List of communities in Alberta

Alberta also has numerous unincorporated communities (including urban service areas, hamlets and a townsite) that are not independent municipalities in their own right.

All CMAs include large urban centres and surrounding census subdivisions.

All CAs also include large urban centres and in some cases their surrounding census subdivisions.

[5] Communities with shrinking populations are allowed to retain town status even if the number of residents falls below the 1,000 limit.

Communities with shrinking populations are allowed to retain village status even if the number of residents falls below the 300 limit.

Over the past 30 years, Alberta has observed a trend of numerous municipal districts rebranding themselves as counties through official name changes.

Section 582 of the MGA requires that the order to form an improvement district must describe its boundaries and give it an official name.

[4] An urban service area is a type of hamlet that is not officially defined under the Municipal Government Act (MGA).

However, the province of Alberta recognizes it as equivalent to a city for the purposes of program delivery and grant eligibility according to the Orders in Council that established the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo and Strathcona County as specialized municipalities.

There are currently two urban services areas in Alberta: Fort McMurray, within the jurisdiction of the RM of Wood Buffalo, was formerly a city prior its amalgamation with Improvement District No.

[1][2] When a hamlet's population reaches 300, it becomes eligible to incorporated as a village under Section 80 of the MGA, so long as the majority of the buildings are still on parcels of land smaller than 1,850 m2 (19,900 sq ft).

[47] A townsite is a type of unincorporated community that is not officially defined under the Municipal Government Act (MGA), but it is generally regarded as an independent urban area within an Indian reserve that is comparable in population, land area, services, and built form, to that of Alberta's incorporated towns.

Essentially, townsites would meet the eligibility requirements of the MGA to incorporate as a town if they were not on Indian reserve lands under federal jurisdiction.

The settlements provide an autonomous land base, allow better access to education, health and other social services, and provide economic development opportunities for the only recognized Métis land-base in Canada.

[5] Under the Constitution Act, 1982, legislative authority over Indian reserves is allocated to the Parliament of Canada.