List of municipal districts in Alberta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A municipal district (MD) is the most common form of all rural municipality statuses used in the Canadian province of Alberta. Alberta's municipal districts, most of which are branded as a county (e.g. Yellowhead County, County of Newell, etc.), are predominantly rural areas that may include either farmland, Crown land or a combination of both depending on their geographic location. They may also include country residential subdivisions and unincorporated communities, some of which are recognized as hamlets by Alberta Municipal Affairs.[1]

Number63
Populations92 (Ranchland) – 39,407 (Rocky View)
Areas683.6 km2 (Spirit River) – 32,984.24 km2 (Greenview)
Quick facts Municipal districts of Alberta, Location ...
Municipal districts of Alberta


Distribution of Alberta's 63 municipal districts
LocationProvince of Alberta
Number63
Populations92 (Ranchland) – 39,407 (Rocky View)
Areas683.6 km2 (Spirit River) – 32,984.24 km2 (Greenview)
Government
Subdivisions
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Municipal districts are created when predominantly rural areas with populations of at least 1,000 people, where a majority of their residential buildings are on parcels of land greater than 1,850 m2, apply to Alberta Municipal Affairs for municipal district status under the authority of the Municipal Government Act.[2] Applications for municipal district status are approved via orders in council made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under recommendation from the Minister of Municipal Affairs.[2]

As of the 2011 Census, Alberta's then 64 municipal districts (Lac La Biche County has since then converted to a specialized municipality)[3] had a cumulative population of 451,979 and an average population of 7,062.[4] Alberta's most populous and least populated municipal districts are Rocky View County and the MD of Ranchland No. 66 with populations of 36,461 and 79 respectively.[4]

437 elected officials (eight mayors, 56 reeves and 373 councillors) provide municipal district governance throughout the province.[5]


Branding

An order in council to incorporate any municipality must give the municipality an official name.[2] Of Alberta's 63 municipal districts, 16 still have municipal district in their official names, while 47 of them have branded themselves as a county in their official names. Twenty-five of Alberta's municipal districts retain a numerical designation (e.g. "No. 8") in their official names.

The use of the county term in the official names of 47 municipal districts (and three specialized municipalities) has partially led to a common belief that a county is its own separate municipal status type, which is not the case. The other major contributor to this common belief is that a county was formerly a municipal status type in Alberta prior to the County Act being repealed in the mid-1990s. Those municipalities that were once officially incorporated as counties were continued under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) as municipal districts and were permitted to retain the term county in their official names.[6]

Municipal office locations

More than half of the 63 municipal districts have their main administration offices, including council chambers, in a separate municipality such as a city, town, or village. This municipality (like all other cities, towns, and villages) is not part of the municipal district's jurisdiction. Nine municipal districts have their offices in a hamlet, which is part of the district's jurisdiction. They are Acadia (Acadia Valley), Bighorn (Exshaw), Birch Hills (Wanham), Clear Hills (Worsley), Cypress (Dunmore), Grande Prairie (Clairmont), Lac Ste. Anne (Sangudo), Opportunity (Wabasca), and Thorhild (Thorhild). One municipal district, Ranchland, has its offices in a provincial park, Chain Lakes Provincial Park. Thirteen municipal districts have their offices in their jurisdiction, outside the boundaries of a city, town, or village. They are Brazeau (Drayton Valley), Lacombe (between Gull Lake and Lacombe), Mountain View (Didsbury), Newell (Brooks), Northern Sunrise (Peace River), Paintearth (Castor), Parkland (Stony Plain), Peace (Berwyn), Red Deer (Red Deer), Saddle Hills (Spirit River), Wheatland (Strathmore), Willow Creek (Claresholm), and Woodlands (Whitecourt).

List

The below table is a list of only those rural municipalities in Alberta that are incorporated as municipal districts.

Despite their names, Lac La Biche County, Mackenzie County, and Strathcona County are not listed because they are in fact incorporated as specialized municipalities, not municipal districts. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is likewise a specialized municipality and is thus not listed here. For more information on specialized municipalities, see List of specialized municipalities in Alberta.

Alberta's seven improvement districts and three special areas are also not listed because they are their own separate type of rural municipality and not subset types of the municipal district status. For more information on special areas, see Special Areas Board.

