Korean with 10,845 (0.33%); then
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
8,985 (0.28%);
Farsi
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...
7,700 (0.24%);
Portuguese 7,205 (0.22%); and
Hungarian 6,770 (0.21%).
According to Statistics Canada, Alberta is home to the second-highest proportion (2%) of
Francophones in western Canada (after
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
). Despite this, relatively few Albertans claim French as their mother tongue. Many of
Alberta's French-speaking residents live in the central and northwestern regions of the province, after migration from other areas of Canada or descending from Métis.
Ethnicity
Alberta has considerable ethnic diversity. In line with the rest of Canada, many are descended from immigrants of Western European nations, notably
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, but large numbers later came from other regions of Europe, notably
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
.
As per the 2016 census, 253,460 Albertans identify as
Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
, including 136,585 as
First Nations, 114,370 as
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
, and 2,500 as
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
.
There are also 933,165 residents who identify as a visible minority, including 230,930 South Asian people, 166,195 Filipinos, and 158,200 Chinese respondents.
In the 2006
Canadian census, the most commonly reported ethnic origins among Albertans were: 885,825 English (27.2%); 679,705 German (20.9%); 667,405 Canadian (20.5%); 661,265 Scottish (20.3%); 539,160 Irish (16.6%); 388,210 French (11.9%); 332,180 Ukrainian (10.2%); 172,910
Dutch (5.3%); 170,935
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
(5.2%); 169,355
North American Indian (5.2%); 144,585
Norwegian (4.4%); and 137,600
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
(4.2%). (Each person could choose as many ethnicities as were applicable.)
Amongst those of British heritage, the Scots have had a particularly strong influence on place-names, with the names of many cities and towns including Calgary,
Airdrie,
Canmore, and Banff having
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
origins.
Alberta is the third most diverse province in terms of
visible minorities after British Columbia and
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
with 13.9% of the population consisting of visible minorities in 2006.
Over one-third of the populations of Calgary and Edmonton belong to a visible minority group.
Aboriginal Identity Peoples made up 5.8% of the population in 2006, about half of whom consist of First Nations and the other half are
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
. There are also a small number of
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
in Alberta.
The number of Aboriginal Identity Peoples have been increasing at a rate greater than the population of Alberta.
As reported in the 2001 census, the Chinese represented nearly 4% of Alberta's population, and
South Asians represented more than 2%. Both Edmonton and Calgary have historic
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
s, and Calgary has Canada's third-largest Chinese community. The Chinese presence began with workers employed in the building of the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
in the 1880s.
Indigenous Albertans makeup approximately 3% of the population.
Religion
According to the
2021 census, religious groups in Alberta included:
*
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
(2,009,820 persons or 48.1%)
*
Irreligion
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and a ...
(1,676,045 persons or 40.1%)
*
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
(202,535 persons or 4.8%)
*
Sikhism
Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...
(103,600 persons or 2.5%)
*
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
(78,520 persons or 1.9%)
*
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
(42,830 persons or 1.0%)
*
Indigenous Spirituality (19,755 persons or 0.5%)
*
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
(11,390 persons or 0.3%)
*Other (33,220 persons or 0.8%)
As of the
2011 National Household Survey, the largest religious group was Roman Catholic, representing 24.3% of the population. Alberta had the second-highest percentage of
non-religious residents among the provinces (after British Columbia) at 31.6% of the population. Of the remainder, 7.5% of the population identified themselves as belonging to the
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...
, while 3.9% were
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
.
Lutherans made up 3.3% of the population while
Baptists
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
comprised 1.9%.
The remainder belonged to a wide variety of different religious affiliations, none of which constituted more than 2% of the population.
Members of
LDS Church are mostly concentrated in the extreme south of the province. Alberta has a population of
Hutterites
Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Refor ...
, a communal
Anabaptist
Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
sect similar to the
Mennonites, and has a significant population of
Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...
. Alberta is home to several
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople.
Th ...
Churches as part of the legacy of Eastern European immigration, including the
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton
The Eparchy of Edmonton is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church that governs parishes in the Canadian province of Alberta. It uses the Byzantine Rite liturgy in the Ukrainian language and E ...
, and the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (UOCC; french: Église orthodoxe ukrainienne du Canada) is an Eastern Orthodox church in Canada, primarily consisting of Orthodox Ukrainian Canadians. Its former name (before 1990) was the Ukrainian Greek ...
's
Western Diocese which is based in Edmonton. Muslims made up 3.2% of the population, Sikhs 1.5%, Buddhists 1.2%, and Hindus 1.0%. Many of these are immigrants, but others have roots that go back to the first settlers of the prairies. Canada's oldest mosque, the
Al-Rashid Mosque
The Al-Rashid Mosque was the first mosque built in Canada. It was constructed in Edmonton, Alberta.
History
Al-Rashid Mosque was expected to be the first mosque in North America but was built in 1938 just after the Mother Mosque of America in ...
, is located in Edmonton,
whereas Calgary is home to Canada's largest mosque, the
Baitun Nur Mosque
Baitun Nur (also spelled Baitunnur or Baitun Noor) (Arabic for "House of Light") is an Ahmadiyya mosque in Calgary, Alberta.
Baitun Nur is the largest mosque in Canada.
Public opening
The cornerstone of the mosque was laid in 2005. Constr ...
.
Alberta is also home to a growing Jewish population of about 15,400 people who constituted 0.3% of Alberta's population. Most of Alberta's Jews live in the metropolitan areas of Calgary (8,200) and Edmonton (5,500).
Economy
Alberta's economy was one of the strongest in the world, supported by the burgeoning petroleum industry and to a lesser extent, agriculture and technology. In 2013, Alberta's per capita GDP exceeded that of the United States, Norway, or Switzerland, and was the highest of any province in Canada at This was 56% higher than the national average of and more than twice that of some of the
Atlantic provinces. In 2006, the deviation from the national average was the largest for any province in
Canadian history
The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...
. According to the 2006 census,
the median annual family income after taxes was $70,986 in Alberta (compared to $60,270 in Canada as a whole). In 2014, Alberta had the second-largest economy in Canada after Ontario, with a GDP exceeding . The GDP of the province calculated at basic prices rose by 4.6% in 2017 to $327.4 billion, which was the largest increase recorded in Canada, and it ended two consecutive years of decreases.
Alberta's
debt-to-GDP ratio
In economics, the debt-to-GDP ratio is the ratio between a country's government debt (measured in units of currency) and its gross domestic product (GDP) (measured in units of currency per year). While it is a "ratio", it is technically measured i ...
is projected to peak at 12.1% in
fiscal year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
2021–2022, falling to 11.3% the following year.
The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized region in the province and one of the densest in Canada. The region covers a distance of roughly north to south. In 2001, the population of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor was 2.15 million (72% of Alberta's population).
It is also one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. A 2003 study by
TD Bank Financial Group found the corridor to be the only Canadian urban centre to amass a United States level of wealth while maintaining a Canadian style
quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
, offering
universal health care
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
benefits. The study found that GDP per capita in the corridor was 10% above average United States metropolitan areas and 40% above other
Canadian cities
This is a list of incorporated cities in Canada, in alphabetical order categorized by province or territory. More thorough lists of communities are available for each province.
Capital cities
Alberta
To qualify as a city in Alberta, a su ...
at that time.
The
Fraser Institute
The Fraser Institute is a libertarian-conservative Canadian public policy think tank and registered charity. The institute describes itself as independent and non-partisan. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Tor ...
states that Alberta also has very high levels of
economic freedom and rates Alberta as the freest economy in Canada, and second-freest economy amongst U.S. states and Canadian provinces.
In 2014, merchandise exports totalled US$121.4 billion. Energy revenues totalled $111.7 billion and Energy resource exports totalled $90.8 billion. Farm Cash receipts from agricultural products totalled $12.9 billion. Shipments of forest products totalled $5.4 billion while exports were $2.7 billion. Manufacturing sales totalled $79.4 billion, and Alberta's
information and communications technology
Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...
(ICT) industries generated over $13 billion in revenue. In total, Alberta's 2014 GDP amassed $364.5 billion in 2007 dollars, or $414.3 billion in 2015 dollars. In 2015, Alberta's GDP grew unstably despite low oil prices, with growth rates as high 4.4% and as low as 0.2%.
Agriculture and forestry
Agriculture has a significant position in the province's economy. The province has over three million head of cattle, and Alberta beef has a healthy worldwide market. Nearly one half of all Canadian beef is produced in Alberta. Alberta is one of the top producers of plains
buffalo (bison) for the consumer market. Sheep for wool and mutton are also raised.
Wheat and
canola[
] are primary farm crops, with Alberta leading the provinces in
spring wheat production; other
grains are also prominent. Much of the farming is dryland farming, often with fallow seasons interspersed with cultivation. Continuous cropping (in which there is no fallow season) is gradually becoming a more common mode of production because of increased profits and a reduction of soil erosion. Across the province, the once common
grain elevator
A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...
is slowly being lost as rail lines are decreasing; farmers typically truck the grain to central points.
Alberta is the leading
beekeeping
Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...
province of Canada, with some beekeepers wintering
hives
Hives, also known as urticaria, is a kind of skin rash with red, raised, itchy bumps. Hives may burn or sting. The patches of rash may appear on different body parts, with variable duration from minutes to days, and does not leave any long-lasti ...
indoors in specially designed barns in southern Alberta, then migrating north during the summer into the
Peace River
The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...
valley where the season is short but the working days are long for
honeybees to produce honey from
clover
Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...
and
fireweed.
Hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
canola also requires bee pollination, and some beekeepers service this need.
Forestry plays a vital role in Alberta's economy, providing over 15,000 jobs and contributing billions of dollars annually.
Uses for harvested timber include
pulpwood
Pulpwood is timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production.
Applications
* Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more gener ...
,
hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
,
engineered wood
Engineered wood, also called mass timber, composite wood, man-made wood, or manufactured board, includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding or fixing the strands, particles, fibres, or veneers or boards of woo ...
and
bioproducts Bioproducts or bio-based products are materials, chemicals and energy derived from renewable biological resources.
Bioresources
Biological resources include agriculture, forestry, and biologically-derived waste, and there are many other renewable ...
such as chemicals and
biofuel
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
s.
Industry
Alberta is the largest producer of
conventional crude oil,
synthetic crude
Synthetic crude is the output from a bitumen/extra heavy oil upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production. It may also refer to shale oil, an output from an oil shale pyrolysis. The properties of the synthetic crude depend on the ...
, natural gas and gas products in Canada. Alberta is the world's second-largest exporter of natural gas and the fourth-largest producer.
Two of the largest producers of
petrochemical
Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sou ...
s in North America are located in central and north-central Alberta. In both Red Deer and Edmonton,
polyethylene
Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bo ...
and
vinyl manufacturers produce products that are shipped all over the world. Edmonton's
oil refineries
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...
provide the raw materials for a large
petrochemical industry
The petrochemical industry is concerned with the production and trade of petrochemicals. A major part is constituted by the plastics (polymer) industry. It directly interfaces with the petroleum industry, especially the downstream sector.
Compan ...
to the east of Edmonton.
The
Athabasca oil sands surrounding
Fort McMurray have estimated
unconventional oil
Unconventional oil is petroleum produced or extracted using techniques other than the conventional method (oil well). Industry and governments across the globe are investing in unconventional oil sources due to the increasing scarcity of conventio ...
reserves approximately equal to the conventional oil reserves of the rest of the world, estimated to be 1.6 trillion barrels (254 km
3). Many companies employ both conventional
strip mining and non-conventional
in situ methods to extract the
bitumen
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
from the
oil sands
Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and wate ...
