The city of Cold Lake, named after the nearby lake, is located within the northeastern part of Alberta. The city of Cold Lake is situated approximately 300 kilometres northeast of Edmonton in Alberta's "Lakeland" region, that is near the Saskatchewan-Alberta provincial border. The region surrounding the city is sparsely inhabited, and consists mostly of farmland. The Cold Lake Air Weapons Range, situated to the north of the city, is the Canadian equivalent to the US Air Force's Nellis Air Force Range.
It was 1970 when the city of Cold Lake was first recorded on a map, under the name Coldwater Lake. More recently, on the 1st of October, 1996, the three original communities of the Town of Grand Centre, the Town of Cold Lake, and Medley (Canadian Forces Base 4 Wing) combined into Cold Lake. The original Cold Lake is known as Cold Lake North and Grand Centre was renamed Cold Lake South. Because of its origins, the region is also called the Tri-Town.
The economy of the city is inextricably associated to military spending at CFB Cold Lake. The region also supports gas and oil production and exploration. The Athabasca Oil Sands project in Fort McMurray is having a growing influence within the region also. The Cold Lake oil sands could become a major contributor to the local economy.
The city of Cold Lake holds a yearly event for military forces from all over the world known as Exercise Maple Flag. It is a training exercise where NATO support staff and pilots could utilize the Air Weapons Range and relatively open rural air space. Running from 4 to 6 weeks and beginning during May of every year, commercial accommodations within the whole region are left with little to no vacancy. This annual exercise contributes a substantial amount of capital into these businesses and several hospitality-related industries.
Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, often referred to as CFB Cold Lake, is a Canadian Forces Base situated within the City of Cold Lake, Alberta. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is amongst two bases in Canada utilizing the CF-18 Hornet fighter/interceptor. Its main lodger unit is 4 Wing.
On the periphery of the air base, there was a civilian passenger service that was accessible through the Medley passenger terminal. The regular air service from Calgary and the Medley terminal was canceled officially during the month of June 2011. Unscheduled civilian air traffic is usually directed to the Cold Lake Regional Airport. The facility is named Cold Lake/Group Captain R.W. McNair Airport. It is among just three military aerodromes within Canada to be named after an individual, Valcartier Heliport and Moose Jaw/Air Vice Marshal C.M. McEwen Airport being the others.