More information Municipal district (MD), Incorporation date ...
List of municipal districts in Alberta
Municipal district (MD) Incorporation
date[5]
Census
division
Council
size[5]
2021 Census of Population[7]
Population
(2021)
Population
(2016)
Change Land
area
(km²)
Population
density
(/km²)
AcadiaMD of Acadia No. 34 December 9, 191345494493+0.2%1,070.920.5
Athabasca County January 1, 19471396,9597,869−11.6%6,111.301.1
Barrhead County of Barrhead No. 11 January 1, 19551375,8776,288−6.5%2,385.282.5
Beaver County February 1, 19431055,8685,905−0.6%3,219.741.8
Big Lakes Big Lakes County January 1, 19951793,664[8]4,103[9]−10.7%11,897.750.3
Bighorn MD of Bighorn No. 8 January 1, 19881551,5981,324+20.7%2,678.800.6
Birch Hills County January 1, 19951971,5161,553−2.4%2,848.750.5
Bonnyville MD of Bonnyville No. 87 January 1, 195512711,864[8]11,661[9]+1.7%5,410.212.2
Brazeau County July 1, 19881177,1797,771−7.6%3,000.142.4
Camrose County January 1, 19441078,5048,660−1.8%3,291.752.6
Cardston County January 1, 1954374,8564,481+8.4%3,358.391.4
Clear Hills County January 1, 19951773,0063,018−0.4%15,025.540.2
Clearwater County January 1, 19859711,86511,947−0.7%18,605.710.6
Cypress County January 1, 1985197,5247,662−1.8%12,977.990.6
Fairview MD of Fairview No. 136 December 9, 19141951,5801,604−1.5%1,373.661.2
Flagstaff County January 1, 1944773,6943,728−0.9%3,959.780.9
Foothills County January 1, 1954 6723,19922,616+2.6%3,604.766.4
Forty Mile County of Forty Mile No. 8 January 1, 1954173,4713,581−3.1%7,163.610.5
Grande Prairie County of Grande Prairie No. 1 December 21, 194319923,76922,502+5.6%5,790.594.1
Greenview MD of Greenview No. 16 January 1, 19941888,5849,154−6.2%32,925.530.3
Kneehill County January 1, 1944574,9925,001−0.2%3,373.401.5
Lac Ste. Anne County January 1, 194413710,83210,899−0.6%2,845.843.8
Lacombe County January 1, 19448710,28310,343−0.6%2,759.123.7
Lamont County January 1, 19441053,7543,884−3.3%2,385.581.6
Leduc County January 1, 194411714,41613,177+9.4%2,502.595.8
Lesser Slave River MD of Lesser Slave River No. 124 January 1, 19951772,8612,803+2.1%10,041.790.3
Lethbridge County January 1, 19542710,12010,237−1.1%2,815.663.6
Minburn County of Minburn No. 27 January 30, 19421073,0143,188−5.5%2,850.371.1
Mountain View County January 1, 19446712,98113,074−0.7%3,763.423.4
Newell County of Newell January 1, 19532107,4657,524−0.8%5,810.151.3
Northern Lights County of Northern Lights January 1, 19951773,601[8]3,656[9]−1.5%18,900.570.2
Northern Sunrise County April 1, 19941761,7111,921−10.9%20,914.350.1
Opportunity MD of Opportunity No. 17 August 1, 199517113,3823,253+4.0%28,857.880.1
Paintearth County of Paintearth No. 18 January 1, 1944771,9902,102−5.3%3,239.580.6
Parkland County January 1, 196911732,20532,737−1.6%2,375.6713.6
Peace MD of Peace No. 135 December 11, 19161951,5811,752−9.8%847.221.9
Pincher Creek MD of Pincher Creek No. 9 January 1, 1944353,2402,965+9.3%3,455.750.9
Ponoka County January 1, 1952859,9989,806+2.0%2,807.993.6
Provost MD of Provost No. 52 March 1, 1943772,0712,205−6.1%3,571.120.6
Ranchland MD of Ranchland No. 66 January 1, 199515311092+19.6%2,636.750.0
Red Deer County January 1, 19448719,93319,531+2.1%3,919.255.1
Rocky View County January 1, 19556941,02839,407+4.1%3,828.8510.7
Saddle Hills County January 1, 19951972,3382,225+5.1%5,827.700.4
Smoky Lake County March 1, 19431252,517[8]2,461[9]+2.3%2,619.691.0
Smoky River MD of Smoky River No. 130 January 1, 19521961,6842,006−16.1%2,834.180.6
Spirit River MD of Spirit River No. 133 December 11, 1916194649700−7.3%679.861.0
St. Paul County of St. Paul No. 19 January 30, 19421276,3066,036+4.5%3,280.401.9
Starland County February 1, 1943551,8212,066−11.9%2,540.850.7
Stettler County of Stettler No. 6 March 1, 1943775,6665,566+1.8%3,969.651.4
Sturgeon County January 1, 195511720,06120,495−2.1%2,084.249.6
Taber MD of Taber January 1, 1954277,4477,098+4.9%4,160.471.8
Thorhild County January 1, 19551353,0423,254−6.5%1,997.171.5
Two Hills County of Two Hills No. 21 January 1, 19441053,4123,641−6.3%2,600.151.3
Vermilion River County of Vermilion River January 1, 19441077,9948,453−5.4%5,420.131.5
Vulcan County January 1, 1951574,2373,984+6.4%5,356.650.8
Wainwright MD of Wainwright No. 61 January 30, 1942774,2764,464−4.2%4,095.291.0
Warner County of Warner No. 5 January 1, 1954274,2903,942+8.8%4,462.201.0
Westlock County February 1, 19431377,1867,220−0.5%3,169.662.3
Wetaskiwin County of Wetaskiwin No. 10 February 1, 194311711,21211,176+0.3%3,121.983.6
Wheatland County January 1, 1955578,7388,788−0.6%4,505.051.9
Willow Creek MD of Willow Creek No. 26 January 1, 1954376,0815,575+9.1%4,485.051.4
Woodlands County January 1, 19941374,5584,744−3.9%7,599.520.6
Yellowhead County January 1, 199414910,42610,995−5.2%22,238.560.5
Total municipal districts 437 470,580470,3660.0% 378,251.55 1.2
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Former municipal districts

Territorial evolution of Alberta's municipalities from 1955 to 2024

Changed status

More information Name Earlier name(s), Incorporation date (municipal district) ...
Name[10]
Earlier name(s)
Incorporation date
(municipal district)[10]
Status change date[10] Subsequent municipal status[10]
Lac La Biche CountyAugust 1, 2007January 1, 2018Specialized municipality
Mackenzie County
MD of Mackenzie No. 23
January 1, 1995June 23, 1999Specialized municipality
Strathcona County
County of Strathcona No. 20
MD of Strathcona No. 83
MD of Strathcona No. 517
March 1, 1943January 1, 1996Specialized municipality
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Dissolved

More information Incorporation date (municipal district), Dissolution date ...
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See also

References

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