Edmonton to absorb surrounding municipalities[123] or annex portions of its neighbours,[124] the city has not absorbed another municipality since the Town of Jasper Place joined Edmonton on August 17, 1964,[125] and the city has not annexed land from any of its neighbours since January 1, 1982.[126] After years of mounting pressure in the early 21st century, the Province of Alberta formed the Capital Region Board (CRB) on April 15, 2008.[127] The CRB consists of 24 member municipalities – 22 of which are within the Edmonton CMA and two of which are outside the CMA. The City of Edmonton announced in March 2013 its intent to annex 156 square kilometres of land (including the Edmonton International Airport) from Leduc County.[128] On November 30, 2016, the City of Edmonton and Leduc County came to an agreement on Edmonton’s annexation proposal. The City of Edmonton was poised to annex 12,100 ha (121 km2; 47 sq mi) of land from Leduc County and Beaumont, including the Edmonton International Airport, as a result.[129] On January 1, 2019, the City of Edmonton officially annexed 8,260 ha (82.6 km2; 31.9 sq mi) from Leduc County and the City of Beaumont, increasing the city’s area to 767.85 km2 (296.47 sq mi), with discussions of annexing an additional 2,830 ha (28.3 km2; 10.9 sq mi) of Edmonton International Airport land still ongoing.[28] Edmonton is divided into 375 neighbourhoods[130] within seven geographic sectors – a mature area sector, which includes neighbourhoods that were essentially built out before 1970,[131] and six surrounding suburban sectors.[132] Edmonton’s Downtown is within the city’s mature area or inner city.[132] It and the surrounding Boyle Street, Central McDougall, Cloverdale, Garneau, McCauley, Oliver, Queen Mary Park, Riverdale, Rossdale, Strathcona and University of Alberta form Edmonton’s Central Core.[131] Oliver and Garneau are the city’s most populated and most densely populated neighbourhoods respectively. The mature area sector also contains the five former urban municipalities annexed by the city over its history: Beverly, Jasper Place, North Edmonton, Strathcona and West Edmonton (Calder).[27][132] Larger residential areas within Edmonton’s six suburban sectors,[132] each comprising multiple neighbourhoods,[133] include Heritage Valley, Kaskitayo, Riverbend, Terwillegar Heights and Windermere (southwest sector); The Grange, Lewis Farms and West Jasper Place (west sector); Big Lake (northwest sector); Castle Downs, Lake District and The Palisades (north sector); Casselman-Steele Heights, Clareview, Hermitage, Londonderry and Pilot Sound (northeast sector); and Ellerslie, The Meadows, Mill Woods and Southeast Edmonton (southeast sector).[134] Mill Woods is divided into a town centre community (Mill Woods Town Centre)[135] and eight surrounding communities:[136] Burnewood, Knottwood, Lakewood, Millbourne, Millhurst, Ridgewood, Southwood, and Woodvale.[137][138] Each has between two and four neighbourhoods.[133] Several transit-oriented developments (TOD) have begun to appear along the LRT line at Clareview, with future developments planned at Belvedere (part of the Old Town Fort Road Redevelopment Project).[139] Another TOD, Century Park,[140] is being constructed at the site of what was once Heritage Mall, at the southern end of the LRT line. Century Park will eventually house up to 5,000 residents.[141] The Edmonton City Centre Airport is being redeveloped into a sustainable community of 30,000 people called Blatchford, comprising a transit-oriented mixed use town centre, townhouses, low, medium and high rise apartments, neighbourhood retail and service uses, renewable energy, district heating and cooling, and a major park.[142] The first residents moved into Blatchford in November 2020.[143] Edmonton has four major industrial districts: the Northwest Industrial District, the Northeast Industrial District, the Southeast Industrial District, and the emerging Edmonton Energy and Technology Park,[144] which is part of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland.[145] The northwest, northeast and southeast districts each have smaller industrial areas and neighbourhoods within them.[133][144] The city has established 12 business revitalization zones: 124 Street and Area, Alberta Avenue, Beverly, Downtown, Chinatown and Little Italy, Fort Road and Area, Inglewood, Kingsway, North Edge, Northwest Industrial, Old Strathcona and Stony Plain Road.