Hamlets in the province of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, are unincorporated communities administered by, and within the boundaries of, specialized municipalities or

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, ...

( municipal districts, improvement districts and special areas). They consist of five or more dwellings (a majority of which are on parcels of land that are smaller than 1,850 m²), have a generally accepted boundary and name, and contain parcels of land used for non-residential purposes. Section 59 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) enables specialized municipalities and municipal districts to designate a hamlet, while Section 590 of the MGA enables the Minister of

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 ...

to designate a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

within an improvement district. The Minister may also designate a hamlet within a special area pursuant to Section 10 of the Special Areas Act. A hamlet can be incorporated as a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

when its population reaches 300. However, Alberta has not had a hamlet incorporate as a village since January 1, 1980, when both Barnwell and Wabamun incorporated as villages. Since then, it has been more common for urban municipalities to dissolve from their current municipal status to that of a hamlet under the jurisdiction of its surrounding specialized or rural municipality. As such, the number of hamlets in Alberta has steadily grown over the years. As of 2021, Alberta has 403 hamlets recognized by Alberta Municipal Affairs. Alberta's two largest hamlets – Fort McMurray (formerly a city) within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and

Sherwood Park Sherwood Park is a large hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Strathcona County that is recognized as an urban service area. It is located adjacent to the City of Edmonton's eastern boundary, generally south of Highway 16 ( Yellowhead Trail) ...

within Strathcona County – have been further designated as

urban service area The province of Alberta, Canada, is divided into ten types of local governments – urban municipalities (including cities, towns, villages and summer villages), specialized municipalities, rural municipalities (including municipal distric ...

s by Municipal Affairs. If they were to incorporate as cities, Fort McMurray and Sherwood Park would rank fifth and sixth respectively among Alberta's largest cities by population. Alberta's newest hamlet is

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * ...

, whose village government dissolved on July 1, 2021, to become a hamlet under the jurisdiction of the County of Grande Prairie No. 1. The latest populations of hamlets are not published by Municipal Affairs, with the exception of the two urban service areas.

List of hamlets

2003-07-19 Rosebud Grain Elevators, Alberta CAN

''Notes:''

Former hamlets

Numerous communities in Alberta have been previously recognized as hamlets by the Province of Alberta. The following are those hamlets that have been absorbed by urban municipalities through annexation or amalgamation.

References

{{Topics on Alberta Hamlets

List of hamlets

Former hamlets

See also

References