Our History

The Fort Saskatchewan & Lamont Regional Chamber of Commerce, as it is known today, got its origins from the original Fort Saskatchewan Board of Trade.

The Dominion Parliament passed a general act "to authorize the incorporation of Boards of Trade in the Dominion" in 1874. “The number of persons, not less than thirty, being merchants, traders, brokers, mechanics, manufacturers, managers of banks or insurance agents, and being residents of any village, town or city having a population of not less than two thousand five hundred may associate themselves together as a Board of Trade.”

This Board of Trade was established on the evening of January 25, 1904, when 17 concerned businessmen got together to form a group that would guide the economic development of the community for decades to come.

In the early years, the Board of Trade played an important and influential role in the development of the village and concerned itself with all phases of the community, including governance. Despite its hopes that the population would grow with the arrival of the railroad in 1905, the population of Fort Saskatchewan would remain mostly unchanged until the arrival of industry in the 1950’s.

Original Board of Trade Photo hanging in Fort Saskatchewan & Lamont Regional Chamber of Commerce office. Main Street photo courtesy Fort Heritage Precinct. 

With the arrival of Sherritt Gordon Mines in 1954, the Board of Trade evolved to the more modern Fort Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. With more industry and jobs arriving in the region, the population grew and became a city in 1985.

By 1980, the Fort Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce needed its own office space - space was leased at 9911 103 street for the Chamber of Commerce office, and a part-time administrator was employed. Today that office is located in the old Fire Hall at 9923 103 street, and we are reasonably confident that we have a friendly ghost.

Regional Historical Snapshot

• PRE – 1790 | Present day Fort Saskatchewan is located on Treaty 6 Territory and Métis Nation of Alberta Region 4. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area was an important region for Indigenous peoples and the area was known as the Birch Hills, due to its abundance of birch bark. There are records of the fur trade flowing through the region as early as the 1790’s.  
• 1872 | The Lamoureux brothers establish hamlet located across the river from present day Fort Saskatchewan – thriving fur trade encouraged them to establish a ferry-service across the river which continued until 1906
• 1874 | North-West Mounted Police established the Sturgeon Creek Post [name changed to ‘Fort on the Saskatchewan’ 1875]
• 1876 | Athabasca Landing Trail is built by Hudson’s Bay Company to improve transportation between Edmonton and the north
• 1885 | Fort Saskatchewan was raised in prominence when North-West Mounted Police establish their G-Division headquarters
• 1887 | The first homesteader (former North-West Mounted Police) settles in Lamont County
• 1888 | German farmers migrate to the Bruderheim area
• 1899 | Fort Saskatchewan incorporated as a village
• 1904 | Fort Saskatchewan has a population of about 600 - incorporated as a town - original Board of Trade established
• 1905 | Post Office in Bruderheim opened
• 1905 | Railroad arrives, providing farmers better access to markets and a direct line for settlers moving west
• 1906 | Elk Island becomes the first wildlife refuge in Canada, founded to protect one of the last elk herds on the prairies
• 1911 | NWMP Fort is transferred to the provincial government and becomes a jail
• 1950-ish | Fort Saskatchewan Board of Trade evolves to Fort Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce
• 1954 | Sherritt Gordon Mines arrive
• 1985 | Fort Saskatchewan becomes a city
• 2018 | Lamont County proclaims itself “The Cradle of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada”
• 2021 | Fort Saskatchewan / Lamont Chambers of Commerce merge
• 2022 | Chamber name change to Fort Saskatchewan & Lamont Regional Chamber of Commerce