ADAM
“Unfortunately, I had to start from scratch. Or I’m starting from scratch again so that’s why I’m out here. There’s no other place I can think of where I can get … Continue reading
SHELLY
“I came from the Philippines. I applied as a temporary foreign worker. I landed here first in Alberta in Grande Prairie but after two weeks… My employer has a branch … Continue reading
JAVIER & CARLA
“We were still living in Venezuela after all these problem with PDVSA [the national oil company]. But the government was closing and closing the north and we say well, we … Continue reading
BONNIE
“What I like about Fort McMurray is that even though you’re kind of far from home, there are so many people from Newfoundland here, that you can feel– it’s not … Continue reading
BRAD
“My family moved here in 1970 from central Alberta. My dad moved here to make .70 cents an hour more. And it was a five-year plan. Fort McMurray starts as … Continue reading
EFOSA
“I got a call while I was back home in [Africa] and they were interested in me coming to Fort McMurray. I’m like, where’s Fort McMurray? ‘Oh don’t worry we’ll take … Continue reading
CHARLOTTE
“I think that respect is a problem here. People don’t respect diversity, they struggle with it. We try to teach people in our company, for example, that people from diverse … Continue reading
ERNEST
“Usually you work long days and you just want to go home and sleep…Waking up at 5 in the morning, go down and get some breakfast right? Leave actually the … Continue reading
GEORGE
“Basically, right out from high school I came up here. I haul truck, Fort Mac down to Edmonton five nights a week one week, and then the second week I … Continue reading
CONNIE
“I’ve been here almost thirty years. I came from Ontario, from Toronto. Actually there was an ad in the newspaper in Toronto for a health worker. Anyway, when I came … Continue reading
GITA
“Four years we have been here. We are originally from India and we lived in the Middle East for some years. I have children. . .We came for landing. We stayed … Continue reading
LORI
“Well my husband has been here for – it will be about 6 years now. And for me it will be 6 years in January…We moved back to Alberta because … Continue reading
JOAN
“I got a call in June from the local 47 to go to Fort McMurray and I jumped on it. All I had to do is clean the rooms, bathrooms … Continue reading
LUCAS
“I used to own a nightclub and then I did a project in Calgary, didn’t work out too well. I decided to move to Montreal. Met someone and it didn’t … Continue reading
PENELOPE
“It’s where the large oil companies are and has lots of work even though it’s a small town and small town with lots of opportunities . . .You can start … Continue reading
PAULINE
“My husband moved here last year, last December. He had a job with the Alberta government, so because of that we moved up here. I found [my job with an … Continue reading
VICTOR
“Our son came along and no longer was it feasible for me to keep coming home at 8:30 at night completely exhausted. . . I’m physically going downhill, okay, and … Continue reading
ROSIE
“We moved here in ‘73, yeah, from Saskatchewan. My husband was out of work, and he had went to the unemployment office back there, there was a job here, so … Continue reading
TED
“I grew up here. It’s different than what it was. It’s a busy town but it’s still kind of small you know compared to Edmonton and Calgary. And everyone that’s … Continue reading
MARTHA
“I came to McMurray right out of high school. Got married. Stayed here and the other option was to go to Edmonton or come to Fort McMurray and I didn’t … Continue reading
OSCAR
“I’ve only been just over a year in work camp maintenance, and 12 years prior to that I was tin bashing, and then I trucked before that…Some sites, I was … Continue reading
MARK
“I grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. As you probably know the economy there has been in the toilet for 30 years. So my entire growing up I always … Continue reading
ALI
“The increased demand for highly skilled people within oil business brought these companies to accept the fact that they don’t have a choice, they have to hire some people who … Continue reading
MULAD
“I came from a big city [where] everything is run properly. When you come to a little small town, everything is upside down and everybody tells you that you can’t … Continue reading
MARIE
“There was families in Anzac that were long term families, right? They knew each other for so long and Métis, status, non-Native, all living in this little tiny place where … Continue reading
JILL
“When we came here, we came for my husband’s work. He got a job here with Suncor. And for us it was a huge opportunity because we were struggling so … Continue reading
HELEN
“You know like for me, for a man it may be different because he has somebody to do his cleanup in the home but me who is a lady, I … Continue reading
KALEB
“I came in Canada in 2001 and I have been staying in Winnipeg for 5 years. I spent my high school down there and then I worked in a company. … Continue reading
TODD
“Dallas North…visually we could have a big funnel, with all the resources of northern Alberta going through the refineries, through Calgary and into Dallas. And there there’s some trees. This … Continue reading
PETE
“This is downtown area, this is downtown. Sometimes I come to downtown visit some bar. Ya I just take the bus to go to the bar have some drinks but … Continue reading
KATHRYN
“And the Snye comes down around Mac Island and then out this way but the Snye is where when we come in from Fort Chip and this is where you … Continue reading
EVE
“This represents not living month to month. I can have time to learn things and I don’t worry about– So I feel like perhaps I don’t deserve to be where … Continue reading
Mapping Life in Fort McMurray 