Town of Peace River were native speakers of French only, higher than the 1.90% in the province and 3.95% in the Canadian population outside the province of Quebec. The town borders French Canadian communities to the south and the east. St. Isidore, a French Canadian community 15 kilometres to the east of the Town of Peace River hosts the St. Isidore Winter Carnival in mid February. The carnival is molded after the Quebec Winter Carnaval Festival. Economy While the Government of Alberta is the largest employer in the town, with over 15 government departments located within its municipal boundaries, it is followed in close second by resource extraction, principally forestry, agriculture, oil and gas and their support services. Over the years, Peace River's economy has expanded to include professional services, manufacturing, health/social services and construction. Major construction companies in the Town of Peace River include Ruel Bros. Contracting, T.H. Gust Builders Ltd. and Glen Armstrong Construction. LaPrairie Works is based in nearby Grimshaw. Among the larger heating and air conditioning contracting companies located in the Town of Peace River is Peace River Heating (1971) Ltd. Many major Canadian financial institutions now have offices in the Town of Peace River. Horizon Credit Union, a Peace Country credit union, is based out of Peace River and recently completed its new head office building on Main Street Peace River. The Town of Peace River sits in the proximity of Peace River Oil Sands, Alberta's 3rd largest oil sands deposit. In May 2010, Penn West Energy Trust signed a $1.25-billion deal with China Investment Corporation to finance operations in the Peace River oil sands area in anticipation of significantly ramping up its production. As part of the deal, $817 million took 45% stake in the oil sands operations and $435 million took 5% equity stake in the trust itself. In January 2010, Shell submitted a regulatory application for an 80,000 barrel-per-day expansion. The Peace River is the largest river in Alberta and yet has the least water allocation licenses. Only 0.2% of provincial water allocations and only 0.3% or 9.1 million cubic metres of all estimated water use in the province are in the Lower Peace Region, implying that less than 1% of the average annual flow is allocated or used. It is for this reason that large energy projects are being considered in the region. In March 2008, Bruce Power made an application