List of municipal amalgamations in Alberta

Municipal amalgamation is one of five forms of municipal restructuring in the Province of Alberta.[1] Under current legislation, the authority to amalgamate two or more municipalities is provided under Division 5 of the Municipal Government Act.[2]

The first amalgamation in Alberta involving one or more urban municipalities occurred on February 1, 1912 when the cities of Strathcona and Edmonton merged to form a single municipal government under the name of the City of Edmonton.[3] The most recent amalgamation occurred on August 1, 2007 when the Town of Lac La Biche merged with Lakeland County to form a municipal district named Lac La Biche County.[4]

List of urban municipality amalgamations

The following is a chronological list of historic municipal amalgamations in Alberta involving at least one or more urban municipalities.

Amalgamating municipalities	Previous statuses	Effective date	Formed municipality	Status of formed municipality	Remarks
Edmonton Strathcona	City City	February 1, 1912[3]	Edmonton	City
Edmonton North Edmonton	City Village	July 18, 1912[3]	Edmonton	City
Edmonton West Edmonton	City Village	April 17, 1917[3]	Edmonton	City
Lloydminster (AB) Lloydminster (SK)	Village (AB) Town (SK)	May 22, 1930[5]	Lloydminster (AB/SK)	Town	Lloydminster subsequently changed to city status on January 1, 1958.[5]
Drinnan Hinton	Village New town	April 1, 1957[6][7]	Hinton	New town	Hinton subsequently changed to town status on December 29, 1958.[8]
Calgary Forest Lawn	City Town	December 30, 1961[9][10]	Calgary	City
Beverly Edmonton	Town City	December 31, 1961[3]	Edmonton	City
Calgary Montgomery	City Village	August 15, 1963[11][12]	Calgary	City
Bowness Calgary	Town City	August 15, 1964[13][14]	Calgary	City
Edmonton Jasper Place	City Town	December 17, 1964[3]	Edmonton	City
Bellevue Blairmore Coleman Frank Improvement District No. 5	Village Town Town Village Improvement district	January 1, 1979[15]	Crowsnest Pass	Town	Official legal name of the formed municipality became Municipality of Crowsnest Pass. The town subsequently changed to specialized municipality status on January 16, 2008.[15]
Fort McMurray Improvement District No. 143	City Improvement district	April 1, 1995[16]	Wood Buffalo	Specialized municipality	Official legal name of the formed municipality became Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which changed its official legal name to Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo on August 14, 1996.[16]
Crowsnest Pass Improvement District No. 6	Town Improvement district	January 1, 1996[15]	Crowsnest Pass	Town	The town subsequently changed to specialized municipality status on January 16, 2008.[15]
Cold Lake Grand Centre	Town Town	October 1, 1996[17]	Cold Lake	Town	Amalgamation included the simultaneous annexation of Medley (CFB Cold Lake/4 Wing) from the Municipal District of Bonnyville No. 87.[17] The amalgamated town subsequently changed to city status on October 1, 2000.[17]
Drumheller Municipal District of Badlands No. 7	City Municipal district	January 1, 1998[18]	Drumheller	Town
Lac La Biche Lakeland County	Town Municipal district	August 1, 2007[4]	Lac La Biche County	Municipal district	The municipal district subsequently changed to specialized municipality status on January 1, 2018.[19]

Amalgamation proposals

Black Diamond and Turner Valley

The thought of amalgamating the towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley first surfaced in the mid-1980s. Turner Valley withdrew from the discussions after Alberta Municipal Affairs completed a feasibility report on the amalgamation in 1986.[20]

The possibility resurfaced in 2006 when the towns initiated discussions on a possible amalgamation of the two municipalities.[21] The discussions culminated in a plebiscite held on October 15, 2007, concurrently with their municipal elections, where the question asked of voters was "Do you support an amalgamation of the Town of Black Diamond and the Town of Turner Valley to form one municipality?"[22] The results of the plebiscite were 66% of Turner Valley voters were in favour of amalgamation, while 71% of Black Diamond voters were against amalgamation.[22]

A third amalgamation investigation began in early 2016 through a joint request of Black Diamond and Turner Valley for a provincial grant to undertake a feasibility study.[23] If successful, the two towns could potentially amalgamate prior to the scheduled 2017 municipal election so that the electorate could vote for one municipal council.[24]

Edmonton, St. Albert and Strathcona County

The City of Edmonton applied for a significant annexation in early 1979 that included large portions of Parkland County and Sturgeon County as well as the entireties of City of St. Albert and Strathcona County, which included the unincorporated hamlet of Sherwood Park.[20] The annexation would have effectively amalgamated St. Albert and Strathcona County with Edmonton. Alberta's Local Authorities Board (LAB), a predecessor to the Municipal Government Board, granted the annexation in 1980 but excluded St. Albert, Sherwood Park and lands in Strathcona County to the east of Sherwood Park, thereby preventing any form of amalgamation.[20] The lesser annexation granted by the LAB was subsequently tossed out by Alberta's provincial cabinet.[20]

Entwistle and Evansburg

The former villages of Entwistle and Evansburg investigated amalgamation in 1986.[20] The two villages subsequently dissolved into hamlets under the jurisdictions of Parkland County and Yellowhead County respectively.

