Fort St. John, British Columbia

Originally established in 1794, as a trading post on Canada’s Peace River in the eastern part of the province, Fort St. John is the oldest European-established settlement in present-day British Colum- bia. The city, which incorporated in 1947, is considered the transportation hub of the region because the Alaska Highway, which was built in 1942 by the U.S. Army, runs through it on its way north to Fort Nelson, the Yukon, and Alaska.With a population of approximately 23,000, Fort St. John also serves as a service center for the area’s agriculture, forestry, and fossil fuel industries. “Our tagline is ‘The Energetic City,’” says Julie Rogers, the City’s Communications Coordinator. “In part, because we are smack in the middle of oil and gas coun- try, so a large number of our population works in the oil and gas industry.We understand energy extraction and how it has been driving our provincial economy. Also, the average age of our population is 30, so we’re very young and energetic.” “We have a great appreciation for con- servation,” Rogers adds. “That surprises a lot of people because we make our Fort St. John, British Columbia The energetic city Fort St. John, British Columbia