. As of late 2006, there were over $100 billion in oil sands projects under construction or in the planning stages in northeastern Alberta.
Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the oil sands is the
price of oil. The
oil price increases since 2003 have made it profitable to extract this oil, which in the past would give little profit or even a loss. By mid-2014, rising costs and stabilizing oil prices threatened the economic viability of some projects. An example of this was the shelving of the Joslyn north project in the Athabasca region in May 2014.
With concerted effort and support from the provincial government, several high-tech industries have found their birth in Alberta, notably patents related to interactive
liquid-crystal display
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display
A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic display used to display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipmen ...
systems. With a growing economy, Alberta has several financial institutions dealing with civil and private funds.
Tourism
Alberta has been a tourist destination from the early days of the 20th century, with attractions including outdoor locales for skiing, hiking, and camping, shopping locales such as
West Edmonton Mall,
Calgary Stampede, outdoor festivals, professional athletic events, international sporting competitions such as the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
and Olympic Games, as well as more eclectic attractions. According to Alberta Economic Development, Calgary and Edmonton both host over four million visitors annually.
Banff,
Jasper
Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...
and the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
are visited by about three million people per year.
Alberta tourism relies heavily on
Southern Ontario tourists, as well as tourists from other parts of Canada, the United States, and many other countries.
There are also natural attractions like
Elk Island National Park
Elk Island National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada, that played an important part in the conservation of the Plains bison. The park is administered by the Parks Canada Agency. This "island of conservation" is east of Edmonton, alo ...
,
Wood Buffalo National Park, and the
Columbia Icefield.
Alberta's Rockies include well-known tourist destinations
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...
and
Jasper National Park. The two mountain parks are connected by the scenic
Icefields Parkway. Banff is located west of Calgary on
Highway 1, and Jasper is located west of Edmonton on the
Yellowhead Highway. Five of Canada's fourteen
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
s are located within the province:
Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks,
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park
The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the union of Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the United States. Both parks are declared Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO and their union as a World Heritage Site.
H ...
, Wood Buffalo National Park,
Dinosaur Provincial Park and
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. A number of these areas hold ski resorts, most notably
Banff Sunshine
Banff Sunshine Village (formerly Sunshine Village) is a ski resort in western Canada, located on the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies within Banff National Park in Alberta and Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia. It is ...
,
Lake Louise,
Marmot Basin,
Norquay and
Nakiska.
About 1.2 million people visit the Calgary Stampede,
a celebration of Canada's own Wild West and the cattle ranching industry. About 700,000 people enjoy Edmonton's
K-Days
K-Days, formerly known as the Edmonton Exhibition, Klondike Days, and the Capital Ex, is an annual 10-day exhibition held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada mostly in late July. In recent years it has attracted between 700,000 and 800,000 visitors per ...
(formerly Klondike Days and Capital EX).
Edmonton was the gateway to the only all-Canadian route to the
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
gold fields, and the only route which did not require gold-seekers to travel the exhausting and dangerous
Chilkoot Pass.
Another tourist destination that draws more than 650,000 visitors each year is the Drumheller Valley, located northeast of Calgary.
Drumheller, "Dinosaur Capital of The World", offers the
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (RTMP, and often referred to as the Royal Tyrrell Museum) is a palaeontology museum and research facility in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. The museum was named in honour of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, and is situ ...
. Drumheller also had a rich mining history being one of Western Canada's largest coal producers during the war years. Another attraction in east-central Alberta is
Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions
Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions is a heritage railway originating in Stettler, Alberta.
The train runs between Stettler and Big Valley. The trips last five to six hours, with a stopover (all excursions include a buffet meal). Many trains are ...
, a popular tourist attraction operated out of
Stettler, that offers train excursions into the prairie and caters to tens of thousands of visitors every year.
Government and politics
The Government of Alberta is organized as a
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
democracy with a unicameral legislature. Its
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
legislature—the
Legislative Assembly—consists of 87 members elected
first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
(FPTP) from single-member constituencies. Locally municipal governments and school boards are elected and operate separately. Their boundaries do not necessarily coincide.
As
King of Canada,
Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
is the head of state for the Government of Alberta. His duties in Alberta are carried out by Lieutenant Governor
Salma Lakhani.
The King and lieutenant governor are figureheads whose actions are highly restricted by custom and
constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to:
* Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement
*Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...
. The lieutenant governor handles numerous honorific duties in the name of the King. The government is headed by the
premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
. The premier is normally a member of the Legislative Assembly, and draws all the members of the Cabinet from among the members of the Legislative Assembly. The City of Edmonton is the seat of the provincial government—the capital of Alberta. The current premier is
Danielle Smith
Marlaina Danielle Smith (born April 1, 1971) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has been serving as the 19th premier of Alberta since October 11, 2022, and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since October 6, 2022. Smith ent ...
, who was sworn in on October 11th, 2022.
Alberta's elections have tended to yield much more conservative outcomes than those of other Canadian provinces. Since the 1960s, Alberta has had three main political parties, the Progressive Conservatives ("Conservatives" or "Tories"), the
Liberals, and the social democratic New Democrats. The
Wildrose Party
The Wildrose Party (legally Wildrose Political Association, formerly the ''Wildrose Alliance Political Association'') was a conservative provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. The party was formed by the merger in early 2008 of the Albe ...
, a more libertarian party formed in early 2008, gained much support in the
2012 election
This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*3–4 January: ...
and became the
official opposition
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
, a role it held until 2017 when it was dissolved and succeeded by the new
United Conservative Party
The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party. ...
created by the merger of Wildrose and the Progressive Conservatives. The strongly conservative
Social Credit Party was a power in Alberta for many decades, but fell from the political map after the Progressive Conservatives came to power in 1971.
