Municipal Governance

Municipal governance stands as a cornerstone of local democracy in Alberta, facilitating effective service delivery, nurturing economic development, and actively involving residents in decision-making processes. These efforts collectively create resilient communities across the province. Maintaining local governance is paramount, ensuring that decisions are tailored to meet the distinct needs of each municipality. In rural Alberta, […]

Transportation and Infrastructure

Rural roads, bridges, and core infrastructure such as water, wastewater, stormwater, and utility systems are vital to Alberta’s economy and quality of life. RMA members are responsible for the largest road and bridge network of any stakeholder in the province and the costs for building and maintaining transportation infrastructure is the single biggest expense for […]

Rural Economic Development

Alberta’s economy is largely based on an array of industries that primarily operate in rural areas, such as energy, forestry, mining, and agriculture. In recent years, sectors such as small business, tourism, manufacturing, renewable energy, and the value-added processing of natural resources and agricultural products have also become increasingly significant in rural Alberta. To sustain […]

Policing & Community Safety

Regardless of where in the province they live, all Albertans deserve to feel safe in their homes and communities. Like many services, policing in rural areas is accompanied by challenges related to large geographic areas and low population densities. Rural municipalities have a history of working effectively with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to support […]

Planning and Development

Municipalities play a large role in planning for the responsible use of land, both within their boundaries and regionally. Planning and development involves the appropriate use and management of land resources, provision of services and infrastructure, orderly development of new growth, management of risks, and proper decisionmaking models for land-related issues.

Municipal Taxation and Assessment

Municipalities require a source of revenue to provide services, maintain existing infrastructure, and construct new infrastructure to meet growth pressures and to enable economic development. For all municipalities in Alberta, property taxes are the largest source of revenue. Rural municipalities are highly dependent on property tax revenue from the industries operating within their boundaries, and […]

Municipal Service Delivery

Regardless of size, type, or location, the core purpose of all municipalities is to deliver effective and efficient services to residents and businesses. While many municipal services such as water and transportation are often so central to resident and industry needs that they are taken for granted, municipalities invest tremendous amounts of money and capacity […]

Municipal Finances

Municipal finances garner considerable public attention because residents and businesses are directly affected through their responsibility to pay property taxes. Councils must allot those revenues to manage aging infrastructure, allocate funding for new infrastructure, and provide services in a fiscally responsible way. Municipal financial decisions are influenced by many factors including economic conditions, service level […]

Industry and Resource Development

Alberta’s industrial and resource sector is extremely important to the province’s continued economic growth and the viability of rural communities. Industrial development is often accompanied by environmental concerns, regulatory challenges, land use disputes, and impacts on other types of development.

Health

Health care is a fundamental aspect of safe and healthy rural communities. Accessing quality health care in rural Alberta presents challenges for municipalities and their residents. The RMA believes that rural Albertans deserve a voice in determining how health care services are funded and provided in their communities.