A redistribution of provincial electoral districts in Alberta began in 2025. Alberta's Electoral Boundaries Commission Act requires the appointment of an independent commission to provide a recommendation on the new electoral boundaries to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The commission is appointed once eight years has passed after the previous appointment of a commission. The redistribution process began in March 2025 and the Commission submitted its final report to the legislature in March 2026.
Background
Legal principles for establishing electoral boundaries
In 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) entrenched political and civil rights in the Constitution of Canada. Section 3 of the Charter guarantees Canadian citizens the right to vote for a federal and provincial representative and the right to be eligible for membership in the House of Commons or of a provincial legislature, subject to reasonable limits under Section 1 of the Charter. Parliament and provincial legislatures cannot override Section 3 rights under Section 33 of the Charter (the notwithstanding clause).
The Supreme Court of Canada considered electoral boundaries under section 3 of the Charter in Reference re Provincial Electoral Boundaries (Sask) (1991). Writing for the majority, Justice Beverley McLachlin defined the section 3 guarantee as "effective representation," and rejected the American principle of "one man, one vote". Parity of voting power, meaning similar population levels across electoral districts, remains an important part of effective representation, but not determinative in Canada. Deviations from parity may be constitutional where they respond to social and physical geography, community interests, minority representation, and practical realities. The Supreme Court held that larger deviations for rural and remote districts may be justified because elected officials can face greater difficulty representing those districts, including transportation and communication barriers and greater demands from rural voters.
Previous Alberta electoral boundary readjustments
In 1990, the Alberta legislature appointed a special committee of MLAs led by Taber-Warner MLA Bob Bogle to evaluate the redistribution of electoral districts in the province. In November 1990, the special committee submitted its report to the Legislature. The government then referred the matter to the Alberta Court of Appeal to determine whether the proposed boundaries complied with the Charter. The Court held that the boundaries were consistent with the Charter and the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Reference re Provincial Electoral Boundaries (Sask) (1991).
The Legislature did not proceed with the report. Instead, amendments were introduced to the Electoral Divisions Act in early 1991 to reduce the risk of a Charter challenge to the new districts. The Legislature approved the second version of the boundaries, which Alberta used in the June 1993 general election. The government then posed a second reference question to the Alberta Court of Appeal. The Court held that the boundaries complied with the Charter, but identified problems with the process and the redistribution requirements. In particular, members of the select committee could not provide the Court with a sufficient rationale for several proposed boundaries and district populations. The Court noted that a proper electoral boundary review was necessary within the term of the sitting Legislature, which expired in 1997. The 1995 electoral boundary commission had five members: two appointed by the government, two appointed by the opposition, and a chair who was a judge. Alberta established similar independent commissions for electoral boundary readjustments in 2003, 2010, and 2017.
2024 Electoral Boundaries Commission Act changes
In November 2024, United Conservative Justice Minister Mickey Amery announced changes to the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act before the government established the Commission. First, the amendments expanded the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 87 to 89 members. Second, they changed the statutory factors that the Commission had to consider.
When developing the new electoral districts and boundaries, the Commission could consider: (a) sparsity, density, and rate of population growth; (b) communities of interest, including municipalities, regional and rural communities, Indian reserves, and Métis Settlements; (c) geographical features; (d) the availability of communication and transportation between different parts of Alberta; (e) the desirability of understandable and clear boundaries; and (f) any other factors that the Commission considered appropriate. The new factors included the rate of population growth and regional and rural communities as part of communities of interest. The amendments removed consideration of existing municipal boundaries wherever possible and existing community boundaries within Edmonton and Calgary. In December 2024, the Alberta Legislature passed the amendments to the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act.
2025–26 Commission activities
The Electoral Boundaries Commission Act requires the appointment of a five-member commission. The Lieutenant Governor in Council (Alberta Cabinet) appoints the chair. The chair may be the Ethics Commissioner, the Auditor General, the president of an Alberta post-secondary institution, a judge or retired judge of an Alberta court, or another person with similar qualifications. The government and the official opposition each appoint two members.
In March 2025, Justice Dallas K. Miller of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta was appointed chair. The United Conservative government appointed Julian Martin and John D. Evans. The New Democratic opposition appointed Greg Clark and Susan Samson. From April to June 2025, the Commission held public hearings and then submitted an interim report to the Legislature in October 2025. After releasing the interim report, the Commission called for written submissions, held public meetings, and sought public input from November 2025 until early 2026. In total, the Commission received 198 written submissions and held 26 public hearings.
