Open Government Portal

The Special Area dataset is comprised of all the polygons that represent Special Areas in Alberta. Special Area is a rural municipality type defined under the authority of the Municipal Government Act. Special Areas were established under the Special Areas Act in 1938 due to extreme hardship of the drought years of the 1930s. The Special Areas Act of 1938 has more or less remained intact although there were some amendments in 1966 and 1985.

The Municipal Officials Directory contains up-to-date contact information on municipal officials for Alberta municipalities, Special Areas, Metis Settlements, regional services commissions, local government associations, and other organizations. The Municipal Officials Search website also includes a Word version of the directory and links to additional municipal contact lists and a summary of the recent changes to them. A search engine is also provided to search by name, official type, local authority name, and local authority type.

The Municipal District dataset is comprised of all the polygons that represent Municipal Districts in Alberta. Municipal District is a municipality type defined under the authority of the Municipal Government Act. The formation of a Municipal District occur when a majority of the buildings used as dwellings are on parcels of land with an area of at least 1850 square meters and there is a population of 1000 or more. A municipal district is a government form in rural areas of the province.

Municipal polygons are a graphical representation of the Municipal boundaries as defined in the Municipalities Regulation - Municipalities Act and have an associated place name attribute.

The Municipal Affairs Population Lists contain the populations for Alberta municipalities, Metis Settlements, and First Nations communities, collated by Alberta Municipal Affairs. Each year, municipalities have the option to conduct a municipal census in compliance with the Municipal Government Act and the Determination of Population Regulation 63/2001. In the event a municipality does not conduct a municipal census, Municipal Affairs uses the most current municipal census that was approved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs, or the federal census counts. Upon approval of the Minister, shadow populations are collected by select municipalities, in accordance with the Determination of Population Regulation.

One measure of a municipality's financial health is its own-source revenue base as represented by the total uniform assessment. This figure is the total of the taxable property assessment plus the value of grants municipality receives from special property tax arrangements.

Under the Municipal Government Act, the Minister has the authority to prescribe the type of information to be provided by a municipality to the Minister [s.451 (1(b)]. In Nova Scotia, the municipality is required to submit financial information to the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing through the standard Financial Information Return (FIR). This dataset includes the consolidated Revenues and Expenses for 50 municipalities.

Under the Municipal Government Act, the Minister has the authority to prescribe the type of information to be provided by a municipality to the Minister [s.451 (1(b)]. In Nova Scotia, the municipality is required to submit financial information to the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing (DMAH) through the standard Financial Information Return (FIR). This dataset includes the Non-consolidated Operating Fund Revenues and Expenditures for all the municipalities.

This dataset delineates the municipal polling districts for towns and rural, district, county and regional municipalities.

An upper-tier municipality is made up of 2 or more lower-tier municipalities. Municipal responsibilities set out under the Municipal Act and other Provincial legislation are split between the upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities. A lower-tier municipality forms part of an upper-tier municipality. Municipal responsibilities set out under the Municipal Act and other Provincial legislation are split between the upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities.