Located just ninety minutes north of Edmonton in a mixed landscape of boreal forest, lakes, and farms, the Athabasca region thrives on the strength of its agriculture, forestry, and natural gas sectors. The region is also an affordable residential option for many who commute to the oil sands via Highways 2/55/63.
The Athabasca region is the gateway to Alberta’s three oil sand areas – the Athabasca Oil Sands (which extends southwards from Fort McMurray towards Athabasca County), Peace River Oil Sands (Wabasca, northwest), and Cold Lake Oil Sands (east) – functioning as a service hub for the industrial activity taking place in both the Fort McMurray and Wabasca regions. While there are no oil sands projects within the County, there is substantial spin-off activity including increased work camp populations, resource extraction related industries such as fabricators of products destined for oil sands projects, pipeline construction, and highway commercial activity.
Forestry activity is focused on the Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. (Al-Pac) mill and operations in the area northeast of the Town of Athabasca and northwest of Boyle. The Al -Pac Forest Management Area covers a substantial area of Crown land within the County.
Tourism is a feature of the region’s economy, driven by the presence of numerous lakes, rivers, and streams – they are all part of the natural
beauty the area has to offer.
Industry is attracted to the region by affordable land values, transportation access, and a stable labour force.
There are two urban municipalities (Town of Athabasca and Village of Boyle), eight summer villages, and eleven hamlets (County jurisdiction)
located within Athabasca County.