On March 23, 2026, the Commission submitted its final report to the Legislature. The report included a majority recommendation by Justice Miller, Greg Clark, and Susan Samson, and a minority recommendation by Julian Martin and John D. Evans. Justice Miller also included an addendum to the majority recommendation. The addendum addressed the possibility that the Legislature might reject the majority recommendation and expand from 89 to 91 members. In that event, Justice Miller identified the circumstances in which two additional rural electoral districts would be acceptable.
Majority recommendations
The Commission's majority recommended 28 electoral districts in Calgary, 21 in Edmonton, 12 in Southern Alberta, 19 in Central Alberta, and 9 in Northern Alberta. This represented an increase of two electoral districts for Calgary, one for Edmonton, and one for Southern Alberta, and a reduction of two districts for Central Alberta. The average population across the 89 electoral districts was 54,929.
In Calgary, the Commission added three new districts: Calgary-Nose Creek in the northeast, Calgary-McKenzie in the south, Calgary-Confluence in central Calgary. It collapsed Calgary-Peigan and merged its territory into neighbouring districts. It renamed Calgary-Foothills as Calgary-Symons Valley to avoid confusion with Foothills County. The Commission also established four hybrid electoral divisions that included parts of Calgary and areas outside the city limits: Calgary-East, which included Janet in Rocky View County; Calgary-Falconridge-Conrich, which included the Hamlet of Conrich in Rocky View County; Calgary-Glenmore-Tsuut'ina, which included the Tsuut'ina Nation; and Calgary-West-Elbow Valley, which included the Elbow Valley area.
In Edmonton, the Commission added two new districts: Edmonton-Beaumont and Edmonton-Enoch. To accommodate those additions, it consolidated six urban-core electoral divisions into five because those areas had lower growth rates. The affected divisions were Edmonton-City Centre, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, Edmonton-Gold Bar, Edmonton-Strathcona, Edmonton-Riverview, and Edmonton-Glenora. The Commission renamed Edmonton-South West as Edmonton-Windermere to avoid directional naming. It also merged two core ridings to create Edmonton-Glenora-Riverview. The Commission established two hybrid electoral divisions that included areas outside Edmonton's city limits: Edmonton-Beaumont, which included the City of Beaumont, and Edmonton-Enoch, which included the Enoch Cree Nation and parts of Parkland County.
In Southern Alberta, the Commission reconfigured the two existing electoral districts in Airdrie: Airdrie-Cochrane and Airdrie-East, into three districts: Airdrie-East, Airdrie-West, and Cochrane-Springbank. It reconfigured Cardston-Siksika into High River-Vulcan-Siksika and renamed Taber-Warner as Taber-Cardston after adding the municipality of Cardston. It renamed Highwood as Okotoks-Diamond Valley to reflect major communities in the district. Consistent with the new naming conventions, it renamed Medicine Hat-Brooks and Medicine Hat-Cypress to place the largest municipality first. The Commission established six hybrid electoral divisions in Southern Alberta, including Lethbridge-West, which incorporated new rural areas.
In Central Alberta, the Commission collapsed Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre and Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland and merged their territory into neighbouring divisions. It renamed several ridings to reflect their primary counties or largest municipalities. The Commission granted Canmore-Banff, which had a population 27.2 per cent below the provincial average, special protection under section 15(2) of the Act because of its distance from the Legislature and high Indigenous population.
In Northern Alberta, the Commission recommended 9 electoral districts, retaining the current total after reversing an interim proposal to consolidate Lesser Slave Lake. It renamed several ridings to reflect their primary counties or largest municipalities. The region retained four northern districts: Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, Grande Prairie, and Grande Prairie-Wapiti. The Commission granted Lesser Slave Lake and Central Peace-Notley special status under section 15(2) of the Act, with populations 45.4 and 47.7 per cent below the provincial average, permitting population deviations exceeding 25 percent from the provincial average.
The Commission's majority stated that the minority report recommendations were procedurally unfair, substantively unreasonable, and likely unconstitutional under section 3 of the Charter. The majority described the minority's use of hybrid districts in Calgary and Edmonton as unreasonable and incoherent. It also stated that the minority recommendations did not reflect the views of Albertans who participated in the Commission's public engagement.