Fort Chipewyan Community

Fort Chipewyan, commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is a northern community within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. Established in 1788 as a trading post, Fort Chipewyan is Alberta’s oldest most continually occupied settlement. It is located approximately 200 km north of Fort McMurray and is on the southwest point of Lake Athabasca. The area is part of the Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD), which is the largest freshwater inland river delta in North America and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This remote community is accessed by air only for the majority of the year, with a winter road operating from approximately mid December to Mid March and a commercial barge during the summer season, for the transportation of supplies.

The population of Fort Chipewyan is approximately 1,000 residents, with the community of Dog Head on the south end of the town site and Allison Bay located on north end. Fort Chipewyan’s only source of electricity has been from diesel fuel, but that is slowly changing with the introduction of the Solar Farm and other green energy projects led by 3NE.