Lac La Biche, Alta, Town, pop 2758 (2006c), 2776 (2001c), inc 1951. Lac La Biche is located 225 km northeast of Edmonton on the south shore of the lake of the same name. The lake was named after the elk in the area which reminded the fur traders of its smaller European cousin. North West Co and Hudson's Bay Co (HBC's) posts established as early as 1798-99 indicated the lake's early position on FUR TRADE ROUTES. "Portage La Biche," once a well-travelled connection, is the carry between the waters of the Beaver River, which is in the Churchill Basin and Lac La Biche, which is in the Athabasca and Mackenzie Basin.

In 1853 both an Oblate mission and the HBC's Lac La Biche post were located near where the townsite would be established after the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway from Edmonton reached that point in 1915. The Lac La Biche Mission, now a national historic site (1990), was relocated to its present location 10 km west of the townsite in 1855-56. The mission was once known as "l'entrepot du nord." French Canadian settlers joined Métis and other original occupants. Later settlers were of Lebanese, Russian and Ukrainian origins.

Today the economy is based on forestry, oil and natural gas and agriculture. Tourism began when railwayman J.D. McArthur opened the Lac La Biche Inn in 1916. The town is the gateway to Sir Winston Churchill Island Park, created on the largest island of Lac La Biche in 1965 and of nearby LAKELAND PROVINCIAL PARK, established in 1992. Portage College is located in Lac La Biche.