Prince Albert is the third largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada, after Saskatoon and Regina. It is situated near the geographic centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. Often simply referred to as P. A., the city is also known as the "Gateway to the North" since it is the northernmost major urban centre in the province and serves as somewhat of a hub between Saskatchewan's northern communities and larger communities in the south. Prince Albert National Park is located north of the city and contains a wealth of lakes, forest, and wildlife. The city itself is located in a transition zone between the aspen parkland and boreal forest biomes. Prince Albert is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Prince Albert No. 461, of which it is the seat, but is politically separate.
History The area was named kistahpinanihk by the Cree, which translates to "sitting pretty place", "great meeting place" or "meeting place".
The first trading post set up in the area was built in 1776 by Peter Pond. James Isbister, an Anglo-Métis employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, settled on the site of the current city in 1862. He farmed there until 1866, and had been joined by a number of families who called the site Isbister's Settlement.
The community received a boost in 1866 when Reverend James Nisbet, a Canada Presbyterian Church minister arrived to establish a mission for the Cree. Nisbet named the mission after Albert, Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria, who had died in 1861, from whom the present city derives its name. In 1879, the Presbyterian Church brought out Lucy Margaret Baker to run the local mission school. During the same year, the local Freemasons established the first lodge in what is now the province of Saskatchewan: Kinistino Lodge No. 1, which still exists. "The Mission", the settlement centrally located, and "Porter Town", located to the west, were the two communities that would come together to form what is now Prince Albert. The settlement east of Prince Albert was termed Goschen before finally amalgamated, however East Prince Albert still appears on a 1924 map.
In 1884, Honore Jaxon and James Isbister were involved in the movement which brought Louis Riel back to Canada. Riel returned from the United States following a political exile resulting from the Red River Rebellion that had occurred in 1869–1870. Five hundred people gathered to hear Riel speak one month after his return.
In the North-West Rebellion of the 1885, Prince Albert Volunteers bore the heaviest casualties of the fighting at the Battle of Duck Lake. Surrounding settlers took refuge with the North-West Mounted Police in a hastily improvised stockade at Prince Albert, fearing an attack by Gabriel Dumont, which never came. After the Battle of Batoche, Major General Frederick Middleton marched to Prince Albert to relieve the town. Prince Albert, with a population of about 800 people, was incorporated as a town the same year under its first mayor, Thomas McKay. In 1904, the settlement was incorporated as the City of Prince Albert. Its government is of a council-mayor type.
Prince Albert was the capital of the District of Saskatchewan, a regional administrative division of what then constituted the North-West Territories. The District of Saskatchewan was formed on May 8, 1882, and named Prince Albert as its capital. This ended in 1905 when Saskatchewan became a province and Regina was designated the new provincial capital.
Prince Albert was one of the rival candidates to house either the University of Saskatchewan or the Saskatchewan Federal Penitentiary. The university was built in Saskatoon and the penitentiary was built in Prince Albert in 1911.
The federal constituency of Prince Albert has been represented by three prime ministers of Canada:
John Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister (1957–1963), became the Member of Parliament for Lake Centre in 1940, and when that riding was abolished in 1952, represented Prince Albert from 1953 until his death in 1979. William Lyon Mackenzie King, tenth Prime Minister, represented Prince Albert from 1926 to 1945. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister, represented Prince Albert in the Saskatchewan provisional district (still part of Northwest Territories) in 1896, before returning to his Quebec East riding later that year.
Royal visits
Prince Albert has welcomed the following members of Canada's Royal Family:
The Princess Margaret – 1958 and 1980 The Duke and Duchess of York (The then Prince Andrew and Sarah) – 1989 The Earl of Wessex (The Prince Edward) – 2003
Geography
Prince Albert is located on the White Fox Plain of the Saskatchewan River lowlands. These lowlands are located in the physiographic region of the Saskatchewan Plains Region of the Central Lowlands Province. The natural vegetation of the area consists of aspen parkland to the south and southern boreal forest to the north of the North Saskatchewan River. These two ecoregions have differing soil types: the northern forested soils are brunisolic and sandy, whereas south of the river are black chernozemic soils. The North Saskatchewan River runs through the centre of Prince Albert. The main soils of the city of Prince Albert are those of the valley complex consisting mainly of regosolic soils which produce natural vegetation which are not forest nor grassland but a complex of the two. It is here that the treeline of Saskatchewan begins, and to the north of the city begins the forested growth of Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana), as well as other boreal forest growth in the Prince Albert National Park, and Nisbet forest. The forests north of the city, especially those containing Jack Pine are infected with Dwarf Mistletoe and various projects have been undertaken to stop the spread of this parasitic plant. The agricultural soils around Prince Albert have some limitations and about 35% of the land is covered with sloughs or potholes. Creek systems such as the Red Deer Hill Creek and McFarlane Creek drain into the South Saskatchewan River. In the past these creeks have been known to dry up allowing farmers to cut hay, but in recent years these waterways have been overfilling due to large amounts of winter run-off and increase of the water table. The land use is divided into the southern woodland area north of Prince Albert and cropland to the south.
