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 19 cities that had a cumulative population of 2,837,511 and an average population of 149,343 in the 2016 Canadian Census. Alberta's largest and smallest cities are Calgary and Wetaskiwin, with populations of 1,239,220 and 12,655, respectively. Beaumont became Alberta's 19th city on January 1, 2019. 157 elected city officials provide city governance throughout the province. The highest density of cities in Alberta is found in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. The Calgary Metropolitan Region has three cities.
Administration
Pursuant to Part 5, Division 1 of the Municipal Government Act , each municipality created under the authority of the MGA is governed by an elected council. As a requirement of the MGA, a city council consists of an odd number of councillors, one of which is the city's chief elected official or mayor. A city council consists of seven councillors by default, but it can consist of a higher or lower odd number if council passes a bylaw altering its size. City councils are governed by a mayor who is elected at large and an even number of councillors, resulting in a total odd number of councillors to avoid tie votes on council matters. For the councillors, a city council may establish ward systems, with councillors elected from wards that are defined as having roughly the same population. Voters choose a councillor candidate running in the ward in which they live. If no ward system is in place, councillors are elected at-large like the mayor. All city councillors are elected by popular vote under the provisions of the Local Authorities Election Act . Mayoral or councillor candidates are required to be residents of their municipality for a minimum of six consecutive months prior to nomination day. The last municipal election for all cities, with the exception of the bordercity ofLloydminster, was held October 16, 2017. Lloydminster's elections are aligned with Saskatchewan's municipal election schedule. Alberta Municipal Affairs, a ministry of the Cabinet of Alberta, is charged with coordination of all levels of local government. Administrative duties of cities include public safety, local transit, roads, water service, drainage and waste collection, as well as coordination of infrastructure with provincial and regional authorities.
List
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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 No. 143 on April 1, 1995. The Town of Drumheller was incorporated as a city on April 3, 1930, and reverted to town status on January 1, 1998, when it amalgamated with the surrounding Municipal District of Badlands No. 7.
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. In addition, the Town of Hinton has expressed interest in incorporating as a city once it surpasses 10,000 people. Its population in 2016 was 9,882. In 2016, the Town of Morinville conducted a municipal census in which it anticipated the town would surpass 10,000; thus the town investigated city status as well as a specialized municipality model with Sturgeon County. The census reported a population of 9,893, which was 107 people shy of the milestone. 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.
