Red Deer is a city in Alberta, Canada, located alongside the Red Deer River, midway on the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Red Deer is Alberta's third-largest city, after Calgary and Edmonton, with a slightly higher population than Lethbridge.

Red Deer serves Central Alberta,"Red Deer boasts an immediate trade area of over 312,700 people...""Why Red Deer," City of Red Deer. Retrieved May 8, 2022. and its key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and education.City of Red Deer, "Key Industries," Retrieved May 8, 2022. The city is surrounded by Red Deer County and borders on Lacombe County.

History The area was inhabited by First Nations including the Blackfoot, Plains Cree and Stoney before the arrival of European fur traders in the late eighteenth century. A First Nations trail ran from the Montana Territory across the Bow River near present-day Calgary and on to Fort Edmonton, later known as the Calgary and Edmonton Trail. The trail crossed the Red Deer River at a wide, stony shallows. The "Old Red Deer Crossing" is upstream from the present-day city.

Cree people called the river , which means "Elk River". European arrivals sometimes called North American elk "red deer", after the related Eurasian species, and later named the community after the river. The name for the modern city in Plains Cree is a calque of the English name (, literally "red type of deer"), while the name of the river itself is still or "elk river".

First Nations on the north side of the river entered into Treaty 6 in 1876 and on the south side Treaty 7 in 1877. Farmers and ranchers began to settle on the fertile lands.

A trading post and stopping house were built at the Crossing in 1882. This became Fort Normandeau during the 1885 North-West Rebellion.

Leonard Gaetz Leonard Gaetz gave a half-share of he had acquired to the Calgary and Edmonton Railway to develop a bridge over the river and a townsite. As a result, the Crossing was gradually abandoned. The first trains arrived in 1891.

1900 to 1929 Following World War I, Red Deer emerged as a small, quiet, but prosperous, prairie city.

Bird watcher Elsie Cassels helped to establish the Gaetz Lakes bird sanctuary.

1930 to 1945 During Great Depression of the 1930s, Central Alberta was not hit by severe drought. The city was virtually debt-free and profited from its ownership of the local public utilities.

In World War II, a large army training camp was located where Cormack Armoury, the Memorial Centre and Lindsay Thurber High School are now. Two training airfields were built south of the city at Penhold and Bowden.

Post–Second World War Red Deer expanded rapidly following the discovery of major oil reserves in Alberta in the late 1940s. Red Deer became a centre for oil and gas and related industries, such as the Joffre Cogeneration Plant.

North Red Deer was amalgamated in 1948.

Government and administrative services include a hospital, a courthouse and a provincial building."Maintenance Upgrades Continue at Red Deer Provincial Government Building," Red Deer News Now, May 5, 2020, Accessed May 7, 2022.

The railway moved to the outskirts and passenger train service ceased. The CPR bridge is now a walking trail.

Geography Climate Red Deer has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), with something of a semi-arid influence due to the city's location within Palliser's Triangle. The highest temperature ever recorded in Red Deer was on 8 July 1906, 2 July 1924, and 28 & 29 June 1937. The lowest recorded temperature was on 17 December 1924. The city lies in the 4a plant hardiness zone. Summers are typically warm and rainy with cool nights. Winters are typically long, cold, and very dry. The city is in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills.

Neighbourhoods and localities Red Deer includes the following neighbourhoods:

Anders Park Anders Park East Anders South Aspen Ridge Bower Bower Ponds Recreation Area Central Park Chiles Industrial Park Clearview Extension Clearview Meadows Clearview Ridge College Park Davenport Deer Park Estates Deer Park Village Devonshire Downtown East Burnt Lake Eastview Eastview Estates Edgar Industrial Park Evergreen Fairview Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary Garden Heights Glendale Glendale Park Estates Golden West Grandview Heritage Ranch Highland Green Highland Green Estates Inglewood Ironstone Johnstone Crossing Johnstone Park Kentwood East Kentwood West Kingsgate Lancaster Green Lancaster Meadows Laredo Lonsdale Maskepetoon Park McKenzie Trail Recreation Area Michener Hill Morrisroe Morrisroe Extension Mountview Normandeau Northlands Industrial Park Oriole Park Oriole Park West Parkvale Pines Queens Business Park Red Deer College Red Deer Golf and Country Club Riverlands Riverside Heavy Industrial Park Riverside Light Industrial Park Riverside Meadows Rosedale Estates Rosedale Meadows South Hill Southbrook Southpointe Junction Sunnybrook Sunnybrook Extension Three Mile Bend Recreation Area Timber Ridge Timberlands Timberstone Vanier Woods Vanier Woods East Waskasoo Waste Management Facility West Burnt Lake West Park West QE2 Westerner Park Westlake Woodlea

Red Deer's corporate limits also includes the localities of College Park, Forth, Labuma, and North Red Deer.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Red Deer had a population of 100,844 living in 40,512 of its 43,404 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 100,418. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

The Red Deer census agglomeration (CA) was promoted to a census metropolitan area (CMA) in the 2021 Census, becoming the fourth CMA in Alberta (joining Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge). As of 2021, the Red Deer CMA is coincident with the City of Red Deer, thus it similarly had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population (when the CA was also coincident with the city) of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

The population of the City of Red Deer according to its 2019 municipal census is 101,002, a change of from its 2016 municipal census population of 99,832.

