Stunning Population Growth
Fort McMurray, Alberta, has seen its population grow from 926 in 1951, to more than 60,000 today -- a growth rate of 70,000 per cent over 60 years. The city grew by 14,000 people, or 29 per cent, in just the 2006 to 2011 period.
Source: StatsCan
Far More Men Than Women
Whereas in Alberta in general there are approximately 99 to 104 men for every 100 women, in Fort McMurray, where male-dominated oil jobs dominate, that ratio is skewed well towards men. There are 110 to 140 men for every 100 women in Fort McMurray, depending on the neighbourhood.
Arm And A Leg For Housing
The average price of a two-bedroom apartment in April, 2011, was $2,152 -- comparable to major Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver. For those rates to be affordable, you'd need to earn at least $80,000 per year. But given that oil workers can earn as much as $120,000, that is, actually, affordable by Fort McMurray standards.
Source: Wood Buffalo Regional Municipality
Third Largest Oil Reserves In The World
Fort McMurray sits at the centre of what is now recognized as the third-largest proven supply of oil in the world. Alberta has 170.8 billion barrels of oil in the ground, about 12 per cent of the world's total. By comparison, Saudi Arabia has 260 billion barrels, and Venezuela 211 billion. The oil sands' share of that total continues to grow, and with it, Fort McMurray's importance to the industry. The city is expected to quadruple in size, to about 231,000, within 20 years.
Giant Job Machine
There are 140,000 people employed in Alberta's oil and gas extraction industry -- a very large number, considering the province's total population of 3.6 million. In all, energy counts for 23.4 per cent of Alberta's economy.
Now That's Cold
Classified as a sub-Arctic zone, Fort McMurray is bitingly cold, even by Canadians' standards. The average night-time low in January is minus-24 Celsius, or minus-11 Fahrenheit, though the average daytime high in July does reach a decent 23 Celsius (73 Fahrenheit).
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