List of towns in Alberta

Alberta towns are created when communities with populations of at least 1,000 people, where a majority of their buildings are on parcels of land smaller than 1,850 m2, apply to Alberta Municipal Affairs for town status under the authority of the Municipal Government Act.

[5] The highest frequency of towns in Alberta is found in the Queen Elizabeth II Highway/Highway 2A corridor between Calgary and Edmonton corridor including, from south to north, Crossfield, Carstairs, Didsbury, Olds, Bowden, Innisfail, Penhold, Blackfalds, Ponoka and Millet.

[7] Mayoral or councillor candidates are required to be residents of their municipality for a minimum of six consecutive months prior to nomination day.

Administrative duties of towns 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).

[25] Rainbow Lake was also the community that operated under new town status for the longest period – nearly 28 years from September 1, 1966, to May 2, 1994.

Other communities that previously held town status 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.

[48][46][49] Of these, the villages of Big Valley, Carmangay and Youngstown are the only communities that remain incorporated municipalities.

[50] The others either amalgamated to form other municipalities (Blairmore, Coleman, Grand Centre and Lac La Biche),[51][52][53] were absorbed through annexation by Calgary (Bowness, Forest Lawn and Montgomery)[54] or Edmonton (Beverly and Jasper Place)[55] or dissolved to become hamlets under the jurisdiction of municipal districts (Cynthia, Diamond City, Gleichen, Grande Cache, Grouard, Irvine and Lodgepole).

There are currently nine towns – Blackfalds, 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.

[10] In addition, the Town of Hinton has expressed interest in incorporating as a city once it surpasses 10,000 people.