For 44 years the Progressive Conservatives governed Alberta. They lost the
2015 election to the NDP (which formed their own government for the first time in provincial history, breaking almost 80 consecutive years of right-wing rule), suggesting at the time a possible shift to the left in the province, also indicated by the election of progressive mayors in both of Alberta's major cities. Since becoming a province in 1905, Alberta has seen only five changes of government—only six parties have governed Alberta: the Liberals, from 1905 to 1921; the
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...
, from 1921 to 1935; the Social Credit Party, from 1935 to 1971; the Progressive Conservative Party, from 1971 to 2015; from 2015 to 2019, the Alberta New Democratic Party; and from 2019, the United Conservative Party, with the
most recent transfer of power being the first time in provincial history that an incumbent government was not returned to a second term.
Administrative divisions
The province is divided into ten types of
local governments
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
– urban municipalities (including
cities,
towns
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
,
villages and
summer villages),
specialized municipalities,
rural municipalities (including
municipal district
A municipal district is an administrative entity comprising a clearly-defined territory and its population. It can refer to a city, a town, a village, a small grouping of them, or a rural area.
Brazil
In Brazil, municipal districts are, in genera ...
s (often named as counties),
improvement districts, and
special areas),
Métis settlements, and
Indian reserves. All types of municipalities are governed by local residents and were incorporated under various provincial acts, with the exception of improvement districts (governed by either the provincial or federal government), and
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty,
that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band."
Ind ...
s (governed by local
band government
In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...
s under federal jurisdiction).
Law enforcement
Policing in the province of Alberta upon its creation was the responsibility of the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police
The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...
. In 1917, due to pressures of the First World War, the
Alberta Provincial Police was created. This organization policed the province until it was disbanded as a
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
-era cost-cutting measure in 1932. It was at that time the, now renamed,
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
resumed policing of the province, specifically RCMP "K" Division. With the advent of the
Alberta Sheriffs Branch, the distribution of duties of law enforcement in Alberta has been evolving as certain aspects, such as traffic enforcement, mobile surveillance and the close protection of the Premier of Alberta have been transferred to the Sheriffs. In 2006, Alberta formed the
Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams
Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) is an umbrella government agency uniting efforts by multiple Canadian law enforcement organizations. Known by the acronym ALERT, the agency was established in 2006. Its campaigns on behalf of the peopl ...
(ALERT) to combat organized crime and the serious offences that accompany it. ALERT is made up of members of the RCMP, Sheriffs Branch, and various major municipal police forces in Alberta.
Military
Military bases in Alberta include
Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Cold Lake,
CFB Edmonton,
CFB Suffield and
CFB Wainwright. Air force units stationed at CFB Cold Lake have access to the
Cold Lake Air Weapons Range
Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake , abbreviated as CFB Cold Lake, is a Canadian Forces Base in the City of Cold Lake, Alberta.
The facility is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is approximately south of the ...
.
CFB Edmonton is the headquarters for the 3rd Canadian Division.
CFB Suffield hosts British troops and is the largest training facility in Canada.
Taxation
According to Alberta's 2009 budget, government revenue in that year came mainly from royalties on non-renewable natural resources (30.4%), personal income taxes (22.3%), corporate and other taxes (19.6%), and grants from the
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
primarily for infrastructure projects (9.8%).
In 2014, Alberta received $6.1 billion in bitumen royalties. With the drop in the price of oil in 2015 it was down to $1.4 billion. In 2016, Alberta received "about $837 million in royalty payments from oil sands Royalty Projects".
According to the 2018–2021 fiscal plan, the two top sources of revenue in 2016 were personal income tax at $10,763 million and federal transfers of $7,976 million with total resource revenue at $3,097 million.
Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial
sales tax
A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...
. Alberta residents are subject to the federal sales tax, the
Goods and Services Tax of 5%.
{, class="wikitable floatright"
, + 2018–2021 fiscal plan
, Revenue source , , in millions of dollars
, -
, personal income tax , , 10,763
, -
, federal transfers , , 7,976
, -
, Other tax revenue , , 5,649
, -
, Corporate income tax , , 3,769
, -
, Premiums, fees and licenses , , 3,701
, -
, Investment income , , 3,698
, -
, Resource revenue – other , , 1,614
, -
, Resource revenue – Bitumen royalties, , 1,483
, -
, Net income from business enterprises , , 543
, -
, Total revenue , , 42,293
From 2001 to 2016, Alberta was the only Canadian province to have a
flat tax
A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressiv ...
of 10% of taxable income, which was introduced by Premier,
Ralph Klein
Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...
, as part of the Alberta Tax Advantage, which also included a zero-percent tax on income below a "generous personal exemption".
In 2016, under Premier
Rachel Notley, while most Albertans continued to pay the 10% income tax rate, new tax brackets 12%, 14%, and 15% for those with higher incomes ($128,145 annually or more) were introduced.
Alberta's personal income tax system maintained a
progressive character by continuing to grant residents personal tax exemptions of $18,451,
in addition to a variety of tax deductions for persons with disabilities, students, and the aged.
Alberta's municipalities and school jurisdictions have their own governments who usually work in co-operation with the provincial government. By 2018, most Albertans continued to pay the 10% income tax rate.
According to a March 2015
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
report, the median household income in Alberta in 2014 was about $100,000, which is 23% higher than the Canadian national average.
Based on Statistic Canada reports, low-income Albertans, who earn less than $25,000 and those in the high-income bracket earning $150,000 or more, are the lowest-taxed people in Canada.
