Photo: jasonwoodhead23 · CC BY 2.0At 2.7 loans per person served, Wood Buffalo Library lends less than 87% of Alberta’s town libraries
Wood Buffalo Library serves 111,687 people from 2 branches. It counted 1.2 in-person visits per person served in 2022. Alberta’s open library statistics stop at 2022, so these are its 2022 figures.
CCivic life#472 of 474 in AlbertaWhat Fort McMurray’s civic life grade weighs
With a C, Fort McMurray ranks #472 of 474 Alberta towns on civic life. Fort McMurray has every input a civic life grade uses: library visits per resident, charities per 1,000 residents and the province’s volunteering rate.
Informal groups and mutual aid go uncounted.
Sources: provincial statistics, the CRA, Statistics Canada.
Fort McMurray mailing addresses hold 72 registered charities
That is 0.9 per 1,000 residents, against 1.3 in the typical Alberta town and 1.4 across Canada. Charities are placed by mailing address, which flatters service towns whose post office serves a region and undercounts suburbs and rural municipalities.
37.1%
The 2023 survey gives Alberta one volunteering rate for all its towns, 37.1% (between 35.1% and 39.2%), while provinces run from 25.2% at the low end to 40.3%.
Statistics Canada, table 45-10-0039.
Behind most of Alberta’s town libraries on all 3 measures
Measured per person served against the 118 town libraries of Alberta’s 2022 statistics.
Town libraries only; regional systems left out.
Some 382 visits on an average day
What Wood Buffalo Library counted in 2022, as the library reported it.
2 public libraries in Fort McMurray
Sorted by straight-line distance from the centre of Fort McMurray.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Per person served. Per-person rates rest on the service area the library reports, which may be larger or smaller than Fort McMurray itself.
Questions about the library and civic life in Fort McMurray
Does Fort McMurray have a public library?
Yes, 2: Carseland Community Library and Wood Buffalo Regional Library.
How busy is Wood Buffalo Library?
Its 2022 report counts 139,299 visits in person and 306,734 items lent.
Library statistics: Alberta public library statistics, 2022. Library locations: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Statistics Canada, Open Database of Cultural and Art Facilities (2020). Charities: Canada Revenue Agency, List of charities (2024), charitable organizations only.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).