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When Michael Hurlburt arrived in Fort McMurray in 1980, he rarely saw anyone with white hair. Even back then it was an overwhelmingly young town with thousands of young people working lucrative oilsands jobs. Hurlburt, who now has white hair, says he sees a demographic shift occurring.
“It’s definitely been a change for us here in Fort McMurray, seeing the number of seniors that we have,” he told CBC News in a recent interview.
The senior population in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) — the municipality Fort McMurray is a part of — grew to 5.5 per cent of the total population, according to the most recent municipal census. That is a 1.2 per cent rise from 2021. More than 11 per cent of seniors moved to Fort McMurray after retiring.
Hurlburt said he has seen that growth as president of the Golden Years Society, a social and wellness club for seniors in the community. He said Fort McMurray has plenty of opportunities for seniors looking to volunteer and socialize, but he worries about seniors who can no longer look after themselves.
“From an activities perspective, and opportunities for seniors to be active and involved in the community and [to] have support systems, I don’t think you can beat Fort McMurray,” Hurlburt said.
“It’s when you get to the point where you’re no longer able to look after yourself, and that’s where things start to fall apart a bit. We’re not able to keep up with the population growth that we’re seeing in the seniors scenario.”
The Willow Square Continuing Care Centre in downtown Fort McMurray on Feb. 14, 2026. (Vincent McDermott/CBC)
The municipal census shows Fort McMurray and the broader Wood Buffalo region are still young. The average age is 33, and children up to the age of 14 make up 22 per cent of the population.
The municipality says this also means more young people are staying in Fort McMurray to start families. Hurlburt said retiring and moving away loses its appeal when kids and grandkids stay in Fort McMurray.
Some seniors that CBC News spoke with said they find the communities they originally came from no longer feel familiar, or have become too expensive.
This is a really good place to age.- Pam Burns, St. Aidan’s Society
Mayor Sandy Bowman said he believes the combination of young families and more retirees means a housing boom is looming.
“Those days are coming,” he said. “I can guarantee you those days are coming. It’s a slow growth and that’s what we need in this community.”
Housing, medical concerns common among seniors
If that growth is going to happen comfortably, seniors advocacy groups say Fort McMurray needs to prepare for an increasingly aging population.
There is limited support for people living with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia in the community, said Renee Hurley, an elders and seniors co-ordinator with the Nistawoyou Friendship Centre. Complex medical problems are often only treatable through regular trips to Edmonton, which she noted can be expensive and stressful for families.
Hurley’s organization recently hired a mental health co-ordinator, partially because staff have seen more seniors feeling isolated or bored.
Renee Hurley, the seniors and elders co-ordinator for the Nistawoyou Friendship Centre in Fort McMurray, during a beading workshop on April 22, 2026. (Vincent McDermott/CBC)
Meanwhile, Fort McMurray’s seniors’ living facilities and long-term care centres have waitlists.
A spokesperson for Wood Buffalo Housing told CBC News they believe the waitlist for their seniors’ home and independent units would be larger if more people didn’t already assume they were full.
Pam Burns of the seniors advocacy group St. Aidan’s Society said seniors choosing to live in their own home eventually need support that can be difficult to find in northern Alberta.
“It’s great that we have a community where people recognize this is a really good place to age,” she said.
“What I would really like to see is the use of technology to create some efficiencies in our health system.”
Last month, the Alberta government approved more than $7 million to improve continuing care centres across the province, including in Fort McMurray. Alberta’s 2026 budget committed about $6.6 billion to help with non-medical supports for seniors across the province such as landscaping, housekeeping and even grocery deliveries.
RMWB councillors are lobbying the province for the construction of an “aging in place” centre in downtown Fort McMurray.
“Ultimately, as we get older, that’s the nature of the beast, right? Things get a little bit harder and we just need more support,” Burns said.
“If we get people connected and make people aware of all the things that are out there and what healthy aging looks like, it will be an easier journey.”