Those in the middle income brackets representing those that earn about $25,000 to $75,000
[According to a 2018 CBC article, Albertans whose annual income is less than $25,000 pay the least income tax in Canada; those that earn about $50,000 "pay more than both Ontarians and British Columbians". Residents of British Columbia who earn about $75,000 pay $1,200 less in provincial taxes than those in Alberta. Albertans who earn about $100,000, "pay less than Ontarians but still more than people in B.C." Alberta taxpayers who earn $250,000 a year or more, pay $4,000 less in provincial taxes than someone with a similar income in B.C. and "about $18,000 less than in Quebec."] pay more in provincial taxes than residents in British Columbia and Ontario.
In terms of income tax, Alberta is the "best province" for those with a low income because there is no provincial income tax for those who earn $18,915 or less.
Even with the 2016 progressive tax brackets up to 15%, Albertans who have the highest incomes, those with a $150,000 annual income or more—about 178,000 people in 2015, pay the least in taxes in Canada.
— About 1.9 million Albertans earned between $25,000 and $150,000 in 2015.
Alberta also privatized alcohol distribution. By 2010, privatization had increased outlets from 304 stores to 1,726; 1,300 jobs to 4,000 jobs; and 3,325 products to 16,495 products.
Tax revenue also increased from $400 million to $700 million.
In 2017/18 Alberta collected about $2.4 billion in education property taxes from municipalities.
Alberta municipalities raise a significant portion of their income through levying property taxes.
The value of assessed property in Alberta was approximately $727 billion in 2011.
Most real property is assessed according to its market value.
The exceptions to market value assessment are farmland, railways, machinery and equipment and linear property, all of which is assessed by regulated rates. Depending on the property type, property owners may appeal a property assessment to their municipal 'Local Assessment Review Board', 'Composite Assessment Review Board,' or the Alberta Municipal Government Board.
Culture
Summer brings many
festivals to the province of Alberta,
especially in Edmonton. The
Edmonton Fringe Festival is the world's second-largest after the
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
. Both Calgary and Edmonton host many annual festivals and events, including folk music festivals. The city's "heritage days" festival sees the participation of over 70 ethnic groups. Edmonton's
Churchill Square is home to a large number of the festivals, including the large Taste of Edmonton and
The Works Art & Design Festival
The Works Art & Design Festival is a thirteen day festival held at the end of June and the beginning of July in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from ...
throughout the summer months.
The City of Calgary is also famous for its Stampede, dubbed "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth". The Stampede is Canada's biggest rodeo festival and features various races and competitions, such as
calf roping
Calf roping, also known as tie-down roping, is a rodeo event that features a calf and a rider mounted on a horse. The goal of this timed event is for the rider to catch the calf by throwing a loop of rope from a lariat around its neck, dismount ...
and
bull riding. In line with the western tradition of rodeo are the cultural artisans that reside and create unique Alberta western heritage crafts.
In 2019, the then Minister of Culture and Tourism
Ricardo Miranda
Ricardo Miranda (born August 22, 1976) is a Canadian politician and trade unionist who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 2015 Alberta general election representing the electoral district of Calgary-Cross.
On February 2, ...
announced the Alberta Artist in Residence program in conjunction with the province's first Month of the Artist to celebrate the arts and the value they bring to the province, both socially and economically, The Artist is selected each year via a public and competitive process is expected to do community outreach and attend events to promote the arts throughout the province. The award comes with $60,000 funding which includes travel and materials costs.
On January 31, 2019,
Lauren Crazybull
Lauren Crazybull is a Blackfoot, Dene visual artist currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia and Alberta's first provincial Artist in Residence. Lauren is originally from Alberta, Canada.
Career
In 2019, Lauren was one of the 30 fina ...
named Alberta's 1st Artist in Residence.
Alberta is the first province to launch an Artist in Residence program in Canada.
Sports
{, class="wikitable sortable"
, + List of sport teams in Alberta
, -
! Team !! City !! League
!Stadium/Arena
!Capacity
, -
,
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
, ,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, ,
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
,
Rogers Place
Rogers Place is a multi-use indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Construction started in March 2014, and the building officially opened on September 8, 2016. The arena has a seating capacity of 18,500 as a hockey venue and 20,734 as a conce ...
, 18 347
, -
,
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
, ,
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
, ,
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
,
Scotiabank Saddledome
Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...
, 19 289
, -
,
Edmonton Elks, ,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, ,
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
,
Commonwealth Stadium
, 60 081
, -
,
Calgary Stampeders, ,
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
, ,
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
,
McMahon Stadium
, 40 000
, -
,
Calgary Wranglers
The Calgary Wranglers are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, that began play in the 2022–23 American Hockey League (AHL) season. The team plays at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the home of their NHL affiliate team, the Calgary Flam ...
,
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
,
Scotiabank Saddledome
Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...
, 19 289
, -
,
Calgary Hitmen
The Calgary Hitmen are a major junior ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Hitmen play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League (WHL). They play their home games at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Bret "The Hitman" ...
,
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...
,
Scotiabank Saddledome
Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...
, 19 289
, -
,
Edmonton Oil Kings
The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers. ...
,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...
,
Rogers Place
Rogers Place is a multi-use indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Construction started in March 2014, and the building officially opened on September 8, 2016. The arena has a seating capacity of 18,500 as a hockey venue and 20,734 as a conce ...
, 18 347
, -
,
Lethbridge Hurricanes, ,
Lethbridge
Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
, ,
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...
,
Enmax Centre
, 5 479
, -
,
Medicine Hat Tigers
The Medicine Hat Tigers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) who play in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1970, the team has won two national Memorial Cups, five WHL League Championships and seven Divis ...
, ,
Medicine Hat
Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, ...
, ,
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...
,
Canalta Centre
, 7 100
, -
,
Red Deer Rebels
,
Red Deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...
,
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...
,
Peavey Mart Centrium
The Peavey Mart Centrium (formerly ENMAX Centrium) is a two-tier 7,111-seat multi-purpose arena in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The arena is a multi-use facility accommodating national events, concerts, hockey, rodeo, trade shows, and even graduat ...
