| This basin is predominantly situated in Alberta, and it is not surprising that 60% of all energy-reliant communities (80) are found in that province. More than half the remainder are found in neighbouring Saskatchewan (33). The communities in Alberta are much larger — the median size is 3100 people — whereas the median of these communities in Saskatchewan is 1100. Calgary, with 878 000 people, is the largest resource-reliant community. Even though its reliance value is only 46% (which suggests a somewhat diversified economy), it still means that a very large number of people working in the energy sector live in this city.
The communities in eastern Canada are close to large electrical generating plants or, in the case of Newfoundland and Labrador, have involvement in the offshore oil industry.
There are few communities with a very high reliance on energy: one-quarter of the communities (36) have a value in the solely and highly reliant classes, whereas three-quarters (113) are in the strongly and moderately reliant classes. The communities that have values in the highest class (solely reliant) include the oil sands conversion municipality of Wood Buffalo (which is the official name for Fort McMurray, Alberta); Lloydminster, Saskatchewan; and the coal centre of Estevan, Saskatchewan.
The Data
and Mapping Notes provide more detailed information on the methodology and the 2001 Census data used to measure resource reliance. |
