Red Deer, Alberta

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For other uses, see Red Deer (disambiguation).
City of Red Deer
Bower Ponds
Bower Ponds
Flag of City of Red Deer
Flag		 Coat of arms of City of Red Deer
Coat of arms
Location of Red Deer within census division number 8, Alberta, Canada.
City of Red Deer
Location of Red Deer within census division number 8, Alberta, Canada.
Coordinates: 52°16′05″N 113°48′40″W / 52.26806, -113.81111
Country Flag of Canada Canada
Province Flag of Alberta Alberta
Region Calgary-Edmonton Corridor
Census division 8
Established 1882 as a Trading post
Incorporated 1901 (Town)
  1913(City)
Government [1]
 - Mayor Morris Flewwelling
 - Governing_body Red Deer City Council
 - City Manager Craig Curtis[2]
 - MP Bob Mills (Cons)
 - MLAs Cal Dallas (P.C.),
Mary Anne Jablonski (P.C.)
Area
 - Total 69.23 km² (26.7 sq mi)
Elevation 855 m (2,805 ft)
Population (2006)[3]
 - Total 82,772
 - Density 1,196/km² (3,097.6/sq mi)
  Ranked 44th largest in Canada
Time zone MST (UTC−7)
Postal code span T4N to T4R
Area code(s) 403
Highways Queen Elizabeth II Highway
David Thompson Highway
Waterways Red Deer River
Website: City of Red Deer

Red Deer is a city in central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, and is Alberta's third most populous city—after Calgary and Edmonton . Red Deer is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills focused on oil, grain, and cattle production. The city is a centre for oil and agriculture distribution, and the surrounding region is a major centre for petrochemical production.

Red Deer County surrounds the city.

The city takes its name from Red Deer River, a translation of was-ka-soo which means "elk river" in the Cree aboriginal language. Waskasoo is also a neighborhood overlooking the Red Deer River.

Red Deer is the hometown of several famous people, including former NHLer Ron Anderson, ex-NHLer Glen Wesley, Trent Hunter and Mark Trinordi, and Olympic gold medalist Jamie Salé. Olympic medallist speed skater Jeremy Wotherspoon also spent most of his childhood in Red Deer after being born in Saskatchewan.

Red Deer Transit provides local bus service throughout the city.

Contents

[edit] History

  • Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by aboriginal tribes (Blackfoot, Plains Cree, and Stoney) and later by Métis and fur traders.
  • The city was named for the Red Deer River, which runs through it.
  • The first major road from Fort Calgary to Fort Edmonton was called the Calgary and Edmonton Trail[4] (abbreviated to C&E Trail) and it crossed the Red Deer River near the present city at Red Deer Crossing.
  • In 1882, a trading post was established at Red Deer Crossing.
  • During the Riel Rebellion of 1885, the Canadian militia constructed Fort Normandeau at the Crossing, which was later taken over by the North West Mounted Police, who used it until 1893.
  • By 1891, the Calgary and Edmonton Railway laid track east of the Crossing at the present site of the city.
  • In 1901, Red Deer was incorporated as a town with a population of 343.
  • In 1907, it became a major divisional point for the Canadian Pacific Railway.
  • In 1911, the Alberta Central Railway and the Canadian Northern Railway entered the town.
  • On March 25, 1913, Red Deer was incorporated as a city with a population of nearly 2800.
  • In 1922, the province established an institution in Red Deer to care for the mentally disabled, now called the Michener Centre.
  • In the late 1950s, Red Deer claimed to be the fastest-growing city in Canada.

[edit] Education

[edit] Post-secondary

Red Deer College was founded in 1964 as Red Deer Junior College. Today, it offers adult upgrading, certificate programs, diploma programs, university transfer courses, applied degree programs, and apprenticeship and trades training.