, 7 111
, -
,
FC Edmonton
,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Canadian Premier League
,
Clarke Stadium
, 5 000
, -
,
Cavalry FC
,
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Canadian Premier League
,
ATCO Field
, 6 000
, -
,
Edmonton Stingers
,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Canadian Elite Basketball League
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a men's professional minor league basketball organization. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams competing all owned and operated by ownership group Canadian Basketball ...
,
Edmonton Expo Centre
, 4 000
, -
,
Calgary Roughnecks
,
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...
,
Scotiabank Saddledome
Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...
, 19 289
, -
,
Edmonton Riverhawks
The Edmonton Riverhawks are a collegiate summer baseball team. The Riverhawks are members of the West Coast League and play their home games at RE/MAX Field.
History
In May 2020, Baseball Edmonton, a consortium headed by five-time Stanley Cup ...
,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
West Coast League
The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...
,
RE/MAX Field
RE/MAX Field (formerly Edmonton Ballpark, and Telus Field) is a baseball stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has served as home to several minor league baseball clubs; its last affiliated tenant was the Edmonton Trappers, a AAA Pacific Coast ...
, 9 200
Education
As with any Canadian province, the Alberta Legislature has (almost) exclusive authority to make laws respecting education. Since 1905, the Legislature has used this capacity to continue the model of locally elected public and separate school boards which originated prior to 1905, as well as to create and regulate universities, colleges, technical institutions, and other educational forms and institutions (public charter schools, private schools, homeschooling).
Elementary and secondary
There are forty-two public school jurisdictions in Alberta, and seventeen operating separate school jurisdictions. Sixteen of the operating separate school jurisdictions have a Catholic electorate, and one (
St. Albert) has a Protestant electorate. In addition, one Protestant separate school district, Glen Avon, survives as a ward of the St. Paul Education Region. The City of Lloydminster straddles the Albertan/Saskatchewan border, and both the public and separate school systems in that city are counted in the above numbers: both of them operate according to Saskatchewan law.
For many years the provincial government has funded the greater part of the cost of providing K–12 education. Prior to 1994 public and separate school boards in Alberta had the legislative authority to levy a local tax on property as supplementary support for local education. In 1994, the government of the province eliminated this right for public school boards, but not for separate school boards. Since 1994 there has continued to be a tax on property in support of K–12 education; the difference is that the provincial government now sets the mill rate, the money is collected by the local municipal authority and remitted to the provincial government. The relevant legislation requires that all the money raised by this property tax must go to support K–12 education provided by school boards. The provincial government pools the property tax funds from across the province and distributes them, according to a formula, to public and separate school jurisdictions and Francophone authorities.
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
and separate school boards, charter schools, and private schools all follow the Program of Studies and the curriculum approved by the provincial department of education (Alberta Education).
Homeschool
Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...
tutors may choose to follow the Program of Studies or develop their own Program of Studies. Public and separate schools, charter schools, and approved private schools all employ teachers who are certificated by Alberta Education, they administer Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Examinations set by Alberta Education, and they may grant high school graduation certificates endorsed by Alberta Education.
Post-secondary
The
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
, located in Edmonton and established in 1908, is Alberta's oldest and largest university. The
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
, once affiliated with the University of Alberta, gained its autonomy in 1966 and is now the second-largest university in Alberta.
Athabasca University
Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...
, which focuses on distance learning, and the
University of Lethbridge
, mottoeng = ''Let there be light''
, type = Public
, established =
, academic_affiliations = Universities Canada
, endowment = $73 million (2019)
, chancellor = Charles Weasel ...
are located in Athabasca and Lethbridge respectively.
In early September 2009,
Mount Royal University became Calgary's second public university, and in late September 2009, a similar move made
MacEwan University
, mottoeng =
, type = Public University
, established =
, closed =
, founder =
, parent =
, academic_affiliations = AUCC, ACCC, AACTI ...
Edmonton's second public university. There are 15 colleges that receive direct public funding, along with two technical institutes,
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a applied sciences institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. NAIT provides careers programs in applied research, technical training, applied education, and learning designed to meet the deman ...
and
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Two of the colleges, Red Deer College and Grande Prairie Regional College, were approved by the Alberta government to become degree-granting universities.
There are also many private post-secondary institutions, mostly
Christian Universities, bringing the total number of universities to 12. Students may also receive government loans and grants while attending selected private institutions. There was some controversy in 2005 over the rising cost of post-secondary education for students (as opposed to taxpayers). In 2005, Premier
Ralph Klein
Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...
made a promise that he would freeze tuition and look into ways of reducing schooling costs.
Health care
Alberta provides a
publicly funded, fully integrated health system, through
Alberta Health Services
Alberta Health Services (AHS) which is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta is the single health authority for the Canadian province of Alberta and the "largest integrated provincial health care system" in Canada. AHS delivers medical care on beha ...
(AHS)—a quasi-independent agency that delivers health care on behalf of the
Government of Alberta's
Ministry of Health.
The Alberta government provides health services for all its residents as set out by the provisions of the ''
Canada Health Act'' of 1984. Alberta became Canada's second province (after
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
) to adopt a
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...
-style program in 1950, a precursor to the modern
medicare system.
Alberta's health care budget was $22.5 billion during the 2018–2019 fiscal year (approximately 45% of all government spending), making it the best-funded health-care system per-capita in Canada. Every hour the province spends more than $2.5 million, (or $60 million per day), to maintain and improve health care in the province.
Notable health, education, research, and resources facilities in Alberta, all of which are located within Calgary or Edmonton. Health centres in Calgary include:
*
Alberta Children's Hospital
Alberta Children's Hospital (ACH) is the largest public hospital for sick children in the prairie provinces, and is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is operated by Alberta Health Services – Calgary Health Region. The new facility opened ...