The Quaternary glacial geology precludes the region to have been covered by the large prehistoric glacial lake called Lake Agassiz. The ancient shoreline can be seen along the "Esker Trail" in Narrow Hills Provincial Park which is just north-east of the city. Many different types of fossils have been found in the Prince Albert region. Along the riverbanks of the Shell River can be observed a stratum containing Quaternary bivalve mollusk shells and in 2014 the vertebrae and bone fragments of a bison were found by local college students attending Saskatchewan Polytechnic in the Shell River area. Various areas (especially eroded river banks) have been known to reveal bison skulls and other various types of fossils. Claims have also been made of various types of marine fossils including oysters, clams, corals and other invertebrates are to be found mixed in fossil matrixes just east of the city near the small village of Love The bedrock geology is a part of the phanerozoic basin and belongs to the Lea Park and Milk River Formation.
The bulk of the city's population and commercial areas are located on the south shore of the river, with only a few sparsely populated neighbourhoods, an industrial area, and the airport (along with some parkland) on the north.
Climate Prince Albert experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb). It is close to being subarctic (Dfc) with May and September mean temperatures being just above . The coldest month on average is January with an average low of , and July is the hottest month with an average high of . The highest temperature ever recorded in Prince Albert was on July 19, 1941. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on February 1, 1893. Winter lasts five months of the year with January daily mean of , causing a great temperature amplitude in comparison to the mean temperature of July. The variability of the climate is further demonstrated by the brief transition zones with April recording both above and below and , respectively.
The record high daily minimum was recorded July 21, 1989. The record highest dew point was recorded July 16, 2022. The most humid month was July 2012 with an average dew point of . The warmest month was July 2007 with an average mean temperature of .
Demographics
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Prince Albert had a population of 37,756 living in 14,308 of its 15,490 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
For residents over the age of 25 years, 82.7% have a high school diploma (or equivalent), 55.3% have a post-secondary degree; and 17.3% have no certificate, diploma, or degree.
Ethnicity Prince Albert has one of the highest Aboriginal population ratios for any Canadian city, at 44.65%. + Panethnic groups in the City of Prince Albert (2001−2021)Panethnic group20212016201120062001 Indigenous 16,120 14,830 13,930 12,140 10,180 European 15,765 17,280 19,210 20,420 22,640 Southeast Asian 1,750 1,250 395 115 140 South Asian 1,045 660 170 165 100 African 805 475 190 165 120 East Asian 210 180 235 250 115 Middle Eastern 170 120 35 95 15 Latin American 155 75 50 85 100 Other/multiracial 60 90 0 10 20 Total responses 36,105 34,945 34,270 33,445 33,430 Total population 37,756 35,926 35,129 34,138 34,291
Religion As of the 2021 Census, 58.8% of residents identified as Christian of any denomination, and 36.1% identified as having no religion or having secular beliefs.
Language English Canadians make up more than 80% of the city's population. More than 20% of the population is foreign-born or second generation immigrants. French Canadians make up less than 2% of Prince Albert's inhabitants.
Mother tongue language (2021)2021 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Retrieved July 20, 2026. LanguagePopulationPct (%)English only29,67081.8%French only6451.8%Both English & French2050.6%Other languages4,61012.7%
Economy Prince Albert is situated on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, with rich agricultural land to the south and the boreal forest to the north. Although Prince Albert is centrally located in Saskatchewan, it is the second most northerly city in the province after Meadow Lake. This physical location has led to the creation of the slogan "Gateway to the North".
After being established as a mission centre, the main impetus for growth was speculation that the Transcontinental Railway would travel north from the Red River Valley along Hind's fertile belt through to Edmonton. When the Canadian Pacific Railway chose a more southerly route, Prince Albert's growth collapsed:
The La Colle Falls hydroelectric power dam project was an attempt to provide affordable electricity to attract industry By 1927, the project was abandoned as the city was close to bankruptcy. In 1945, Prince Albert National Park was established, and the tourism sector helped to again revive Prince Albert's economy.
The city's location has benefited the community in many ways through the years as an agriculture, forestry, tourism, mining, retail, and service centre for the immediate market and the northern communities. Prince Albert has a total trade area of 140,000 people, including an additional 12,000 that can be included if Flin Flon and The Pas are accounted for. The major contributing factor to this is the role of Prince Albert as a retail and service centre to these northern communities.