Wood Buffalo region is ‘more than ready’ for economic, population growth: mayor

Sandy Bowman on Alberta Primetime Dec 10, 2025

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo mayor Sandy Bowman joins Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins to discuss pipelines, the future of Fort McMurray, and more in this year-end interview.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: What kind of discussion about the new energy deal between Alberta and Ottawa driving in the Fort McMurray region?

Sandy Bowman: It definitely builds confidence for industry here which leads to confidence in employment up here with great paying jobs and that sort of thing. We always say in Fort McMurray, “When Fort McMurray does well, Alberta does well. And when Alberta does well, Canada does well.”

With such natural resources that we have in Canada being able to get that to tidewater has always been an issue. We’ve seen that with the last pipeline the government actually purchased and is producing right now. That pipeline is almost at capacity. Anything at all that increases investment in the region here is good for not only Fort McMurray, but all of Canada.

MH: What level of confidence do you have this memorandum of understanding (MOU) will actually pave the way to the pipeline?

SB: It’s a start. We haven’t heard that from the federal government a lot of years, any kind of confidence in the industry and any kind of backing for it. So to hear the federal government work with provincial government, it’s a good sign for Fort McMurray and a good sign for Canada. An MOU is great. It’s a great start, a pipeline in the ground is even better. When it happens we’ll really celebrate. But right now it does lead to some confidence in the industry.

MH: How soon could you expect to see some impact from heightened production to fill out capacity in existing pipelines, even building up to the Pathways Alliance Carbon Capture project?

SB: That’s a huge project that leads to a lot of jobs in this in this area, as well as being good stewards of the environment and working with our First Nations to make sure we’re taking care of this land. That’s something we very much value in this region and we look forward to moving forward.

MH: So all kinds of potential to boost the economy, draw some new business, propel population growth. How ready as a municipality are you for the demands that might come with that?

SB: We’re more than ready. We have land agreements with the province, so we have a lot of land right now that we own and can develop. Our infrastructure is already set up for it. We’re set up for lots more people in this community. We’ve seen some growth.

The official census hasn’t come out yet, but we have seen growth here. I can see it looking out my window from city hall that the town is busier, the highway is busier, businesses are busier, and we invest a lot in this community to make it welcoming to more people and with more competent industry that leads to better paying jobs. This community is known for the highest disposable income, low property taxes. It’s built to take more people. Even our recreation facilities are designed state of the art. We encourage people to move to this region.

MH: Any hint on those census numbers? Have you pushed north of 120,000?

SB: I can’t give any kind of indication, because the province has to approve our numbers. But in our preliminaries, it’s positive.

MH: With talk of artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in the province, is that something on your municipality’s radar as well?

SB: It’s well on our radar. One thing the AI data centers need is stable ground which we have. It needs a cold environment, which everyone knows we definitely have. It needs stable electricity, it needs a place where you don’t have blackouts. All those things lead to Fort McMurray being a region that would definitely be amenable to AI data centers. We have everything you need.

It’s just a matter of different ones coming here and seeing what land is available. It’s a huge project and I know other places in Alberta have AI data centers already in process. We have talked to a few different companies that are looking at this region.

MH: When it comes to all this growth, where does Highway 686 land on your radar? That’s the provincial government’s move to expand the connection between Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie.

SB: Absolutely, and we have the overpass that has been built here for years for that highway. I guess they’ve seen some growth on the other side. We’ve been in constant talk with the province on moving forward from this side now, and also in consultation with a lot of the First Nations. They’ll be highly involved in the project as it goes through a lot of First Nations territory.

Also talking about investment in the region, we’ve had new schools being built. There’s two on the books right now being built up here. We also have a Home Depot that’s being built. We have a super Walmart being built basically in the corner of highway 63 and 686. So a lot of businesses have been coming into the community, and they know something’s happening here, and they see those things. There’s a lot of positive things happening community right now.

MH: Touching on the municipal election. You won a second term in October. Lot’s of familiar faces back on council as well – Don Scott, former mayor, former MLA. What does that spell for the next four year term?

SB: What I see right now is a very experienced council. We have right now a lot of people that are very committed to the to this job. I’m very optimistic about our council. We’ve had a few meetings already and the council has been very engaged with training and getting caught up to everything that’s going on.

Seven of the 11 are new to this this council, not new to political parties or political life. But seven new to this council, so a lot of them are doing a lot of catch up and kind of drinking from a fire hose for the first few months. Four of us that were re-elected from last term just kind of went back into our normal groove studying what’s on the agenda and seeing what’s going on in the community and moving forward. Already we’ve hit the ground running. So very optimistic with the council.

We have a lot of experience, like you mentioned, Don Scott, very well known in the community. I believe the highest amount of votes for any councillor went to Don Scott. It’s great to have that experience in the seats around the horseshoe. So very optimistic about the next four years.