A Fort McMurray woman is urging Canadian Blood Services to re-establish a blood donation clinic in the northern Alberta centre.

Unlike similar-sized centres in Alberta such as Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray has been without a blood donor clinic for ten years.

Michelle Boudreau hopes to change that. She's collected more than 900 names on a petition in support of a permanent clinic.

Boudreau, like many other Fort McMurray residents, moved from the Maritimes, where giving blood is common, she said.

"There's unbelievable numbers of new families coming to town and they'd love to be able to donate on a regular basis and they're not able to travel to Edmonton," she said.

Canadian Blood Services says it shut down Fort McMurray's mobile clinic because it cost too much to operate.

The agency said it could not afford to start up a permanent clinic.

Nonetheless Boudreau said she will present her petition and alongside some suggestions of ways to reduce costs as soon as she gathers 1,000 signatures.