Fort McMurray (Fort Mac), Alberta
What Fort Mac is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 1,319 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.
1,319 businesses on file · 102 trades · 33 sectors · · built from geonet.fortmac on 2026-10-07
Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Fort Mac → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.
The local economy
What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.
Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.
Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.
What this city is specialised in
Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 10 CA metro tables. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.
Thin against the national pattern
Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.
The base against the entry screen
Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.
How to read the survival figure
Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.
Weighted over 98.9% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And what it does not measure
A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.
Who lives here, and who the city is for
The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.
No census subdivision is mapped for ca-fort-mac in local/census-map.json, so this page carries no census figures. The mapping is kept explicit because Canada has several places called London, Toronto and Kelowna, and attaching the wrong one would put another city's demographics on this page.
The communities the register shows
A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.
| Community | Institutions | Worship | Trade | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous | 1 | — | 2 |
Ft Mc Murray Metis Nation Lcl |
| Chinese | — | — | 1 | |
| Japanese | — | — | 1 | |
| French | — | — | 1 | |
| Irish | — | — | 1 | |
| Scottish | — | — | 1 |
Where the communities are
Streets, not neighbourhood names. The data knows that Greek institutions sit on one street and Greek restaurants on another; it does not know the word "Greektown", so it does not use it.
What the city is made of
Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 1,319 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.
| Sector | Businesses | Share | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living | 100 | 7.6% | apartment (34) · place of worship (27) · cleaning (13) · furniture (5) · daycare (5) · janitor (4) · veterinary (3) · appliances (3) |
| Construction | 84 | 6.4% | general contractor (17) · electrician (13) · plumbing (13) · concrete (10) · painting (9) · excavating (5) · home builder (4) · carpet (4) |
| Business | 74 | 5.6% | association (35) · consulting (12) · government (9) · accounting (8) · vending (2) · bank (1) · auction (1) |
| Dining | 71 | 5.4% | restaurant (48) · pizza (16) · pubs (4) · diner (2) · steakhouse (1) |
| Retail | 67 | 5.1% | gifts (19) · convenience (17) · department store (10) · jeweler (9) · flowers (5) · office equipment (2) · pet supply (2) · photography (2) |
| Automotive | 67 | 5.1% | autos (27) · auto repair (17) · auto parts (5) · tires (4) · motorcycle (2) |
| Health | 64 | 4.9% | physician (20) · fitness club (8) · optical (8) · pharmacy (6) · health foods (4) · chiro (2) · medical clinic (2) |
| Beauty | 63 | 4.8% | hair stylist (44) · dentist (10) · barber (7) |
| Living & Home | 41 | 3.1% | greenhouse (1) |
| Finance | 39 | 3% | insurance (13) · bank (10) · loans (2) · mortgage (1) |
| Construction & Realty | 38 | 2.9% | |
| Manufacturing | 32 | 2.4% | fabrication (15) · industrial supplier (13) · machinery (3) · salvage (1) |
| Education | 32 | 2.4% | school (30) |
| Travel | 28 | 2.1% | bnb (12) · motel (7) · travel agent (4) · hotel (2) · bank (1) |
| Realty | 27 | 2% | real estate (27) |
| Fashion | 20 | 1.5% | clothing (20) |
| Logistics | 17 | 1.3% | truck transportation (11) · storage (1) |
| Energy | 16 | 1.2% | petroleum (8) · fuel (4) · pipelines (4) |
| Entertainment | 15 | 1.1% | games (9) · music instruments (1) · nightclub (1) · museum (1) |
| Retail Goods | 14 | 1.1% |
The franchises already here
Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.
22 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.
| Brand | Category | Here | Worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Tire | retail | 3 | 455 |
| Shell Canada | fuel | 3 | 2,100 |
| Shoppers Drug Mart | pharmacy | 3 | 927 |
| Kal Tire | auto | 2 | 200 |
| Rogers Video | video | 2 | 300 |
| Taco Time | fastfood | 2 | 300 |
| U-Haul | car | 2 | 13,700 |
| Wal-Mart | retail | 2 | 6,500 |
| 7-Eleven | convenience | 1 | 30,000 |
| Baskin Robbins | dessert | 1 | 2,800 |
| Booster Juice | dessert | 1 | 150 |
| Boston Pizza | pizza | 1 | 250 |
| Buck or Two | retail | 1 | 139 |
| Burger King | fastfood | 1 | 11,000 |
| Co-operators | insurance | 1 | — |
| Cotton Ginny | retail | 1 | — |
| Curves For Women | fitness | 1 | 10,000 |
| Dairy Queen | fastfood | 1 | 5,900 |
| Driving Force | car | 1 | 10 |
| Earls Restaurant | food | 1 | 52 |
| Edo Japan | food | 1 | 90 |
| Foto Source | retail | 1 | — |
| Fountain Tire | auto | 1 | — |
| Harley Davidson locations | motorcycle | 1 | — |
| Herbal Magic | health | 1 | 315 |
| Hertz Rent A Car | car | 1 | 7,000 |
| Home Hardware | home | 1 | 1,000 |
| IKON Office Solutions | retail | 1 | 400 |
| Lions Club | club | 1 | — |
| Minute Muffler | auto | 1 | — |
| Movie Gallery | video | 1 | 4,700 |
| Mr. Sub | deli | 1 | 475 |
| Northern Reflections | retail | 1 | 150 |
| Peoples Jewellers | retail | 1 | — |
| Petro Canada | fuel | 1 | 1,512 |
| Pita Pit | deli | 1 | 220 |
| Pizza 73 | pizza | 1 | 48 |
| Pizza Hut | pizza | 1 | 10,000 |
| Royal Bank | bank | 1 | — |
| Royal Canadian Legion | club | 1 | 160 |
| Salvation Army | retail | 1 | — |
| Save On Foods | supermarket | 1 | 69 |
| Source For Sports | retail | 1 | 150 |
| St. John | retail | 1 | — |
| Super 8 | economyhotel | 1 | — |
| Superior Propane | fuel | 1 | — |
| Sylvan Learning | school | 1 | 710 |
| Tim Hortons | coffee | 1 | 2,890 |
| Limited name only | retail | 54 | — |
| Manor name only | retail | 10 | — |
| YMCA name only | fitness | 5 | — |
| CIBC name only | bank | 3 | — |
| Safeway name only | supermarket | 3 | 1,767 |
| Sears name only | inc | 3 | 2,300 |
| ScotiaBank name only | bank | 2 | — |
| Toyota name only | car | 2 | — |
| Zellers name only | retail | 2 | — |
| Bootlegger name only | retail | 1 | — |
| Champion name only | supermarket | 1 | 1,000 |
| Coach name only | luggage | 1 | — |
| Fabutan name only | health | 1 | 151 |
| Greyhound name only | travel | 1 | — |
| Hallmark name only | greetingcards | 1 | 5,600 |
| Husky name only | fuel | 1 | — |
| Jeep name only | suv | 1 | — |
| Midas name only | auto | 1 | 1,800 |
| Reitmans name only | retail | 1 | 343 |
| SAAN name only | retail | 1 | 140 |
| Sheraton name only | upscalehotel | 1 | — |
| Travelodge name only | economyhotel | 1 | — |
Real estate as a local trade
Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.
Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.
Selling homes
5312Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.
Named in the register
- Alcor Commercial Realty — 288 Macalpine Cres
- Can am Geomatics — 2-425 Gregoire Dr
- Century 21 Dynamic Realty — 604A Signal Rd
- Century 21 Dynamic Realty — 604 Signal Road
- Chalifour Denis Associates — 8706 Franklin Avenue 302
- Garry Shantz Real Estate — PO Box 6108 STN Main
- Kerrigan Appraisals Limited — 8600 Franklin Avenue 619
- McElhanney Land Surveys AltaLimited — 9913 Biggs Avenue 305
- Odonell Brookes Mary — 8600 Franklin Ave
- P and G Management — 8706 Franklin Ave
- Re Max Fort Mc Murray — 9919 Biggs Ave
- Sutton Group Fort Mc Murray — 8706 Franklin Ave
- Usher Canada Limited — 10014B Franklin Ave
- Woodland Home Inspection Service — 121 Silvanus Cres
Owning and letting
5311Lessors of real estate: the buildings themselves, filed under the building rather than the owner.
Named in the register
- Centennial Apartments — 1 Centennial Drive
- Centennial Apartments — 1 Centennial Dr
- Gannet Place Apartments — 9602 Franklin Avenue
- Hangingstone Place Apartments — 201 Abasand Drive
- International Management Property Group — 4 Nixon Street
- Jonathan Lodge Limited — 113 Stroud Bay 102
- Lunar Apartments — 2 Alberta Drive
- Manhattan Manor Apartments — 109 Elmore Drive 102
- North Haven Manor — 10126 MacDonald Avenue
- Parkland Manor — 10125 Franklin Avenue
- Ravine Park Office — 401 Athabasca Ave
- Skyview Apartments — 9908 Gordon Avenue
- Snowbird Manor — 5 Clearwater Crescent
- Whimbrell Terrace — 9600 Manning Avenue
Building new homes
2361Residential builders and the general contractors who work for them.
Named in the register
- 2000 Plus — 9913 Biggs Ave
- Christina River Enterprises — PO Box 6040 STN Main
- Consun — 9715 Main St
- Consun Contracting — 9715 Main St
- Liam Construction — 36 Riedel St
- Mc Daniel Maintenance — 168 Torrie Bay
- Midwest Constructors — 242 Macalpine Cres
- Northern Dene Enterprises — 345 Macalpine Cres
- Simms Brothers Contracting — 14 Centennial Dr
- Stony Valley Contracting Jv — 9521 Franklin Ave
- Tbg Contracting — Hwy 63 N
- Tuttle Associates Environment — 316 Mackay Cres
- Voice Construction — 200 Macdonald Cres
- Wood Buffalo Scaffolding — 315 Macdonald Cres
Financing it
5222Mortgage brokers and non-bank lenders.
Named in the register
- Cahill Mortgage — 121 Dundas Road
- Insta Loans — 8802 Franklin Ave
- Insta Loans Financial — 8802 Franklin Ave
On "how many doors"
How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the /property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.
Work where you go to them
The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you.
A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 157 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 0 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.
The 157 Service=1 rows in search.local: work where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.
home services
events
pets
luxury
healthcare
sporting goods
sports
business
outdoors
construction
travel
tools
Schools and colleges
wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.
In the business register
Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.
Health and care
What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.
Matched on the name "hospital"
- Gregoire Lake Health Center — PO Box 6130 STN Main
- Wood Buffalo Small Animal Hospital — 608 Signal Road 5
- Fort Mc Murray Animal Hospital — 10116 Centennial Dr
- Tamarack Health Centre — 9616 Franklin Avenue 105
geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.
Mayor & politics
Who holds office here and who is asking to, from the official lists on /politics: the council, the riding’s Member of Parliament and the provincial member. Each name opens its row there.
What this record cannot tell you
Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.
- No census figures on this page: this region is not mapped to a census subdivision in local/census-map.json, so the community counts here are business-register institutions, which is a different measurement and cannot substitute for a population.
- wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
- No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
- 24.9% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 98.5%.
Built from
geonet.fortmac— the local business registerwander.regions— city name, population, metrosearch.local— trait vocabulary and the come-to-you servicessearch.cozfranchises— 2,024 franchise brands