A municipal district (MD) is the most common form of all

rural municipality A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries. These include: * Rural municipality (Canada), Rural municipalities in Canada, a Lists of municipalities in Canada, type of municipa ...

statuses used in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. Alberta's municipal districts, most of which are branded as a county (e.g.

Yellowhead County Yellowhead County is a municipal district in west central Alberta, Canada. It is the only municipal district within Alberta census division No. 14. History *1994: Established as a ''Municipal District of Yellowhead No. 94'' on January 1. ...

County of Newell A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, etc.), are predominantly rural areas that may include either farmland,

Crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

or a combination of both depending on their geographic location. They may also include country residential subdivisions and

unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

, some of which are recognized as

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

Alberta Municipal Affairs Alberta Municipal Affairs is a ministry of the Executive Council of Alberta. Its major responsibilities include assisting municipalities in the provision of local government, administering the assessment of linear property in Alberta, administeri ...

. Municipal districts are created when predominantly rural areas with populations of at least 1,000 people, where a majority of their residential buildings are on parcels of land greater than 1,850 m², apply to Alberta Municipal Affairs for municipal district status under the authority of the ''Municipal Government Act''. Applications for municipal district status are approved via orders in council made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under recommendation from the Minister of Municipal Affairs. As of the 2011 Census, Alberta's then 64 municipal districts (

Lac La Biche County Lac La Biche County is a List of specialized municipalities in Alberta, specialized municipality within Division No. 12, Alberta, Division No. 12 in northern Alberta, Canada. It was established through the amalgamation of the Lac La Biche, Alberta ...

has since then converted to a specialized municipality) had a cumulative population of 451,979 and an average population of 7,062. Alberta's most populous and least populated municipal districts are

Rocky View County Rocky View County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada that is named for its views of the nearby Rocky Mountains to the west. It surrounds most of Calgary, forming the city's northern boundary and most of the city's western and e ...

and the MD of Ranchland No. 66 with populations of 36,461 and 79 respectively. 437 elected officials (eight

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

s, 56

reeves Reeves may refer to: People * Reeves (surname) * B. Reeves Eason (1886–1956), American director, actor and screenwriter * Reeves Nelson (born 1991), American basketball player Places ;Ireland * Reeves, County Kildare, townland in County Kild ...

and 373

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s) provide municipal district governance throughout the province. __TOC__

Branding

An order in council to incorporate any municipality must give the municipality an official name. Of Alberta's 63 municipal districts, 16 still have ''municipal district'' in their official names, while 47 of them have branded themselves as a ''county'' in their official names. Twenty-five of Alberta's municipal districts retain a numerical designation (e.g. "No. 8") in their official names. The use of the ''county'' term in the official names of 47 municipal districts (and three specialized municipalities) has partially led to a common belief that a ''county'' is its own separate municipal status type, which is not the case. The other major contributor to this common belief is that a ''county'' was formerly a municipal status type in Alberta prior to the County Act being repealed in the mid-1990s. Those municipalities that were once officially incorporated as counties were continued under the ''Municipal Government Act'' (MGA) as municipal districts and were permitted to retain the term ''county'' in their official names.

Municipal office locations

More than half of the 63 municipal districts have their main administration offices, including council chambers, in a separate municipality such as a city, town, or village. This municipality (like all other cities, towns, and villages) is not part of the municipal district's jurisdiction. Nine municipal districts have their offices in a hamlet, which is part of the district's jurisdiction. They are

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

( Acadia Valley),

Bighorn The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspeci ...

( Exshaw),

Birch Hills Birch Hills is a town located in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is southeast of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Prince Albert and the reserve of Muskoday First Nation. Directly to the west is the village of St. Louis, Saskatchewan, St. Louis, and to t ...

( Wanham), Clear Hills (

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

(

Dunmore Dunmore from the or , meaning "great fort", may refer to: People * Dunmore (surname) * Earl of Dunmore, a title in the Peerage of Scotland, includes a list of earls * Countess of Dunmore (disambiguation), a list of wives of earls of Dunmore Pl ...

