Chetwynd is a district municipality located in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Situated on an ancient floodplain, it is the first town eastbound travellers encounter after emerging from the Rockies along Highway 97, and acts as the gateway to the Peace River Country. The town developed during the construction of infrastructure through the Rocky Mountains in the 1950s; additionally, it was used as a transshipment point during the building of hydroelectric dams, in the 1960s and 1970s, and the new town of Tumbler Ridge, in the early 1980s. Home to approximately 2,600 residents, the town’s population has increased little—if at all—since the 1980s, but is significantly younger than the provincial average.
Once known as Little Prairie, the community adopted its name in honour of provincial politician Ralph Chetwynd, just prior to its incorporation, in 1962. The municipality consists of the town, a community forest, and four exclave properties. Chetwynd has dozens of chainsaw carvings displayed throughout the town as public art. It is home to a Northern Lights College campus. Nearby, there are four provincial parks, two lakes, and several recreational trails.
Highways 29 and 97 intersect in town; the east–west Highway 97 connects the town to Prince George and Dawson Creek while the north–south Highway 29 connects Tumbler Ridge and Hudson's Hope. A rail line branches-off in three directions: northward to Fort St. John, east to Dawson Creek, and west through the Rockies to Prince George. The Chetwynd economy is dominated by the primary industries of forestry, fossil fuel extraction, and transportation. Chetwynd is a member municipality in the Peace River Regional District and, , is represented in provincial politics by BC United MLA Mike Bernier (elected in 2013).
History From 1918 until the 1930s, the present townsite hosted a trading post on a grassy pasture known to the Sekani and Saulteaux as Little Prairie. In the 1920s, settlers from the Peace River Country began migrating westwards across the frozen Kiskatinaw and Pine Rivers to lands assigned under the Dominion Lands Act for homesteading. Little Prairie was homesteaded in 1930 by Alexander and Lillan Windrem who cleared the land by 1935 for hay, oats and gardens. Oil and coal discoveries, west of Little Prairie, near Commotion Creek, led to the construction of area roads. As the area's natural resource potential became more apparent, a highway was planned in the late 1940s from the British Columbia Interior to the northern side of the Rocky and Omineca Mountains. The John Hart Highway, named after John Hart, a former British Columbia premier, was completed in 1952; designated Highway 97S it stretches from Prince George to Dawson Creek, with an intersection at Little Prairie. This was northeastern British Columbia's first connection with the rest of the province; previously a trip through the neighbouring province of Alberta was required. Following the opening of the highway, businesses such as restaurants and service stations were opened in Little Prairie to accommodate incoming workers and settlers. The first school was built in 1951.
Little Prairie was incorporated as a waterworks district on 8 October 1957; within the span of a few years a rail line, natural gas pipeline, and telephone line were built along the highway from Prince George. Provincial Minister of Railways Ralph Chetwynd (who also directed the Pacific Great Eastern Railway) headed the rail line project. The rail line continued eastward to Dawson Creek which was the westernmost terminus of Northern Alberta Railways. In early 1958, the first train ceremonially arrived in Little Prairie from Vancouver. Its load included pipe to symbolize natural gas development, steel railway track for the extension of the rail line, box cars for grain and lumber, and a truck representing freight hauling along the Alaska Highway. The railway station in Little Prairie was completed in 1959 and named after Chetwynd, who had died two years earlier. Soon afterwards the post office adopted this name.
Chetwynd became the community's official name on 1 July 1959. In 1960, the Chetwynd Waterworks District expanded its mandate to include garbage disposal, fire protection, and street lighting. Led by its Chamber of Commerce, the community incorporated as a municipality on 25 September 1962. The application for incorporation estimated Chetwynd's population as 750—inclusive of nearby work camps. The 1966 Canadian census, the first to recognize Chetwynd as a census subdivision, counted 1,368 residents.
Growth continued in the 1960s when the town served as the rail-to-truck transshipment point for delivering workers and supplies to the construction site of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam in nearby Hudson's Hope. Canfor and West Fraser Timber bought sawmills in 1964 and 1971, respectively, and eventually became two of the town's largest employers. The development of its forestry sector led to the town being declared the Canadian Forest Service's 1992 Forestry Capital of Canada. Volume 2, Number 19. The community opened a rodeo ground and curling rink in 1963, a library in 1967, a new fire hall in 1968, an airport in 1970 and a hospital in 1971.
Further growth was stoked in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the construction of the Peace Canyon Dam near the Bennett Dam, the opening of the natural gas and sulphur plant, and the construction of a mining town Tumbler Ridge. Chetwynd thus was re-incorporated as a district in 1983 with a population of 2,957. With no more megaprojects, Chetwynd's population remained relatively stable at about 3,000, with a peak population in 1996 at 3,113.
