List of cities in Alberta

Administration

Pursuant to Part 5, Division 1 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), each municipality created under the authority of the MGA is governed by an elected council. As a requirement of the MGA, a city council consists of an odd number of councillors, one of which is the city's chief elected official (CEO) or mayor. A city council consists of seven councillors by default, but it can consist of a higher or lower odd number if council passes a bylaw altering its size (so long as it does not consist of fewer than three councillors).

City councils are governed by a mayor who is elected at large and an even number of councillors, resulting in a total odd number of councillors to avoid tie votes on council matters. For the councillors, a city council may establish ward systems, with councillors elected from wards that are defined as having roughly the same population (single-member districts or more than one member per district). Voters choose a councillor candidate running in the ward in which they live. If no ward system is in place, councillors are elected at-large like the mayor.

All city councillors are elected by popular vote under the provisions of the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA). Mayoral or councillor candidates are required to be residents of their municipality for a minimum of six consecutive months prior to nomination day. The last municipal election for all cities, with the exception of the border city of Lloydminster, was held October 18, 2021. Lloydminster's elections are aligned with Saskatchewan's municipal election schedule.

Alberta Municipal Affairs, a ministry of the Cabinet of Alberta, is charged with coordination of all levels of local government.

Administrative duties of cities include public safety, local transit, roads, water service, drainage and waste collection, as well as coordination of infrastructure with provincial and regional authorities (including road construction, education, and health). |Image:Calgary Skyline 2015 2.png | Calgary (2015) |Image:Edmonton Skyline from 106 Street Lookout 2019.jpg | Edmonton (2019) |Image:Downtown Lethbridge Skyline.jpg | Lethbridge (2009) |Image:Red Deer - Aerial - downtown bridges.jpg|Red Deer (2008) |Image:Downtown clocktower St. Albert Alberta.jpg | St. Albert (2009) |Image:GPSkyline.jpg | Grande Prairie (2014)

List

Notes:

Former cities

Alberta has recognized three other cities in its history. The Town of Strathcona incorporated as a city on March 15, 1907, and subsequently amalgamated with Edmonton on February 1, 1912. Fort McMurray was incorporated as a city on September 1, 1980, but reverted to its current urban service area form as a result of its amalgamation with Improvement District (I.D.) No. 143 on April 1, 1995. The Town of Drumheller was incorporated as a city on April 3, 1930 (well before the current requirement to have a population in excess of 10,000 people), and reverted to town status on January 1, 1998, when it amalgamated with the surrounding Municipal District of Badlands No. 7.

City status eligibility

There are currently nine towns – Blackfalds, Canmore, Cochrane, High River, Morinville, Okotoks, Stony Plain, Strathmore, and Sylvan Lake – that are eligible for city status having populations in excess of 10,000. Its population in 2021 was 9,817.

Alberta's two urban service areas – Fort McMurray and Sherwood Park – are also eligible for city status. As noted above, Fort McMurray was previously incorporated as a city until it amalgamated with I.D. No. 143 on April 1, 1995. Meanwhile, Sherwood Park has remained a hamlet since its first residents arrived in 1955 and, in 1987, 89% of Strathcona County residents voted in favour of maintaining a single municipal government for Sherwood Park and the rural portion of the county.

References

References

1. (December 11, 2018). "Order in Council (O.C.) 395/2018". Government of Alberta.
2. (January 11, 2019). "Municipal Profiles (Cities)". Alberta Municipal Affairs.
3. "Municipal Government Act". Alberta Queen's Printer.
4. "Types of Municipalities". Alberta Municipal Affairs.
5. "Local Authorities Election Act". Alberta Queen's Printer.
6. (April 17, 2019). "City Municipal Profiles". [[Alberta Municipal Affairs]].
7. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Alberta". [[Statistics Canada]].
8. (December 25, 2009). "Location and History Profile – Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo". Alberta Municipal Affairs.
9. (December 25, 2009). "Location and History Profile – Town of Drumheller". Alberta Municipal Affairs.
10. (April 21, 2009). "Town of Hinton Regular Meeting of Council Agenda (see page 113 of 157)". Town of Hinton.
11. Canada Census https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Hinton
12. "Sherwood Park's history". Strathcona County.
13. "Sherwood Park history – Local government". Strathcona County.
14. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2022-02-09). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada and population centres".