Nestled along the banks of the Sturgeon River just northwest of Edmonton, St. Albert has grown from a small 19th-century Métis settlement into one of the most prominent cities in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. Located immediately adjacent to Edmonton on its southern and eastern sides, St. Albert occupies a position that was once separated from the provincial capital by several miles of open farmland, a gap that closed during Edmonton’s significant territorial expansion in the 1980s. Today, St. Albert holds the distinction of being the second-largest city in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, reflecting decades of steady residential growth in the greater Edmonton area.
Founding and Early Settlement
St. Albert traces its origins to 1861, when Father Albert Lacombe, OMI, established a Métis mission in the valley of the Sturgeon River. Lacombe had originally intended to locate the mission at Lac Ste. Anne, but the soil there proved too poor for agriculture, prompting him to seek a more suitable site. The chosen location offered several practical advantages: reliable access to wood and water, fertile ground for cultivation, proximity to Fort Edmonton where priests could purchase supplies and provide ministry to Catholic workers, and a position along an established travel route used regularly by First Nations peoples. Bishop Alexandre-Antonin Taché, OMI, gave the settlement its name, honouring Father Lacombe’s patron saint, Saint Albert of Louvain. A group of Grey Nuns followed Lacombe from Lac Ste. Anne in subsequent years, and more Métis settlers arrived in 1863. By December 1864, the community had grown to approximately 300 residents. Tragedy struck in 1870 when localised smallpox outbreaks spread northward into the area, claiming the lives of 320 of the settlement’s then-900 inhabitants. St. Albert was granted town status in 1904, and two years later the Canadian Northern Railway arrived, further connecting the community to the broader region. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a historical misconception circulated, suggesting the city had been named after St. Albert the Great, an error traced to incorrectly printed information published in 1985.
Residential Schools and Reconciliation
St. Albert was the site of two Indian residential schools operating under the Canadian Residential School System. The St. Albert Indian Residential School, also known as Youville, stood on Mission Hill within the city limits and was operated by the Roman Catholic Church from October 22, 1873, to June 30, 1948, having been relocated there from the Lac Ste. Anne Mission where it was originally founded. The Edmonton Indian Residential School, also known as Poundmaker, was situated approximately 6 km east of St. Albert’s current downtown and was operated by the Methodist Church from March 1, 1924, to June 30, 1968. That site later became home to the Poundmaker Lodge rehabilitation centre. Between the two institutions, 53 students are known to have died under unknown or questionable circumstances while enrolled. As part of the ongoing truth-and-reconciliation process between the city and survivors and their descendants, a healing garden called Kâkesimokamik was opened on September 15, 2017.
Heritage and Landmarks
One of St. Albert’s most enduring landmarks is the Father Lacombe Chapel, the small chapel constructed by Father Lacombe in the Sturgeon River valley when the settlement was first established in 1861. Remarkably, the structure still stands today on Mission Hill, offering a tangible connection to the city’s founding. The chapel serves as a reminder of the community’s Métis roots and its evolution from a modest 19th-century mission into the substantial suburban city it is today.