[146] In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Edmonton had a population of 1,010,899 living in 396,404 of its 428,857 total private dwellings, a change of 8.3% from its 2016 population of 933,088. With a land area of 765.61 km2 (295.60 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,320.4/km2 (3,419.8/sq mi) in 2021.[6] At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Edmonton CMA had a population of 1,418,118 living in 548,624 of its 589,554 total private dwellings, a change of 7.3% from its 2016 population of 1,321,441. With a land area of 9,416.19 km2 (3,635.61 sq mi), it had a population density of 150.6/km2 (390.1/sq mi) in 2021.[11] The population of the City of Edmonton according to its 2019 municipal census is 972,223,[8] a change of 8.1% from its 2016 municipal census population of 899,447.[171] After factoring in dwellings that did not respond to the municipal census, Edmonton’s population is further estimated to be 992,812.[172] Per its municipal census policy,[173] the city’s next municipal census is scheduled for 2020.[174] In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Edmonton had a population of 932,546 living in 360,828 of its 387,950 total private dwellings, a change of 14.8% from its 2011 population of 812,201. With a land area of 685.25 km2 (264.58 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,360.9/km2 (3,524.7/sq mi) in 2016.[16] The 2016 municipal census captured more detailed demographic information on residents, including age and gender, marital status, employment status, length of residency, prior residence, employment transportation mode, citizenship, school residency, economic diversity, city resource access, highest educational attainment, household language and income, as well as dwellings and properties, including ownership, structure and status.[175] The 2011 Census reported that 50.2 percent of the population (407,325) was female while 49.8 percent (404,875) was male. The average age of the city’s population was 36.0 years while there was an average 2.5 people per household.[176] The Edmonton census metropolitan area (CMA) has the fifth-greatest population of CMAs in Canada and the second-greatest in Alberta, but has the largest land area in Canada. It had a population of 1,159,869 in the 2011 Census compared to its 2006 population of 1,034,945. Its five-year population change of 12.1 percent was second only to the Calgary CMA between 2006 and 2011. With a land area of 9,426.73 km2 (3,639.68 sq mi), the Edmonton CMA had a population density of 123.0/km2 (318.7/sq mi) in 2011.[117] Statistics Canada’s latest estimate of the Edmonton CMA population, as of July 1, 2016, is 1,363,300[177] The Edmonton population centre is the core[178] of the Edmonton CMA. This core includes the cities of Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan and St. Albert, the Sherwood Park portion of Strathcona County, and portions of Parkland County and Sturgeon County.[179] The Edmonton population centre, the fifth-largest in Canada, had a population of 960,015 in 2011, an 11.3 percent increase over its 2006 population of 862,544.[180] The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 324,315 persons or 32.5% of the total population of Edmonton. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were Philippines (54,850 persons or 16.9%), India (50,435 persons or 15.6%), China (21,110 persons or 6.5%), Vietnam (10,280 persons or 3.2%), United Kingdom (9,990 persons or 3.1%), Pakistan (8,895 persons or 2.7%), Hong Kong (6,985 persons or 2.2%), Poland (6,470 persons or 2.0%), United States of America (6,295 persons or 1.9%), and Somalia (5,765 persons or 1.8%).[181] Pan-ethnic breakdown of Edmonton from the 2021 census[182] According to the 2016 census, 55.8% of Edmonton’s population were of European ethnicities, the most frequent of which included the English (16.8%), Scottish (13.8%), German (13.6%), Irish (12.5%), Ukrainian (10.8%), French (9.4%), and Polish (5.1%) origins.[183] Other ethnic groups and origins included, among others:[183] The 2016 census also reported that 37.1% of Edmonton’s population identified themselves as visible minorities.