[edit] K–12 Schools

As of 2005, public school students in Red Deer are served by the Red Deer Public School District.[5] The RDPSD includes 13 elementary schools (K–5), four middle schools (6–8), one Christian school (K–9), several alternative school programs, and two high schools, Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School (1900 students in grades 9–12) and Hunting Hills High School (1400 students in grades 9–12). The city is also home to various Christian, especially Roman Catholic, schools such as Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Thomas, and École secondaire Notre Dame High School. The Catholic schools fall under the administration of the Red Deer Catholic Regional Division.[6]

[edit] Demographics

In 2006, Red Deer had a population of 82,772 living in 33,894 dwellings, a 22.0% increase from 2001. The city has a land area of 69.23 km² (26.7 sq mi) and a population density of 1,195.6/km² (3,096.6/sq mi).[3]

Nearly 90% of residents spoke English as a first language while 1.7% spoke Spanish and 1.6% spoke French. The next most common languages were Tagalog (Filipino) at 1.1%, German at 1.0%, and Chinese at 0.8%, followed by Dutch at 0.6%, Ukrainian at 0.4%, and Vietnamese at 0.3%.[7]

About 4.4% of residents identified as aboriginal at the time of the 2006 census.[8]

Red Deer is home to almost 1,800 recent immigrants (arriving between 2001 and 2006) who now make up just more than 2% of the population. About 16% of these immigrants came from the Philippines, while about 14% came from Colombia, 8% came from India, 7% came from the United States, and about 5% from each of South Africa and the United Kingdom, and about 4% from El Salvador.[9]

Almost 72% of the residents are identified as Christian and over 26% said they had no religious affiliation for the 2001 Census. For specific denominations Statistics Canada counted 14,660 Roman Catholics (22%), and 10,970 United Church (16.5%), 3,720 Anglicans (5.6%), 3,065 Lutherans (4.6%), as well as about 1,305 Baptists (2%), and about 1,200 Pentecostals (1.8%), about 1,060 Presbyterians (1.6%), about 905 for the Christian and Missionary Alliance (1.5%), and about 650 Jehovah's Witnesses (1.0%), as well as about 585 for the Evangelical Missionary Church (0.9%) and 455 Mormons (0.7%).[10]

In a July 2007 analysis of demographic information from the 2006 Federal Census prepared by Environics Analytics, Red Deer was the city most closely resembling the country as a whole. [11]

[edit] Media

[edit] Newspapers

[edit] Radio

[edit] New services

On March 28, 2008, a number of radio broadcasting companies applied for new radio services in Red Deer, Drumheller, Edmonton and other areas in Alberta, including one location in British Columbia. Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2008-2

  • 90.5 RED FM - One of the proposed radio stations undertaking at Red Deer

[edit] Television

  • Shaw Television

[edit] Sport

[edit] Community bands

[edit] References

  1. ^ City of Red Deer. Welcome from the Mayor. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
  2. ^ City of Red Deer (January 2007). New City Manager appointed. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
  3. ^ a b Statistics Canada (Census 2006). Red Deer—Community Profile. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
  4. ^ Alberta Trail Net (December 2002). Calgary and Edmonton Trail.
  5. ^ Red Deer Public School District No. 104 (RDPSD). Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
  6. ^ Red Deer Catholic Regional Division No. 39 (RDCRD). Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
  7. ^ Red Deer. Detailed Mother Tongue (186), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2001 and 2006 Censuses—20% Sample Data. Statistics Canada (2007-11-20). Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  8. ^ Red Deer. Aboriginal Identity (8), Sex (3) and Age Groups (12) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census—20% Sample Data. Statistics Canada (2008-01-15). Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  9. ^ Red Deer. Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration (8) and Place of Birth (261) for the Immigrants and Non-permanent Residents of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census—20% Sample Data. Statistics Canada (2007-12-04). Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  10. ^ Red Deer. Religion (95A), Age Groups (7A) and Sex (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas 1 and Census Agglomerations, 1991 and 2001 Censuses—20% Sample Data. Statistics Canada (2007-03-01). Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  11. ^ The marketing search for Anytown, Canada. CBC News (2007-07-20). Retrieved on 2008-02-28.

[edit] External links

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