List of cities in Alberta facts for kids

Distribution of Alberta's 18 cities, 2 urban service areas and 9 towns that are eligible for city status.

A city is the highest form of all incorporated urban municipality statuses used in the Canadian Province of Alberta. Alberta cities are created when communities with populations of at least 10,000 people, where a majority of their buildings are on parcels of land smaller than 1,850 m², apply to Alberta Municipal Affairs for city status under the authority of the Municipal Government Act. Applications for city status are approved via orders in council made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under recommendation from the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Alberta has 18 cities that had a cumulative population of 2,474,510 (not including the population in the Saskatchewan portion of Lloydminster) and an average population of 137,472 in the 2011 Census. Alberta's largest and smallest cities are Calgary and Lacombe with populations of 1,096,833 and 11,707 respectively.

Chestermere became Alberta's 18th city on January 1, 2015.

150 elected city officials (18 mayors and 132 councillors) provide city governance throughout the province.

The highest density of cities in Alberta is found in the Edmonton Capital Region (Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Spruce Grove and St. Albert). The Calgary Region has three cities (Airdrie, Calgary and Chestermere).

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 – Beaumont, Canmore, Cochrane, High River, Okotoks, Stony Plain, Strathmore, Sylvan Lake and Whitecourt – that are eligible for city status having populations in excess of 10,000. Of these, Okotoks is undertaking a community visioning exercise in which city status is expected to be addressed, while Beaumont is currently investigating city status with community engagement in 2016. In 2009, the Town of Hinton expressed interest in incorporating as a city once it surpasses 10,000 people. Its population in 2011 was 9,640. In 2016, the Town of Morinville is conducting a municipal census in which it is anticipated the town will surpass 10,000; thus the town is investigating city status as well as a specialized municipality model with Sturgeon County.

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. If they were to incorporate as cities, Fort McMurray and Sherwood Park would rank fifth and sixth respectively among Alberta's largest cities by population.

Images for kids

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  Grande Prairie (2014)