Grande Prairie Grande Prairie is a city in Northern Alberta, northwestern Alberta, Canada, within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Alberta Highway 43, Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) ...

( Clairmont), Lac Ste. Anne ( Sangudo),

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

( Wabasca), and Thorhild ( Thorhild). One municipal district,

Ranchland A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

, has its offices in a provincial park, Chain Lakes Provincial Park. Thirteen municipal districts have their offices in their jurisdiction, outside the boundaries of a city, town, or village. They are Brazeau (

Drayton Valley Drayton Valley is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on Alberta Highway 22, Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail), approximately southwest of Edmonton. It is surrounded by Brazeau County, known for its vast petroleum, oil fields. The town is lo ...

Lacombe Lacombe may refer to: Places * Lacombe, Alberta, Canada * Lacombe County, Alberta, Canada * Lacombe, Louisiana, United States * Lacombe, Aude, France * Lacombe (provincial electoral district), Canada * Lacombe (territorial electoral district), ...

(between Gull Lake and

), Mountain View (

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...

), Newell (

Brooks Brooks may refer to: * Brook (small stream) Places Antarctica * Cape Brooks Canada *Brooks, Alberta United Kingdom * Brooks, Cornwall * Brooks, Powys, a location United States * Brooks, Alabama * Brooks, Arkansas * Brooks, California *Brooks, ...

), Northern Sunrise (

Peace River The Peace River () 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 the Peace-Athabasca Delta to form the ...

), Paintearth (

Castor Castor most commonly refers to: *Castor (star), a star in the Gemini constellation *Castor, one of the Dioscuri/Gemini twins Castor and Pollux in Greco-Roman mythology Castor or CASTOR may also refer to: Science and technology *Castor (rocket s ...

), Parkland ( Stony Plain),

Peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

( Berwyn),

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

(

), Saddle Hills ( Spirit River), Wheatland ( Strathmore), Willow Creek (

Claresholm Claresholm is a town located within southern Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 2, approximately northwest of the City of Lethbridge and south of the City of Calgary. History The location was originally a watering stop for steam engin ...

), and Woodlands (

Whitecourt Whitecourt is a town in Northern Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Woodlands County. It is approximately northwest of Edmonton and southeast of Grande Prairie at the junction of Alberta Highway 43, Highway 43 and Alberta Highway 32, Highw ...

List

The below table is a list of only those ''

rural municipalities A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries. These include: * Rural municipalities in Canada, a type of municipal status in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, a ...

'' in Alberta that are incorporated as ''municipal districts''. Despite their names,

Mackenzie County Mackenzie County is a specialized municipality in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 17, along the Mackenzie Highway. The municipal office is located in the hamlet of Fort Vermilion. History Originally ''Improvement ...

, and

Strathcona County Strathcona County is a Specialized municipalities of Alberta, specialized municipality in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region within Alberta, Canada between Edmonton and Elk Island National Park. It forms part of Division No. 11, Alberta, Census Di ...

are not listed because they are in fact incorporated as '' specialized municipalities'', not ''municipal districts''. The

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (abbreviated RMWB) is a specialized municipality in northeast Alberta, Canada. It is the largest regional municipality in Canada by area (105650.88km2 , this number includes Wood Buffalo Nation Park o ...

is likewise a specialized municipality and is thus not listed here. For more information on ''specialized municipalities'', see

List of specialized municipalities in Alberta A specialized municipality is a unique type of municipal status in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. These unique local governments are formed without the creation of special legislation, and typically allow ...

. Alberta's eight '' improvement districts'' and three '' special areas'' are also not listed because they are their own separate type of ''rural municipality'' and not subset types of the ''municipal district'' status. For more information on ''special areas'', see ''

Special Areas Board The Special Areas Board is the governing body of Alberta's special areas. Special areas are designated List of communities in Alberta#Rural municipalities, rural municipalities similar to List of municipal districts in Alberta, municipal district ...

''.

Former municipal districts

Changed status

Dissolved

References

External links

Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties
(AAMDC) :
AAMDC - The Members

Alberta Municipal Affairs
{{Topics on Alberta Municipal Districts