Fort St. John
City
City of Fort St. John
Downtown Fort St. John
Flag Logo
Nickname:  FSJ
Motto:  The Energetic City
Fort St. John Location of Fort St. John Show map of British Columbia Fort St. John Fort St. John (Canada) Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 56°15′09″N 120°50′48″W / 56.25250°N 120.84667°W / 56.25250; -120.84667[1]
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Regional District	Peace River
Incorporated	31 Dec 1947 (village)
Government
• Mayor	Lilia Hansen
• Governing Body	Fort St. John City Council (Byron Stewart, Gord Klassen, Trevor Bolin, Tony Zabinsky, Sarah MacDougall, Jim Lequiere)
• MLA	Dan Davies, BC United
• MP	Bob Zimmer, Conservative
Area [2]
• City	22.69 km2 (8.76 sq mi)
• Metro	620.80 km2 (239.69 sq mi)
Elevation	690 m (2,260 ft)
Population  (2020)[3]
• City	22,283
• Density	820.2/km2 (2,124/sq mi)
• Metro	28,396
• Metro density	42.5/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
Forward sortation area	V1J
Area code(s)	250, 778, 236, 672
Website	fortstjohn.ca

Fort St. John is a city located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The most populous municipality in the Peace River Regional District, the city encompasses a total area of about 22 km² (8.5 sq mi) with 21,465 residents recorded in the 2021 Census. Located at Mile 47 of the Alaska Highway, it is one of the largest cities between Dawson Creek, British Columbia and Delta Junction, Alaska. Established in 1794 as a trading post, Fort St. John is the oldest European-established settlement in present-day British Columbia. The city is served by the Fort St. John Airport. The municipal slogan is Fort St. John: The Energetic City.

History

Over the 19th and 20th centuries, the community has been moved a number of times for varying economic reasons. The present location is thought to be its sixth. The original trading post built in the area was named Rocky Mountain House (not to be confused with the modern Alberta town by that name). It was established one year after Sir Alexander Mackenzie explored the area in 1793. One of a series of forts along the Peace River constructed to service the fur trade, it was located southwest of the present site of Fort St. John. The Dane-zaa and Sikanni First Nations used it as a trading post. It was also used as a supply depot for further expeditions into the territory. The fort closed in 1805. Fort d'Epinette was built in 1806 by the North West Company. It was renamed Fort St. John in 1821 following the purchase of the North West Company by the Hudson's Bay Company. This fort was located about 500 m (1,600 ft) downstream from the mouth of the Beatton River, which at that time was known as the Pine River. It was shut down in 1823. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1958.^[4][5]

After a lapse of nearly forty years, Fort St. John was reopened in 1860 on the south side of the Peace River, directly south of the present community. It was moved in 1872 by Francis Work Beatton directly across the river. This community lasted until 1925 when the river ceased to be the main avenue of transportation and the fort was moved closer to where settlers were establishing homesteads. The new town was constructed at Fish Creek, northwest of the present community, on the new trail to Fort Nelson. It did not shut down until 1975. In 1928, C. M. Finch moved his general store to two quarters of land where he also built a government building to house the land, telegraph and post offices. The present site for the town was firmly established after he donated 2.0 ha (5 acres) for a Roman Catholic church and additional land for a hospital.

The first census that recognized Fort St. John as a census subdivision took place in 1951 and recorded 884 people. The population rapidly increased, doubling almost every 5 years for 15 years so that by 1966 there were 6,749 residents living in the community.^[6]

Geography

Fort St. John is geographically on the western edge of the Canadian prairies that cover much of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, but is not politically included in the three Canadian Prairie provinces.^[7] The city sits between the Peace River and Beatton River, with Charlie Lake nearby.

Sitting at an elevation of 690 m (2,260 ft), Fort St. John is situated within a low-lying valley near the eastern foothills of the Muskwa Ranges and Hart Ranges of the Northern Rockies. Prairies lie to the east and north, while to the west the Rocky Mountains form a rain shadow. The city is built on relatively flat, rolling hills.

Fort St. John, along with neighboring cities of Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge, and Dawson Creek, are within Peace River Country, a large geographic area of British Columbia and Alberta. The Peace River valley provides opportunities for farming, in contrast to the rugged mountains to the west.

Climate

Fort St. John experiences a cold humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb) closely bordering on a subarctic climate (Dfc), with cold winters and warm summers. Although winters can be frigid, the area has milder winters than much of the rest of Canada (especially considering its northerly latitude) due to the influence of the nearby Rocky Mountains. They tend to block arctic air masses coming in from the north/northwest, although they can certainly still penetrate the area. A predominantly southwesterly wind blows through town, with wind speeds averaging around 13.7 km/h (8.5 mph).^[8] Fort St. John uses Mountain Standard Time all year (same as Pacific Daylight Time in summer), and because of its northerly latitude experiences short daylight hours in winter and long daylight hours in summer.

Fort St. John is east of the Rocky Mountains, and thus has a climate much more similar to the prairies than the British Columbia interior west of the mountains. The frost-free period is much longer east of the mountains than west, and thus the Peace River area including Fort St. John can grow crops that cannot be grown in most of the province such as wheat and canola.

Fort St. John is one of the sunniest places in the province, especially in the winter and spring. The city holds British Columbia's record for most sunshine ever recorded in March (247.4 hours in 1965), May (373.5 hours in 1972), and November (141.3 hours in 1976).^[9]

The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort St. John was 38.3 °C (100.9 °F) on 16 July 1941.^[10] The coldest temperature ever recorded was −53.9 °C (−65.0 °F) on 11 January 1911.^[11]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fort St. John had a population of 21,465 living in 8,777 of its 10,004 total private dwellings, a change of 5.9% from its 2016 population of 20,260. With a land area of 32.67 km² (12.61 sq mi), it had a population density of 657.0/km² (1,701.7/sq mi) in 2021.^[17]

Ethnicity