Communities in the province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada, include incorporated municipalities, unincorporated communities and

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

communities. Types of incorporated municipalities include urban municipalities, rural municipalities and northern municipalities. Urban municipalities are further classified into four sub-types –

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

s and resort villages. Northern municipalities, which are located in the

Northern Saskatchewan Administration District The Northern Saskatchewan Administration District (NSAD) is the unincorporated area of Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It encompasses approximately half of Saskatchewan's land mass. Despite its extent, the majority of Saskatchewanians live in the ...

(NSAD), are further classified into three sub-types – northern towns, northern villages and northern hamlets. Rural municipalities are not classified into sub-types. Types of unincorporated communities include

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 ...

and organized hamlets within rural municipalities and northern settlements within the NSAD. The administration of rural municipalities, towns, villages, resort villages, organized hamlets and hamlets is regulated by ''The Municipalities Act'', while the administration of cities is regulated by ''The Cities Act''. Administration of northern towns, northern villages, northern hamlets and northern settlements (those within the NSAD) is regulated by ''The Northern Municipalities Act''. In the 2021 Census, Saskatchewan's communities combined for a total provincial population of 1,132,505.

Municipalities

Saskatchewan presently has 786 municipalities of various types (urban, rural and northern municipalities) and sub-types (cities, towns, villages, resort villages, northern towns, northern villages and northern hamlets).

Urban municipalities

Saskatchewan has 466 urban municipalities, which includes the sub-types of cities, towns, villages and resort villages.

Cities

In Saskatchewan, towns must have a population above 5,000 in order to be granted

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

. A city does not automatically revert to town status if the population drops below 5,000; this only occurs if the city council requests it, the majority of electors vote to revert to town status or the appropriate provincial minister is of the opinion that the reversion to town status is in the public interest. The city of Melville retains city status as of 2010 despite dropping below 5,000 population in the 1990s. Saskatchewan has 16 cities, including

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administra ...

and not including

Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located withi ...

Towns

In Saskatchewan,

s are formed from villages or resort villages with a population of at least 500 people. The council of the village or resort village must request the change to town status. When a town's population exceeds 5,000 people, the council may request a change to

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

status, but the change in incorporation level is not mandatory. Towns with shrinking populations are allowed to retain town status even if the number of residents falls below the 500 limit. For example, the towns of Fleming,

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

, and Scott have populations that have dropped under 500 people and are still qualified under town status. Towns with populations below the limit may, however, revert to village or resort village status if the town council requests it. Saskatchewan has 146 towns.

Villages

The people of an organized hamlet may request that the hamlet be incorporated as a village or resort village. In order to qualify, the hamlet must have been an organized hamlet for at least 3 years, have a population of at least 100 in the most recent census, and contain at least 50 separate dwelling units or business premises. Saskatchewan has 260 villages.

Resort villages

Saskatchewan has 40 resort villages.

Rural municipalities

A rural municipality is created by the Minister of Municipal Affairs by ministerial order via section 49 of ''The Municipalities Act''. Saskatchewan has 296 rural municipalities, which are located in the central and southern portions of the province. Saskatchewan has 296 rural municipalities.

Northern municipalities

Saskatchewan has 24 northern municipalities, which includes the sub-types of northern towns, northern villages and northern hamlets.

Northern towns

A northern town is a town in the

. Its administration is regulated by ''The Northern Municipalities Act''. A northern village may apply for town status when the actual resident population is at least 500. Saskatchewan has two northern towns.

Northern villages

A northern village is located in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, and its administration is regulated by The Northern Municipalities Act. A northern hamlet may apply for northern village status when the population is at least 100 and the northern hamlet contains at least 50 separate dwelling units or business premises. Saskatchewan has 11 northern villages.

Northern hamlets

A northern hamlet is located in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, and its administration is regulated by The Northern Municipalities Act. A northern settlement may apply for northern hamlet status when the population is at least 50 and the northern settlement contains at least 25 separate dwelling units or business premises. Unlike hamlets and northern settlements, northern hamlets are municipal corporations. Saskatchewan has 11 northern hamlets.

Unincorporated hamlets

In Saskatchewan, a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

is an unincorporated community that is under the jurisdiction of a

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 ...

. It has at least five occupied dwellings situated on separate lots and at least 10 separate lots, the majority of which are an average size of less than one

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

. The Government of Saskatchewan recognizes three different types of hamlets – generic "hamlets", "special service areas" and "organized hamlets". Some organized hamlets in Saskatchewan are recognized as

designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the s ...

s by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, while unorganized hamlets are not.

Hamlets

Generic hamlets in Saskatchewan are under the jurisdiction of a rural municipality and do not have any decision-making powers or independent authorities. The following are hamlets that are neither special service areas nor organized hamlets.

Special service areas

Like a generic hamlet, a special service area is under the jurisdiction of a rural municipality and does not have any decision-making powers or independent authorities. Unlike a generic hamlet, a special service area may form its own electoral division within the rural municipality and may have a different tax regime within the rural municipality compared to a generic hamlet.

Organized hamlets

Saskatchewan has 151 organized hamlets that are established via ministerial order and under the jurisdiction of rural municipalities within southern and central Saskatchewan. The people in a hamlet may apply for organized hamlet status within the rural municipality in which the hamlet is located. The minimum requirements for organize status include a permanent population of at least 80 residents, 40 separate dwelling units or places of business, a taxable assessment of at least $4 million, and any other factor the minister may consider appropriate.

Northern settlements

A northern settlement is an unincorporated community in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, and its administration is regulated by The Northern Municipalities Act. Saskatchewan has 11 northern settlements.

Ghost towns

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

is a

that once had a considerable population, that has since dwindled in numbers causing some or all of its businesses and services to close, either due to the rerouting of a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

tracks being pulled, or exhaustion of some

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...