New Towns
New town is a former urban municipal status in Alberta that is no longer in use. The authority to incorporate a community as a new town came from The New Towns Act, which was chapter 39 of the Statutes of Alberta, 1956.
At least 11 communities incorporated as a new town between 1956 and 1967. After only six months of incorporation as a village, Drayton Valley was the first community in Alberta to incorporate as a new town on June 1, 1956. Drayton Valley was also the community that operated under new town status for the shortest period – eight months from June 1, 1956 to February 1, 1957.
The last community to incorporate as a new town was Fox Creek on July 19, 1967. Fox Creek was previously unincorporated prior to this date. It remained a new town for just over sixteen years until September 1, 1983 when it changed to town status.
Rainbow Lake was the last community to be recognized as a new town. Its status was changed to that of a town in 1994 when numerous former acts under the authority of Alberta Municipal Affairs were transitioned into the current Municipal Government Act. Rainbow Lake was also the community that operated under new town status for the longest period – nearly 28 years from September 1, 1966 to May 2, 1994.
Below is a list of the 11 communities that were once incorporated as a new town. All but one of them are resource communities in northern or west central Alberta and were recently founded communities at their dates of incorporation as new towns. St. Albert was the only community that was not in northern or west central Alberta and had been incorporated as its own municipality since December 7, 1899.
| Community | Date of new town incorporation |
Previous municipal status |
Date of subsequent status change |
Subsequent municipal status |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drayton Valley | 56-06-Dr !June 1, 1956 | 2Dr !Village | 57-02-Dr !February 1, 1957 | 3Dr !Town | |
| Fort McMurray | 64-06-Fort !June 30, 1964 | 3Fort !Town | 80-09-Fort !September 1, 1980 | 4Fort !City | Later dissolved from city status on April 1, 1995 and is now designated as an urban service area |
| Fox Creek | 67-07-Fox !July 19, 1967 | 0Fox !Unincorporated | 83-09-Fox !September 1, 1983 | 3Fox !Town | |
| Grande Cache | 66-09-Gr !September 1, 1966 | 0Gr !Unincorporated | 83-09-Gr !September 1, 1983 | 3Gr !Town | |
| High Level | 65-06-High !June 1, 1965 | 1High !Hamlet | 83-09-High !September 1, 1983 | 3High !Town | |
| Hinton | 56-11-Hint !November 1, 1956 | 1Hint !Hamlet | 58-12-Hint !December 29, 1958 | 3Hint !Town | |
| Lodgepole | 56-07-Lo !July 1, 1956 | 0Lo !Unincorporated | 70-03-Lo !March 1, 1970 | 1Lo !Hamlet | Dissolved as development in Lodgepole "did not materialize sufficiently to qualify under the provisions of the Municipal Government Act for the formation of a town or village" |
| Rainbow Lake | 66-11-Ra !September 1, 1966 | 0Ra !Unincorporated | 94-05-Ra !May 2, 1994 | 3Ra !Town | |
| St. Albert | 57-01-St !January 1, 1957 | 3St !Town | 62-07-St !July 3, 1962 | 3St !Town | Later incorporated as a city on January 1, 1977 |
| Swan Hills | 59-09-Sw !September 1, 1959 | 0Sw !Unincorporated | 67-01-Sw !January 1, 1967 | 3Sw !Town | |
| Whitecourt | 56-06-Wh !June 1, 1956 | 2Wh !Village | 57-02-Wh !February 1, 1957 | 3Wh !Town |
Read more about this topic: List Of Towns In Alberta
Famous quotes containing the word towns:
“Even in our democratic New England towns the accidental possession of wealth, and its manifestation in dress and equipage alone, obtain for the possessor almost universal respect.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Haven’t you heard, though,
About the ships where war has found them out
At sea, about the towns where war has come
Through opening clouds at night with droning speed
Further o’erhead than all but stars and angels
And children in the ships and in the towns?”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)