Grande Prairie—Mackenzie

Grande Prairie—Mackenzie occupies the northwestern corner of Alberta, stretching from the city of Grande Prairie northward to the border with the Northwest Territories. Created in the 2012 redistribution from the former Peace River riding, the district encompasses the western half of Alberta's Peace Country, including the city of Grande Prairie—where more than half the riding's residents live—as well as communities such as Beaverlodge, Sexsmith, Fairview, and High Level. With a population of approximately 115,000, the riding covers a territory so vast that its northern and southern sections cannot be traversed by road without leaving the district, as there are no bridges or ferries across the Peace River within its boundaries.

Candidates

Chris Warkentin (Conservative) Born in Grande Prairie and raised on the family farm near the hamlet of DeBolt, Warkentin studied at Peace River Bible Institute and later business and marketing at Grande Prairie Regional College before owning and operating a custom home building company. First elected in the Peace River riding in 2006, he transitioned to Grande Prairie—Mackenzie following redistribution and has won every election he has contested with more than 56% of the vote. He served as Chair of the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Committee from 2011 to 2015 and was later appointed Deputy House Leader for the Official Opposition.

Jennifer Villebrun (NDP) A veteran NDP candidate running for the fourth time in the Grande Prairie area, Villebrun campaigned on the premise that the northwest region has been neglected by the federal government. She advocated for greater federal investment in infrastructure, health care, and services for remote communities in the riding's northern reaches.

Shawn McLean (PPC) The People's Party candidate in the riding, McLean campaigned on a platform of decentralizing federal power and giving provinces more authority over resource management and fiscal policy.

Dan Campbell (Liberal) The Liberal Party's standard-bearer in the riding, Campbell offered an alternative perspective in a constituency that has elected Conservative representatives for decades.

About the Riding

The oil and gas industry is the riding's largest employer, accounting for over 13% of the workforce. Grande Prairie sits at the hub of the Montney Formation, one of North America's most prolific natural gas plays, and the broader Peace Country region hosts extensive conventional oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids production. The Peace River Oil Sands, Alberta's third-largest oil sands deposit, lies within the riding's boundaries. The energy sector's cyclical fortunes—shaped by global commodity prices, pipeline capacity constraints, and evolving regulatory frameworks—ripple through every corner of the local economy.

Agriculture and forestry form the riding's second economic pillar. Grande Prairie—Mackenzie is home to approximately 13% of Alberta's cropland, with canola, wheat, and barley as principal crops. The Peace Country's long summer daylight hours and fertile soils support productive grain farming despite its northern latitude. The northwest also produces a significant share of Alberta's pulp, oriented strand board, and dimensional lumber, with major forestry operations sustaining employment in communities like High Level and Manning.

The riding's sheer geographic scale presents persistent challenges. Communities in the far north—including High Level, which experienced a threatening wildfire in May 2019 that forced the evacuation of its roughly 4,000 residents—face limited access to health care, education, and government services. Broadband connectivity remains uneven across the rural and remote portions of the riding. Grande Prairie itself has experienced rapid population growth over recent decades, straining municipal infrastructure and creating demand for expanded housing, transportation, and social services.