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Red Deer (and coincident Red Deer CA) had a population of 100,418 living in 39,982 of its 42,285 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 90,564. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Ethnicity According to the 2016 census, 15.2% of the general population identified as visible minority (non-aboriginal), an increase of 55.9% over the previous five years.Red Deer – % visible minority, Government of Alberta, May 7, 2022 A separate 7.1% reported North American Aboriginal Origins (4.2% First Nations and 3.1% Métis)."Ethnic Origin," Census Profile, 2016 Census Red Deer [Population centre], Alberta and Alberta [Province], Statistics Canada, May 7, 2022 + Panethnic groups in the City of Red Deer (2001–2021) Panethnicgroup 2021 2016 2011 2006 2001 European 73,060 78,065 75,510 71,955 60,345 Southeast Asian 8,970 6,890 2,935 1,590 1,245 Indigenous 6,465 5,185 4,590 3,600 2,675 East Asian 1,645 1,800 1,475 1,090 715 South Asian 2,220 1,665 1,090 630 480 Middle Eastern 1,130 915 485 210 270 Latin American 1,725 1,765 1,185 1,410 480 African 1,940 1,735 990 680 280 Other 895 455 485 195 80 Total responses 98,045 98,480 88,735 81,370 66,565 Total population 100,844 100,418 90,564 82,772 67,707 Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

Arts and culture Red Deer hosts many arts and cultural groups, including: Central Alberta Theatre, Ignition Theatre, Red Deer Players Society, Bull Skit Comedy troupe, Central Music Festival, the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery, the Red Deer Royals and other performing arts and fine arts organizations. The Red Deer Arts Council is a member-based Multi-disciplinary Arts Service Organization and registered charity that serves the local and area community of visual, literary and performing artists.

Attractions Alberta Sports Hall of Fame The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Highway 2) and the Greater Red Deer Visitor Centre. Canyon Ski Area The Canyon Ski Resort is east of Red Deer. Marchant Crane Centrium The Centrium hosts sports events, concerts, trade shows and conventions. It is the home of the WHL's Red Deer Rebels. YMCA Northside Community Centre The YMCA Northside Community Centre offers summer day camps, facility rentals, group fitness classes with childminding, and children and youth sports, arts and education programming. The facility also features a gymnasium, fitness studio, teaching kitchen, youth drop-in space, and multi-purpose spaces for children's programs and special event rentals. Collicutt Centre The Collicutt Centre is a recreation centre that includes a leisure pool, water park, climbing and bouldering walls, field house, ice arena, gymnastics, meeting and dance rooms, a walking / running track, and carpet turf facilities. It also has child care facilities and several small businesses. G.H. Dawe Community Centre The G.H. Dawe Community Centre is shared by G.H. Dawe Community School, the G.H. Dawe Branch of the Red Deer Public Library, G.H. Dawe Centre Recreation Facility and St. Patrick's School. Greater Red Deer Visitor Centre The Greater Red Deer Visitor Centre is adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Highway 2) and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. Recreation Centre The Recreation Centre, located downtown, has indoor and outdoor pools, steam rooms and hot tubs among other features. Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery The Red Deer Museum has a permanent exhibit detailing the history of the region, and temporary exhibits that change every few months. It is also the venue of multiple educational programs for both adults and children. Waskasoo Park Waskasoo Park meanders through Red Deer from its outskirts in the southwest, through the heart of the city, to its outskirts in the northeast along the Red Deer River. It includes over of multi-use trails for biking, rollerblading, horseback riding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and walking. The park is one of the reasons Red Deer is known as "Park City." Westerner Exposition Grounds The Westerner Exposition Grounds hosts events such as Agricon and Westerner Days. Held in early July, Westerner Days includes a rodeo, pony chuck-wagon racing, a fair, exhibitions and other events.

Sports The Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League play at the Marchant Crane Centrium. Red Deer hosted the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and co-hosted the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.Red Deer also co-hosted the COVID-interrupted 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, later completed in Edmonton, and the 1995 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. The Rebels hosted the 2016 Memorial Cup. Red Deer replaced Edmonton as host of the Canadian Finals Rodeo from 2018 to 2023.

Red Deer hosted the 2019 Canada Winter Games, leaving the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre at Red Deer Polytechnic and the Downtown Servus Arena as legacy facilities.

The city is the hometown to numerous Olympic and NHL athletes. Hockey Night in Canada personality Ron MacLean calls Red Deer home.

Transportation The Queen Elizabeth II Highway links the North-South Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, including Wetaskiwin and Camrose, with Red Deer.

The David Thompson Highway links Rocky Mountain House in the West Country with Stettler in East-Central Alberta.