[184] The most frequent visible minorities included South Asian (9.5%), Chinese (6.3%), Black (5.9%), Filipino (5.9%), and Arab (2.6%).[184] Edmonton religious affiliation (2021)[185] Edmonton is home to members of a number of world religions. According to the 2021 Census, 44.6 percent of metropolitan Edmonton residents identify as Christian. Significant religious minorities include Muslims (8.3 percent), Sikhs (4.1 percent), Buddhists (1.5 percent), Hindus (3.4 percent), Jewish people (0.4 percent), and practitioners of traditional Aboriginal spirituality (0.2 percent). Those belonging to smaller religions account for 1.1 percent, while 36.4 percent profess no religious affiliation.[185] Within Christianity, major denominations include the Roman Catholic Church (44.4 percent of self-identified Christians) and the United Church (10.5 percent).[185] Edmonton is home to four major cathedrals, with St. Joseph’s Basilica seating the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, All Saints’ Cathedral seating the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton, St. Josaphat Cathedral seating the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, and St. John Cathedral seating the Ukrainian Orthodox Eparchy of Western Canada. Additionally, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are served by the Edmonton Alberta Temple. Edmonton also hosts a Maronite Catholic church. In the 1930s, the local Muslim community began organizing to build a mosque. A local Muslim woman, Hilwie Hamdon, met with the mayor to acquire the land, and campaigned to raise $5,000 for the building. In 1938, Abdullah Yusuf Ali was present at the opening of the new Al-Rashid Mosque, which became the first mosque established in Canada and the third in North America.[186] In the 1980s, Muslim students at the University of Alberta found it difficult to rent prayer rooms large enough to accommodate the local population, and opened the Muslim Community of Edmonton as a mosque and outreach centre in 1992.[187] From these beginnings, Muslims now form the city’s largest religious minority, with 83,015 members (2021)[185] representing over 62 ethnic backgrounds[188] at over 20 Edmonton-area mosques (2019).[189] Edmonton’s Jewish community is represented by the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, operating the historic Edmonton Jewish Cemetery, purchased in 1907. The city contains six synagogues.[190][191] The oldest, Beth Israel, was established in 1912 and served as home of Canada’s first Jewish day school. Other Abrahamic religions active in Edmonton include the Bahá?í Faith, operating a Bahá?í Centre in Norwood, and Druze, with its Canadian Druze Centre located in the Northwest Industrial District.[192][193] The Hindu community of Edmonton is served by the Hindu Society of Alberta[194] (North Indian Temple) and the Maha Ganapathy Society of Alberta (South Indian Temple).[195] The Sikh community in Edmonton is served by four gurdwaras. Edmonton is also home to two of Alberta’s five Unitarian Universalist congregations – the Unitarian Church of Edmonton[196] and the Westwood Unitarian Congregation;[197] the other three are located in Calgary, Lethbridge, and Red Deer.[198] Edmonton is the major economic centre for northern and central Alberta and a major centre for the oil and gas industry. As of 2014, the estimated value of major projects within the Edmonton Metropolitan Region was $57.8-billion, of which $34.4-billion are within the oil and gas, oil sands, and pipeline sectors.[200] Edmonton traditionally has been a hub for Albertan petrochemical industries, earning it the nickname “Oil Capital of Canada” in the 1940s.[201] Supply and service industries drive the energy extraction engine, while research develops new technologies and supports expanded value-added processing of Alberta’s massive oil, gas, and oil sands reserves. These are reported to be the second-largest in the world, after Saudi Arabia.[202] Much of the growth in technology sectors is due to Edmonton’s reputation as one of Canada’s premier research and education centres. Research initiatives are anchored by educational institutions such as the University of Alberta (U of A) as well as government initiatives underway at Alberta Innovates and Edmonton Research Park. The U of A campus is home to the National Institute for Nanotechnology.[203] During the 1970s