Home >> The People and Their Communities >> Métis Communities >>Historic Communities >> Lesser Slave Lake >> Municipal District

Despite its history, the region around Lesser Slave Lake received municipal status only in 1995. The area is rather sparsely populated and includes large green areas which are still Crown land. Hamlets (unincorporated communities) in the district include Flatbush, Chisholm, Smith/Hondo, the Southshore area including Canyon Creek, Widewater, Wagner, and Slave Lake. Two communities in the same area as the Town of Slave Lake include Poplar Lane and Old Town.

The area looks forward to continued growth in tourism and home-based business, as well as continued resource development, including forestry and the oil and gas sectors. Tourism in the area is increasing for a number of reasons, for example, the Lesser Slave Lake region is designated an Important Bird Area of Global Significance for 3 main reasons: up to 20 percent of the western population of tundra swans stop to feed on the lake; the reeds around the lake provide nesting habitat for a globally important western grebe population; and the area's incredible concentration and diversity of migrant songbirds, including yellow warbler, bay-breasted warbler and red-eyed vireo.¹ Another draw to the area is the development and advertising of small regional museums that are beginning to detail the rich heritage of the area. 

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Community and Society

The Municipal District of Lesser Slave Lake

Fur Trade History and Competition