Annexation
Annexation is a provincially-legislated process governed under Municipal Government Act. Annexation is a jurisdictional boundary adjustment where lands* are transferred from one municipality to another to accommodate future growth and development.
Annexing land involves negotiations between two or more local governments and consultation with landowners. An annexation application is submitted to the Land and Property Rights Tribunal for review and determines a recommendation to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. Cabinet for the Provincial Government is the final authority on annexation decisions. If approved or approved in part, an Order in Council is signed by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.
Learn more about the annexation process, visit the Land and Property Rights Tribunal website.
Annexation has been a primary means by which our city has grown and part of Council efforts to maintain a supply of developable land for future growth.
While the annexation of land does not mean immediate development or urbanization, landowners will pay municipal taxes to the City. The timing of growth and when City services are extended based on market demand, fiscal responsibility, and logical growth patterns.
The City has recently undertaken two annexations:
* When approved, if the Order in Council does not specify that easements will remain with the old municipality, then all utility right of ways and easements are automatically transferred to the new municipality in accordance with Section 135(1)(b) of the Municipal Government Act, which states: all the assets, liabilities, rights, duties, functions and obligations of the old municipal authority that relate to that area of land automatically pass to the new municipal authority and cease to be those of the old municipal authority.
Resources
Land and Property Rights Tribunal (formerly the Municipal Government Board)