Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/united-kingdom

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Elkford

Coal mining community in British Columbia


Summary

Coal mining community in British Columbia

FieldValue
nameElkford
official_nameDistrict of Elkford
settlement_typeDistrict municipality
mottoWild at Heart
image_map
pushpin_mapCanada British Columbia#CAN BC East Kootenay
pushpin_map_captionLocation in British Columbia##Location in the RD of East Kootenay
pushpin_mapsize220
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameCanada
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1British Columbia
subdivision_type2Regional district
subdivision_name2East Kootenay
leader_titleGoverning body
leader_nameElkford Council
leader_title1
established_title
established_title2Incorporated
established_date21971
established_title3
area_total_km2101.59
area_land_km2
population_as_of2016
population_total2,499
timezoneMST
utc_offset-7
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
elevation_m1300
postal_code_typePostal code span
postal_codeV0B 1H0
area_code250 / 778 / 236: 250-865 778-521
blank_nameHighways
blank_info
website

Elkford is a district municipality in the southeast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia in the Rocky Mountain range. It is 32 km north of the junction at Sparwood, on provincial Highway 43. Outdoor recreational activities take place in Elkford throughout the year. Elkford hosts an annual festival called Wildcat Days during the last weekend of June.

The town and area have many kilometres of horse riding, hiking, snowmobiling and cross country ski trails, and a ski hill, Wapiti, run by Elkford resident volunteers. The Elkford Aquatic Centre has a competition-size pool, hot tub and sauna.

There are two public schools Rocky Mountain Elementary School and Elkford Secondary School with a combined student population of 400 in January 2006.

There are five open-pit coal mines within an hour's drive of Elkford: Fording River Operations (FRO), Greenhills Operations (GHO), Line Creek Operations (LCO), Elkview Operations (EVO) and Coal Mountain Operations (CMO). All mines belong to Elk Valley Resources. Elkford was created due to mining activity, in the early 1970s. Many Elkford residents work for the mines or as contractors; other residents work in service industries directly related to the mines. The Fording River Operations (FRO) mine is located on the Continental Divide of the Americas, known as the Great Divide.

A coal seam close to Aldridge Creek, north of Elkford, has been burning for decades and is known to residents of the area as "The Burning Coal Seam."

Climate

Fording River weather station, near Elkford, has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc). |Jan record high C = 10.6 |Feb record high C = 12.0 |Mar record high C = 16.5 |Apr record high C = 24.4 |May record high C = 28.0 |Jun record high C = 35.0 |Jul record high C = 37.5 |Aug record high C = 36.7 |Sep record high C = 32.5 |Oct record high C = 25.5 |Nov record high C = 13.3 |Dec record high C = 10.0 |year record high C = |Jan record low C = -41.0 |Feb record low C = -39.0 |Mar record low C = -33.0 |Apr record low C = -26.1 |May record low C = -15.0 |Jun record low C = -6.1 |Jul record low C = -3.0 |Aug record low C = -6.0 |Sep record low C = -12.2 |Oct record low C = -25.6 |Nov record low C = -36.5 |Dec record low C = -49.0 |year record low C =

Demographics

In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Elkford had a population of 2,749 living in 1,159 of its 1,602 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,499. With a land area of 108.12 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Elkford included:

  • Irreligion (1,530 persons or 55.7%)
  • Christianity (1,195 persons or 43.5%)
  • Buddhism (10 persons or 0.4%)
  • Other (10 persons or 0.4%)

Local media

Radio stations

  • 99.1 FM - CJDR, Classic Rock
  • 92.7 FM - CFBZ, Country
  • 97.7 FM - CBTN, CBC Radio
  • 106.9 FM - CJAY, Rock
  • 90.1 FM - ..., Hip-hop/Hits
  • 93.5 FM rock
  • 92.9 FM rock
  • 107.9 FM summit 107

Cable television stations

  • Channel 10: Shaw TV
  • Channel 5: CFCN, CTV
  • Channel 13: CBUT, CBC

References

References

  1. "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address". British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development.
  2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100721032957/http://www.tourismelkford.ca/Burning%20Coal%20Seam.html Elkford Chamber of Commerce]
  3. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), British Columbia". [[Statistics Canada]].
  4. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2022-10-26). "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Elkford — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report