In 1983, Andrea Scherpf and Bernd Göricke were murdered near Chetwynd. They had been hitchhiking in western Canada in the fourth quarter of 1983. In early October, they accepted a ride in a 1960s Chevrolet pick-up. The unidentified driver shot and killed the couple, then dumped the bodies west of the community. A Canadian was convicted of the murders in 1991 but was later exonerated by DNA evidence and released. The case remains unsolved.cbc.ca: Someone Got Away With Murder, episode 21 January 2009princegeorgecitizen.com Mystery solved after more than 40 yearsfernwoodpublishing.ca: An Introduction to Mr. BigPrince George Digitization
On 4 December 1996, Chetwynd's boundaries were expanded to include of forested land and industrial properties. Most of this came from moving the northern border up over Ol' Baldy Ridge to create a community forest, a concept which originated from a Chetwynd Secondary School proposal in 1980 for a fitness trail. The trail became the backbone of a system of interconnected trails and greenspaces that went up the ridge. Four industrial properties—a gas plant, sulfur processing plant, coal mine, and pulp mill—became exclaves of the district as they incorporated to receive municipal services. The coal mine, with an expected lifespan of 15 years, was approved by the province for development in 1998. It was not constructed until 2004, making it the province's first new coal mine in 20 years. It only operated for two years before closing due to poor yields, equipment failure, and lack of financial backing.
Geography and climate Carved out of an ancient floodplain, the small terrace upon which Chetwynd is situated lies in the northern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Once used as a grazing spot by nomadic Aboriginals, the terrace was farmed by settlers until it was developed into a town. Two types of soil—namely, the Widmark and Centurion Series—comprise the terrace's surface. The Widmark Series—a moderately well-drained degraded loamy, woody, silty, and clay-like soil—lies north of Highway 97. Meanwhile, the Centurion Series—which lies south of the highway—is a poorly drained soil with a dark-brown peaty surface material consisting of decomposed leaves and mosses. These soils, also limited by topography and stoniness, are generally used for forage and pasture.
The town is surrounded by forested hills but the prairies of the Peace River Country begin here and continue eastward into Alberta. It lies in a transition area dividing two biogeoclimatic regions: the Boreal White and Black Spruce zone and the Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir zone. The regions surrounding Chetwynd and Dawson Creek contain caribou herds, although the total number of caribou have decreased in the first two decades of the 21st century. One factor of the caribou's decline is the large number of wolves who prey on the caribou; in 2014 the British Columbian government began a wolf-culling program to reduce the number of wolves in the region. The region also contains moose, whose numbers have increased due to improved habitats caused by cutting down trees for the logging industry. The area surrounding Chetwynd was affected by a pine beetle infestation, which caused timber mills to reduce their operations in the region.
The town experiences a cool continental climate, including cold winters and warm summers. Southwesterly winds, coming off Williston Lake, predominate, with wind speeds averaging around . About of rain and of snow fall on the town annually and about 30 days with some fog are expected per year. Chetwynd, like the rest of the Peace River Regional District, uses Mountain Standard Time year-round. The remainder of the province uses Pacific Time with daylight saving time, meaning that Chetwynd shares the same time with the province during the summer and is one hour ahead during the winter.
Demographics 2021 Canadian census ChetwyndBritish ColumbiaMedian age36.0 years42.8 yearsUnder 15 years old17.2%14.3%Between 15 and 64 years old71.5%65.3%Over 65 years old11.5%20.3%Median household income(after tax)$89,000$76,000Household size2.72.8
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Chetwynd had a population of 2,302 living in 993 of its 1,271 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,503. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
According to the 2021 census, Chetwynd had a median age almost seven years lower than the province's median. English is the mother tongue of nearly all () residents of Chetwynd, which includes a small population () of French speakers. There are about native Tagalog speakers, and Cree language speakers. Only of Chetwynd residents are immigrants, considerably lower than the provincial average of . The largest immigrant group comes from the Philippines, representing of all immigrants to the municipality.
Residents of Chetwynd with no certificate, diploma, or degree make up of the population compared to the provincial average of . However, those with a secondary school diploma comprise of the population compared to the provincial average of , and those with a post-secondary certificate or diploma (below a bachelor's degree) comprise of the population compared to the provincial average of . There are significantly fewer residents with a bachelor's, or higher, degree in Chetwynd () compared to the provincial average of . Almost all commuters in Chetwynd commute by car, truck, or van (), which is higher than the provincial average of .
Ethnicity As of 2021, there are few visible minorities in Chetwynd () compared to the provincial average of with Filipinos representing the largest visible minority as well with 125 residents ( of the total population). Approximately 380, or , of residents of Chetwynd considered themselves to have an Indigenous identity, much higher than the provincial average of . The primary ethnic groups in Chetwynd were reported as: English (), Scottish (), German (), Irish (), French (), Métis (), Norwegian (), Canadians (), and First Nations ().
Religion According to the 2021 census, there were only two religious groups in Chetwynd along with those professing no religion: Irreligion (1,445 persons or compared to for the province)