Facts and Statistics

Latter-day Saint railway crews from northern Utah helped lay track for the Canadian Pacific Railway as early as 1883 and also became familiar with southern Alberta. In 1886, a church leader from Utah explored southern Alberta, looking for a suitable place to colonize in Canada. In March 1887, he left with a small advance party, arrived at Lee's Creek on 3 June, and started a settlement that later became Cardston. The Cardston Ward (a congregation) was organized in 1888. Other Church members welcomed the opportunity for land away from the growing population of northern Utah. Mountain View, Aetna, Beazer, Leavitt, Kimball, Caldwell, Taylorville, Magrath, and Stirling were soon settled; and after the turn of the century, Latter-day saints colonized Woolford, Orton, Raymond, Barnwell, Welling, Taber, Frankburg, Glenwood, and Hill Spring.

The Alberta Stake (similar to a diocese) was created in 1895, the Taylor Stake in 1903, and the Lethbridge Stake in 1921. By 1914, more than 10,000 Latter-day Saints lived in the vicinity. In 1913, ground was broken in Cardston for the Alberta Temple, which was dedicated in 1923.

In 1935, two members of the Church from Southern Alberta were elected as members of the Legislative Assembly. Nathan Eldon Tanner and Solon Low were both appointed to provincial cabinet positions, and moved their families to Edmonton. Tanner served as Speaker of the House, Minister of Lands and Forests, and Minister of Mines and Minerals.

In 1941, Edmonton was made the headquarters for the Western Canadian Mission of the Church. It encompassed parts of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. In the early 1960s, the mission headquarters moved to Calgary. In July of 1998, the Canada Edmonton Mission was created.

The Edmonton Alberta Temple was dedicated in December of 1999.

Joseph Smith, Sr. and his son, Don Carlos (the father and brother of Joseph Smith Jr.) preached in several Canadian towns and hamlets north of the St. Lawrence River in September 1830. The Canadian settlements were only a day or two’s journey from Palmyra, New York, and Kirtland, Ohio, and several converts were eager to share their new religion with relatives north of the border.

Between 1830 and 1850, some 2,500 Canadians joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, mostly in Upper Canada but also in the southern English-speaking townships of Lower Canada (Quebec), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

The first known Latter-day Saints to enter what is now Alberta were Simeon F. Allen and his son Heber S. Allen of Hyrum, Utah, who contracted work in 1883 on the Canadian Pacific Railroad between Medicine Hat and Calgary. They were joined by other saints from Utah working on the contract.
 
A few years later in 1886, Cache Stake President Charles O. Card received permission from Church President John Taylor to investigate colonizing opportunities in southwestern Canada.
Today, more than 182,000 Latter-day Saints are spread throughout 480 congregations in Canada.