*
Foothills Medical Centre
Foothills Medical Centre (FMC) is the largest hospital in the province of Alberta and is located in the city of Calgary. It is one of Canada's most recognized medical facilities and one of the leading research and teaching hospitals. Foothills Me ...
*Grace Women's Health Centre
*
Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta
The 'Libin Cardiovascular Institute'' is an entity of Alberta Health Services and the University of Calgary. It connects all cardiovascular research, education and clinical care in Southern Alberta. The Institute coordinates the activities of o ...
*
Peter Lougheed Centre
Peter Lougheed Centre (PLC) is a 506,000 square foot hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is under the auspices of Alberta Health Services, formerly the Calgary Health Region, providing medical and surgical services to Calgary but also Souther ...
*
Rockyview General Hospital
Rockyview General Hospital (RGH) is a large hospital. It is located in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on the shores of the Glenmore Reservoir and is administered by Alberta Health Services and formerly by the Calgary Health Region.
The hos ...
*
South Health Campus
South Health Campus (SHC) is a large hospital in Calgary, in Alberta, Canada. It is administered by Alberta Health Services.
The building was developed by Alberta Infrastructure, and the first phase was built at a cost of $1.31 billion. The South ...
*
Tom Baker Cancer Centre
Tom Baker Cancer Centre (TBCC) is a tertiary care facility for Southern Alberta, named for the founding chairman of the ''Alberta Cancer Board'', and is one of two tertiary cancer centres in the province. It is a lead Cancer Centre in southern Al ...
*University of Calgary Medical Centre (UCMC)
Health centres in Edmonton include:
*Alberta Diabetes Institute
*
Cross Cancer Institute
Cross Cancer Institute is the comprehensive cancer centre for northern Alberta. The institute, named for Wallace Warren Cross, is located in Edmonton near the southwest corner of the University of Alberta, and is one of two tertiary cancer centr ...
*Edmonton Clinic
*
Grey Nuns Community Hospital
The Grey Nuns Community Hospital is an acute care hospital located in the Mill Woods area of south Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Grey Nuns Community Hospital provides a full range of services including a 24-hour Emergency Department. The 14-bed t ...
*Lois Hole Hospital for Women
*Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute
*
Misericordia Community Hospital
*Rexall Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research
*
Royal Alexandra Hospital
*
Stollery Children's Hospital
*
University of Alberta Hospital
The
Edmonton Clinic complex, completed in 2012, provides a similar research, education, and care environment as the
Mayo Clinic
The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...
in the United States.
All public health care services funded by the Government of Alberta are delivered operationally by Alberta Health Services. AHS is the province's single health authority, established on July 1, 2008, which replaced nine regional health authorities. AHS also funds all ground ambulance services in the province, as well as the province-wide
Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service
The Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS, formerly Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society) is a Canadian non-profit helicopter air ambulance organization funded by individual donors, service groups, corporate donors and government contributions. ST ...
(STARS) air ambulance service.
Transportation
Air
Alberta is well-connected by air, with
international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
s in both Calgary and Edmonton.
Calgary International Airport
Calgary International Airport , branded as YYC Calgary International Airport, is an international airport that serves the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately northeast of downtown and covers an area of 20.82 squa ...
and
Edmonton International Airport are the fourth- and
fifth-busiest in Canada, respectively. Calgary's airport is a hub for
WestJet Airlines
WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...
and a regional hub for
Air Canada, primarily serving the prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) for connecting flights to British Columbia, eastern Canada, fifteen major United States centres, nine European airports, one Asian airport and four destinations in Mexico and the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
.
Edmonton's airport acts as a hub for the Canadian north and has connections to all major Canadian airports as well as airports in the United States, Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean .
Public transit
Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge have substantial
public transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
systems. In addition to buses, Calgary and Edmonton operate
light rail transit (LRT) systems.
Edmonton LRT, which is underground in the downtown core and on the surface outside the CBD, was the first of the modern generation of light rail systems to be built in North America, while the Calgary
C Train has one of the highest numbers of daily riders of any LRT system in North America.
Rail
There are more than of operating mainline railway in Alberta. The vast majority of this trackage is owned by the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
(CP) and
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
(CN) companies, which operate
freight transport
Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been e ...
across the province. Additional railfreight service in the province is provided by two shortline railways: the
Battle River Railway
The Battle River Railway is a co-operative shortline freight railway created in 2010 in central Alberta. The track is 236 foot-continually welded track. It serves the communities of Alliance, Galahad, Forestburg, Heisler, Rosalind, Kelsey, p ...
and
Forty Mile Rail
Forty Mile Rail is a short line railway located in Southern Alberta running on the former CP Stirling Subdivision, with its headquarters located in the community of Foremost, Alberta. The rail came to Foremost originally in 1913 and was brought b ...
.
Passenger trains include
Via Rail's ''
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
'' (Toronto–Vancouver) and
Jasper–Prince Rupert train
The Jasper–Prince Rupert train (formerly the ''Skeena'' and ''Panorama'', now known as Trains 5/6, sometimes called ''The Rupert Rocket'') is a Canadian passenger train service operated by Via Rail between Jasper, Alberta, Prince George and Pr ...
s, which use the CN mainline and pass through Jasper National Park and parallel the Yellowhead Highway during at least part of their routes. The
Rocky Mountaineer operates two sections: one from Vancouver to Banff over CP tracks, and a section that travels over CN tracks to Jasper.
Road
Alberta has over of highways and roads, of which nearly are paved. The main north–south corridor is
Highway 2, which begins south of
Cardston at the
Carway
Carway ( cy, Carwe) is a village situated to the north-west of the town of Llanelli in the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales, in the River Gwendraeth, Gwendraeth Valley. It is part of the community of Llangyndeyrn, and had a population of 672 in 2 ...
border crossing and is part of the
CANAMEX Corridor. Beginning at the
Coutts border crossing and ending at Lethbridge,
Highway 4, effectively extends
Interstate 15 into Alberta and is the busiest United States gateway to the province.
