List of towns in Alberta facts for kids

Distribution of Alberta's 105 towns and 13 other communities that meet the legislated population requirements for town status

A town in Alberta, Canada, is a type of urban community. To become a town, a community needs at least 1,000 people. Most of its buildings must be on smaller pieces of land (less than 1,850 square meters). If a community meets these rules, it can ask the Alberta government to become a town. The government then makes an official decision to approve it.

Alberta has 105 towns. In 2016, these towns had a total population of about 455,053 people. On average, each town had about 4,293 residents. The biggest town in Alberta is Okotoks, with over 28,000 people. The smallest is Stavely, with around 541 people. Diamond Valley is Alberta's newest town. It was formed on January 1, 2023, when the towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley joined together.

If a town grows to have more than 10,000 people, its leaders can ask for it to become a city. However, this is not a rule; they can choose to stay a town. Also, if a town's population drops below 1,000, it can still keep its town status.

About 699 elected officials, including 107 mayors and 592 councillors, help run the towns across Alberta. Many towns in Alberta are located along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway and Highway 2A between Calgary and Edmonton. Some of these towns include Crossfield, Carstairs, Didsbury, Olds, Bowden, Innisfail, Penhold, Blackfalds, Ponoka, and Millet.

How Towns Are Run

Every town in Alberta is managed by a council. A town council always has an odd number of members. One of these members is the town's main elected leader, called the mayor. Usually, a town council has seven members. However, a town can decide to have a different odd number, but it must have at least three members. For example, from 2017 to 2021, 82 towns had seven council members, and 25 towns had five.

The mayor and councillors are chosen by a public vote. Having an odd number of members helps avoid tie votes when decisions are made. To run for mayor or councillor, a person must have lived in the town for at least six months before the election day. The last local election was on October 16, 2017.

The provincial government department called Alberta Municipal Affairs helps coordinate all local governments. Towns are responsible for many important services. These include public safety, local transportation, roads, water supply, and garbage collection. They also work with provincial and regional groups on bigger projects like building roads, schools, and health services.

List of Alberta Towns

This section lists the communities in Alberta that are officially called "towns."

Some communities, like Crowsnest Pass and Jasper, are not listed here. This is because they are "specialized municipalities," which is a different type of community. You can learn more about them in the article on Specialized municipalities of Alberta.

What Were "New Towns"?

A "new town" was a special type of community status in Alberta that is no longer used. This status was created by a law called The New Towns Act in 1956.

At least 12 communities became "new towns" between 1956 and 1967. Cynthia and Drayton Valley were the first, becoming new towns on June 1, 1956. Drayton Valley had only been a village for six months before this change. It was also a new town for the shortest time, just eight months.

Fox Creek was the last community to become a new town on July 19, 1967. It had not been an official community before that. Fox Creek remained a new town for over 16 years until it became a regular town on September 1, 1983.

Rainbow Lake was the last community to have the "new town" status. It changed to a regular town in 1994. Rainbow Lake was a new town for almost 28 years, the longest period of any community.

Some communities, like Slave Lake and Smith, also tried to become new towns. Slave Lake wanted extra money from the province but was denied. Smith's request was also denied because the province thought it wouldn't grow much.

Most of these "new towns" were resource communities in northern or west-central Alberta. They were often newly built communities. St. Albert was different; it was not in northern or west-central Alberta and had been a municipality since 1899.

Towns That Changed Status

Many cities in Alberta used to be towns. Even some former cities, like Fort McMurray and Strathcona, were once towns.

Other communities that used to be towns include Beverly, Big Valley, Blairmore, Bowness, Black Diamond, Carmangay, Coleman, Cynthia, Diamond City, Forest Lawn, Gleichen, Grande Cache, Grand Centre, Grouard, Irvine, Jasper Place, Lac La Biche, Lodgepole, Montgomery, Turner Valley, and Youngstown.

Today, only the villages of Big Valley, Carmangay, and Youngstown are still official municipalities. The others either joined with other communities to form new municipalities (like Blairmore, Coleman, Grand Centre, and Lac La Biche). Some were absorbed by larger cities like Calgary (Bowness, Forest Lawn, and Montgomery) or Edmonton (Beverly and Jasper Place). Others became hamlets under the control of municipal districts (Cynthia, Diamond City, Gleichen, Grande Cache, Grouard, Irvine, and Lodgepole).

Communities That Could Become Towns

Some villages and hamlets in Alberta already have enough people to become towns. For example, the villages of Stirling, Duchess, and Alberta Beach all have populations over 1,000.

Also, at least ten hamlets have enough people to become towns. These include Cardiff, Clairmont, Dunmore, Fort Chipewyan, Grande Cache, La Crete, Lac La Biche, Langdon, Springbrook, and Wabasca.

Towns That Could Become Cities

Currently, nine towns in Alberta have populations over 10,000, which means they could become cities. These towns are Blackfalds, Canmore, Cochrane, High River, Okotoks, Stony Plain, Strathmore, Sylvan Lake, and Whitecourt.

The town of Hinton has also said it wants to become a city once its population reaches 10,000. In 2016, its population was 9,882, very close to the goal. In 2016, Morinville also looked into becoming a city or a specialized municipality. Their census showed a population of 9,893, just 107 people short of 10,000.

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