Calgary

Calgary, city, southern Alberta, Canada. The physical setting of Calgary distinguishes it from other cities of the Prairie Provinces. It is situated on the western edge of the Great Plains, in the foothills of the spectacular Canadian Rockies (about 60 miles [100 km] to the west), and the surrounding valleys and uplands are a distinct change from the flat prairie landscapes typical of the region. A relatively young Canadian city, it is the administrative and financial headquarters of the country’s petroleum industry. Calgary also celebrates its history as a cattle ranching capital, an image enhanced by the city’s hosting of the annual Calgary Stampede, a 10-day rodeo-centred event. In the early 21st century, Calgary was one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada. Area 319 square miles (825 square km); metro. area, 1,972 square miles (5,108 square km). Pop. (2011) 1,096,833; metro. area, 1,214,839; (2021) 1,306,784; metro. area, 1,392,609.

History

In 1875 a North-West Mounted Police (later Royal Canadian Mounted Police) post known unofficially as Fort Brisebois was founded on the site of present-day Calgary. The following year it was officially named Fort Calgary for a town on the Scottish island of Mull. The main duty of the police was to bring order to the illegal whiskey trade in the region. In 1877 the British and Canadian governments signed a peace agreement (Treaty 7) with a number of First Nations (Native American) peoples, and the region rapidly converted to a cattle ranching frontier.

Calgary’s growth and development were more directly related, however, to its selection as one of the stops along the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), Canada’s first nationwide railway. It linked Calgary to central and eastern Canada (1883) and to Vancouver (1886) on the west coast.

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Calgary was incorporated as a town in 1884 and as a city 10 years later, prior to the creation of the province of Alberta (1905). In 1884 it had only a few hundred settlers, but by the 1891 census its population had grown to 3,876. In 1891, after a number of false starts by other companies, the Calgary and Edmonton Railway Company completed a rail connection between the two towns and leased the line to the CPR. The CPR was a major landowner and developer within Calgary as well as a promoter of the vast blocks of agricultural land it owned in the surrounding region. The company was also among a number of private investors in the irrigation of farmland in the early 20th century, which greatly lessened the risk of drought and brought in thousands of farmers, thus leading to the expansion of Calgary’s role as a service centre.

With its farming community and railway connections in place, it was not long before Calgary became the main shipping centre for the cattle industry, with stockyards (some of them owned by the CPR), slaughterhouses, tanneries, and meat-processing plants. These early commercial and industrial ventures gained Calgary a lasting reputation as a “cow town.” By the early 1900s other rail lines radiated from Calgary, including a connection to the Canadian National Railway, solidifying its position as a provincial transportation centre.

The discovery of natural gas at nearby Turner Valley (1914) spurred a new wave of growth, centred on petroleum, particularly after Alberta’s first refinery opened in 1923. Three years after the discovery of crude oil in those fields (1936), a second refinery was built. These early investments and the location there of head offices of petroleum companies and related industries—such as those dealing with surveying, drill rigs and equipment, transportation, and pipelines—cemented Calgary’s role as the business centre of the petroleum industry. The discovery of the well-known Leduc fields near Edmonton (1947) greatly stimulated the city’s economic expansion as well, although, over time, Edmonton would become the headquarters for oil refining, equipment supply, and the servicing of oil fields.

The contemporary city

Calgary is located at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, plus several smaller streams. The downtown core of Calgary, located primarily on the south bank of the Bow and west of the Elbow, is marked by its cluster of high-rise office towers.

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The weather is not easily predictable. Bitterly cold winter days can be altered radically (within hours) by westerly flowing warm Chinook winds. Conversely, it sometimes snows as late as June.

As the corporate centre of the petroleum industry, Calgary attracts many related services, including banking, finance, insurance, and transportation, as well as petroleum supply. The city also has a manufacturing sector that includes food and beverage, wood-processing, and machinery and electronics companies.

Public transportation has been an important component in Calgary’s development. Streetcars were introduced in 1909, and their advent facilitated the growth of suburbs. Bus routes now connect to the city’s commuter rail system, known as CTrain, which runs through the city centre and branches out to the residential and industrial neighbourhoods. In 2001 the CTrain became the first urban light rail system in North America to be powered entirely by wind-generated electricity. The city also has a network of walking and bike paths, and in the downtown area a system of enclosed, climate-controlled, elevated walkways some 15 feet (5 metres) above street level—known as Plus 15 (or +15)—allows pedestrians to avoid extreme weather. The Trans-Canada Highway passes through the city north of the Bow River, and other highways, known locally as “trails,” connect Calgary with other cities in the province, notably Edmonton. An international airport is located in the northeastern part of the city.

The Glenmore reservoir, on the Elbow River, serves as a source of potable water. With the rapid growth of Calgary and the surrounding region in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, however, the increasing demands on the water supply in this relatively dry belt of the Prairies has been an ongoing concern, and water conservation is a high priority in the region.

Cultural institutions include opera and ballet companies, a symphony orchestra, and several theatre companies. Calgary is the home of the University of Calgary (founded in 1945 as part of the University of Alberta; became independent in 1966) and SAIT Polytechnic (formerly the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology; 1916). The main campus of Mount Royal University (1911) is located approximately 3 miles (5 km) southwest of the city centre.

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With the ski areas of the Rocky Mountains little more than an hour’s drive west of the city, winter sports feature prominently in the leisure activities of many Calgarians. The city is home to several professional sports teams, including the Calgary Flames (National Hockey League), who play at the Saddledome, the Calgary Stampeders (Canadian Football League), and the Calgary Roughnecks (National Lacrosse League). It is the Calgary Stampede, however, that gains the most international notice. This world-famous rodeo festival was founded in 1912 by Guy Weadick, a former Wyoming cowboy, with the backing of major Alberta cattlemen, and has been held annually since 1923. Held in July, it is a colourful 10-day celebration of the Old West featuring many rodeo events, musical performances, a parade, and other festivities; attendance exceeds one million visitors each year. Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, which left an infrastructure legacy that continues to attract winter sports enthusiasts.