Highway 3 joins Lethbridge to
Fort Macleod and links Highway 2 to Highway 4. Highway 2 travels north through Fort Macleod, Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton.
North of Edmonton, the highway continues to
Athabasca
Athabasca (also Athabaska) is an anglicized version of the Cree name for Lake Athabasca in Canada, āthap-āsk-ā-w (pronounced ), meaning "grass or reeds here and there". Most places named Athabasca are found in Alberta, Canada.
Athabasca may a ...
, then northwesterly along the south shore of
Lesser Slave Lake into
High Prairie, north to
Peace River
The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...
, west to
Fairview and finally south to
Grande Prairie
Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), a ...
, where it ends at an interchange with
Highway 43.
[ The section of Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton has been named the Queen Elizabeth II Highway to commemorate the visit of the monarch in 2005. Highway 2 is supplemented by two more highways that run parallel to it: Highway 22, west of Highway 2, known as ''Cowboy Trail'', and Highway 21, east of Highway 2. Highway 43 travels northwest into Grande Prairie and the ]Peace River Country
The Peace River Country (or Peace Country; french: Région de la Rivière-de-la-paix) is an aspen parkland region centring on the Peace River in Canada. It extends from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, ...
. Travelling northeast from Edmonton, the Highway 63 connects to Fort McMurrayand the Athabasca oil sands.[
Alberta has two main east–west corridors. The southern corridor, part of the ]Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
system, enters the province near Medicine Hat, runs westward through Calgary, and leaves Alberta through Banff National Park. The northern corridor, also part of the Trans-Canada network and known as the Yellowhead Highway ( Highway 16), runs west from Lloydminster in eastern Alberta, through Edmonton and Jasper National Park into British Columbia.[ One of the most scenic drives is along the Icefields Parkway, which runs for between Jasper and Lake Louise, with mountain ranges and glaciers on either side of its entire length. A third corridor stretches across southern Alberta; Highway 3 runs between Crowsnest Pass and Medicine Hat through Lethbridge and forms the eastern portion of the ]Crowsnest Highway
The Crowsnest Highway is an east-west highway in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. It stretches across the southern portions of both provinces, from Hope, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection b ...
.[ Another major corridor through central Alberta is Highway 11 (also known as the David Thompson Highway), which runs east from the Saskatchewan River Crossing in Banff National Park through ]Rocky Mountain House
Rocky Mountain House is a town in west-central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately west of Red Deer at the confluence of the Clearwater and North Saskatchewan Rivers, and at the crossroads of Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail) and Highway 11 (David Th ...
and Red Deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...
, connecting with Highway 12, west of Stettler. The highway connects many of the smaller towns in central Alberta with Calgary and Edmonton, as it crosses Highway 2 just west of Red Deer.[
Urban stretches of Alberta's major highways and freeways are often called ''trails''. For example, Highway 2, the main north–south highway in the province, is called ]Deerfoot Trail
Deerfoot Trail is a freeway segment of Highway 2 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It stretches the entire length of the city from south to north and links suburbs to downtown via Memorial Drive and 17 Avenue SE. The freewa ...
as it passes through Calgary but becomes Calgary Trail (southbound) and Gateway Boulevard (northbound) as it enters Edmonton and then turns into St. Albert Trail
St. Albert Trail is a major arterial road connecting the cities of Edmonton and St. Albert, Alberta. It is part of a continuous roadway that runs through Sherwood Park, Edmonton, and St. Albert that includes Wye Road, Sherwood Pa ...
as it leaves Edmonton for the City of St. Albert. Calgary, in particular, has a tradition of calling its largest urban expressway
Expressway may refer to:
* Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic.
* Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road.
*Expressway, the fictional s ...
s ''trails'' and naming many of them after prominent First Nations individuals and tribes, such as Crowchild Trail, Deerfoot Trail, and Stoney Trail
Alberta Provincial Highway No. 201, officially named Stoney Trail and Tsuut'ina Trail, is an approximately freeway in Calgary, Alberta. It forms part of the CANAMEX Corridor which connects Calgary to Edmonton and Interstate 15 in ...
.
Friendship partners
Alberta has relationships with many provinces, states, and other entities worldwide.
* Gangwon-do, South Korea (1974)
* Hokkaido
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
, Japan (1980)
* Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
, China (1981)
* Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
, United States (1985)
* Tyumen
Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas indu ...
, Russia (1992)
* Khanty–Mansi
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra (Russian and Mansi: Ханты-Мансийский автономный округ — Югра, ''Khanty-Mansiysky avtonomny okrug — Yugra;'' Khanty: Хӑнты-Мансийской Aвтономной ...
, Russia (1995)
* Yamalo-Nenets
The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO; russian: Яма́ло-Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг (ЯНАО), ; yrk, Ямалы-Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ) or Yamalia (russian: Ямалия) is a fed ...
, Russia (1997)
* Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
, Mexico (1999)
* Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, United States (2002)
* Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, Germany (2002)
* Ivano-Frankivsk
Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk O ...
, Ukraine (2004)
* Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
, Ukraine (2005)
* California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States (1997)
* Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
, China (2017)
See also
* Index of Alberta-related articles
Articles related to the Canadian province of Alberta include:
0–9
* .ab.ca – Internet second-level domain for the Province of Alberta.
A
* Alberta Act 1905
*Alberta Alliance Party
*Alberta First Party
* Alberta Forest Products Association ...
* Outline of Alberta
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Alberta:
Alberta – province of Canada. It had a population of 3,645,257 in 2011, making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces. Alberta and its neig ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
Alberta Encyclopedia
List of streets in Alberta with maps
{{Authority control
1905 establishments in Canada
Provinces and territories of Canada
States and territories established in 1905
Canadian Prairies