Medicine Hat and Redcliff

The amalgamation of the Town of Redcliff with the neighbouring City of Medicine Hat was investigated or considered to various degrees in 1962, 1968, 1972, 1979, 1980, and 1985.[20]

Spruce Grove and Stony Plain

Amalgamation of the towns of Spruce Grove and Stony Plain was investigated in the mid-1980s after Stony Plain had incurred a high debt. Despite a recommendation in favour of amalgamation from Alberta Municipal Affairs, residents of Spruce Grove were not supportive of the amalgamation as it would have resulted in a significant increase in their property taxes.[20]

The City of Spruce Grove initiated a growth study in 2014 in which expansion via amalgamation was to be explored as an alternative to annexation.[25] Potential partners for the amalgamation included the Town of Stony Plain, Parkland County or both.[25]

See also

• 2000–06 municipal reorganization in Quebec
• 2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal
• Amalgamation of the Halifax Regional Municipality
• Amalgamation of Toronto
• Amalgamation of Winnipeg
• Edmonton annexations
• List of communities in Alberta
• List of former urban municipalities in Alberta
• List of municipal amalgamations in New Brunswick
• List of municipalities in Alberta
• Manitoba municipal amalgamations, 2015

References

1. "The Amalgamation Process for Alberta Municipalities" (PDF). Alberta Municipal Affairs. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
2. "Municipal Government Act – Office Consolidation". Alberta Queen's Printer. November 1, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
3. "Census History". City of Edmonton. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
4. "Order in Council (O.C.) 332/2007". Province of Alberta. August 1, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
5. "Municipal Profile – City of Lloydminster". Alberta Municipal Affairs. October 18, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
6. "History of Village of Drinnan (Municipal Boundary Document Search)" (PDF). Province of Alberta. January 1, 1957. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
7. "Order in Council (O.C.) 494-57, New Town Established (Amalgamation of Hinton and Drinnan)" (PDF). Province of Alberta. March 27, 1957. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
8. "Municipal Profile – Town of Hinton". Alberta Municipal Affairs. September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
9. "History". International Avenue Business Revitalization Zone. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
10. "Forest Lawn–Forest Heights/Hubalta Area Redevelopment Plan" (PDF). City of Calgary. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
11. Board Order 957. Province of Alberta. 1963.
12. "Montgomery Area Redevelopment Plan" (PDF). City of Calgary. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
13. Board Order 1429. Province of Alberta. 1964.
14. "Bowness Area Redevelopment Plan" (PDF). City of Calgary. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
15. "Municipal Profile – Municipality of Crowsnest Pass". Alberta Municipal Affairs. October 18, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
16. "Municipal Profile – Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo". Alberta Municipal Affairs. September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
17. "Municipal Profile – City of Cold Lake". Alberta Municipal Affairs. October 18, 2010. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
18. "Municipal Profile – Town of Drumheller". Alberta Municipal Affairs. October 18, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
19. "O.C. 259/2017". Government of Alberta. September 14, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
20. Jack K. Masson & Edward C. LeSage (1994). Alberta's Local Governments: Politics and Democracy. University of Alberta. ISBN 9780888642516. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
21. "Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council held March 20, 2006" (PDF). Town of Turner Valley. March 20, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 20, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
22. "Black Diamond Turner Valley Amalgamation Grant – Final Report". Alberta Municipal Affairs. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
23. "Black Diamond and Turner Valley Agree to Explore Amalgamation" (PDF). Town of Black Diamond and Town of Turner Valley. February 19, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
24. Tammy Rollie (February 18, 2016). "Black Diamond, Turner Valley reconsider amalgamation". Okotoks Western Wheel. Great West Newspaper LP. Retrieved March 13, 2016. Potentially if we have all the pieces in place and we accelerate the process, could we look at having one decision-making body by October 2017?" Brown said. "There is always the potential.
25. "Growth Study: Frequently asked questions". City of Spruce Grove. Retrieved March 13, 2016. To accommodate future growth, the study will assess various expansion options including: (1) future annexation of lands from Parkland County, the Town of Stony Plain, or both; (2) amalgamation with the County, Town, or both; (3) formation of a specialized municipality similar to that of Strathcona County; and (4) other inter-jurisdictional agreements.