Lighthouses of Canada: Alberta

The nation of Canada was created by the British North America Act in 1867 with Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as the four original provinces. Today Canada is a federation of ten provinces and three large federal territories in the far north of the country.

Early in the 19th Century most of modern Alberta was claimed by Britain and controlled by fur trading companies, The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company. The southern part of the future province, in the Missouri River drainage, was claimed by the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 until the treaty of 1818 established the international border at latitude 49° North. In 1870 the fur companies ceded their holdings to the new Canadian government and the Northwest Territories was created to include all of the region. In 1882 administrations were established for two districts, the Alberta District in the south and the Athabaska District in the center and north. The Province of Alberta was formed in 1905 with its present boundaries. Alberta borders Saskatchewan to the east, British Columbia to the west, Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south.

Alberta is landlocked and has no officially maintained lighthouses. The province does have many lakes and reservoirs. Even though they are unofficial, the Directory lists lighthouses if they stand beside navigable water, have some plausible navigational value, and are active during the local boating season.

General Sources
Lighthouses in Alberta
Photos by various photographers available from Wikimedia.
World of Lighthouses - Canadian Inland Waterways
Photos by various photographers available from Lightphotos.net.


Lake Newell Light, Lake Newell
unattributed photo posted by gccans.ca

Lighthouses
* Lake Newell
Date unknown. Active; white light, pattern unknown. 6 m (20 ft) octagonal tower with lantern and gallery. Tower painted in a red and white spiral pattern, lantern painted black. A photo is above, a 2012 photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. Lake Newell is a large reservoir about 15 km (9 mi) south of Brooks in southern Alberta. The lighthouse is part of Lake Newell Resort, a community at the north end of the lake. Originally it was built on a sandbar island in the lake as seen in Bing's satellite view, but due to erosion of the island it was relocated onshore in 2015. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: Lake Newell Resort.
#Sylvan Lake (1)
1988. Demolished in 2012. Approx. 20 m (66 ft) octagonal wood tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white; the gallery and lantern roof were red. A closeup 2005 photo is available and Wikimedia has Kor Nielsen's closeup 2001 photo. In August 2012 it was announced that the privately-owned lighthouse would be removed to make way for new development, and it was toppled on 18 October 2012. The lighthouse was located at the Sylvan Lake Marina, at the southeast end of Sylvan Lake about 20 km (13 mi) west of Red Deer.
* Sylvan Lake (2)
2016. Active (?); white light, pattern unknown. Approx. 15 m (49 ft) octagonal wood tower with lantern and gallery. Tower painted white, lantern red. A photo is at right, Jim Tudor has a photo, Rob Monahan has a 2023 photo, and Google has a street view; Google's satellite view shows the octagonal foundation of the not-yet-built lighthouse. The Sylvan Lake Lighthouse Project coordinated efforts to design and build a replacement lighthouse. The construction contract was awarded in late September 2015 and the lighthouse was inaugurated on Canada Day (July 1) in 2016. The new lighthouse is on the downtown waterfront east of the marina in Sylvan Lake. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: Town of Sylvan Lake (Rotary Lighthouse Park).
* [Pratt's Landing]
2013. Active; focal plane 7 m (23 ft); flashing white light. 4 m (13 ft) octagonal wood lighthouse with a small lantern. Lighthouse painted white, lantern blue. The lighthouse is not seen in Google's satellite view. The solar-powered lighthouse guides boaters on their return to the Pratt's Landing Campground, on the Peace River west of Fairview in northern Alberta. Site open, tower closed.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:


Sylvan Lake Light, Sylvan Lake, May 2017
Flickr Creative Commons photo by Government of Alberta

Adjoining pages: East: Saskatchewan | West: Southern British Columbia

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Posted November 25, 2007. Checked and revised September 24, 2023. Lighthouses: 3. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.