The Edmonton Metropolitan Region, also commonly referred to as the Alberta Capital Region, Greater Edmonton or Metro Edmonton, is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Alberta's provincial capital of Edmonton. The EMR's commonly known boundaries are coincident with those of the Edmonton census metropolitan area as delineated by Statistics Canada. However, its boundaries are defined differently for Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board administrative purposes. The EMR is considered a major gateway to northern Alberta and the Canadian North, particularly for many companies, including airlines and oil/natural gas exploration. Located within central Alberta and at the northern end of the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor, the EMR is the northernmost metropolitan area in Canada.
Edmonton CMA
The Edmonton CMA includes the following 35 census subdivisions :
The Edmonton CMA is the largest CMA in Canada by area at. In the 2016 Census, it had a population of 1,321,426, making it the sixth largest CMA in Canada by population. The Edmonton CMA comprises the majority of Statistics Canada's Division No. 11 in Alberta.
Demographics
In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Edmonton metropolitan region recorded a population of 1,321,426 living in 502,143 of its 537,634 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 1,159,869. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2016.
Ethnicity
Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board
A fragmentation in regional cooperation and partnership has long played a divisive role within the EMR. Particularly, Edmonton was frustrated that its surrounding municipalities were receiving an increased tax base for major industrial development, while not contributing to Edmonton's burden to maintain and build new infrastructure within Edmonton used by the residents and businesses of the surrounding municipalities. After pulling out of the Alberta Capital Region Alliance, Edmonton lobbied the provincial government to establish some form of regional government that would be more effective in fostering regional cooperation between it and its surrounding municipalities. As a result, PremierEd Stelmach announced in December 2007 that a governing board would be established for Edmonton's Capital Region. Four months later, the Capital Region Board was formed on April 15, 2008 with the passing of the Capital Region Board Regulation by Order in Council 127/2008 under the authority of the Municipal Government Act. On October 26, 2017, the Capital Region Board was renamed to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board.
Member municipalities
The CRB was originally established with 25 participating or member municipalities – 23 of which were within the Edmonton CMA and two of which were outside the CMA. The number of member municipalities was reduced to 24 on September 10, 2010 after the Village of New Sarepta dissolved to hamlet status under the jurisdiction of Leduc County on September 1, 2010. Concurrent with the CRB's name change to the EMRB in October 2017, municipal membership decreased from 24 to 13 to include only those municipalities with a population of 5,000 or more. More specifically, the EMRB includes:
six cities ;
one specialized municipality ;
three municipal districts ; and
three towns.
Edmonton Metropolitan Region Growth Plan
Under the CRB Regulation, the CRB was tasked with preparing a growth plan to cover land use, intermunicipal transit, housing, and geographic information services components. In March, 2010, Growing Forward: The Capital Region Growth Plan, consisting of individual plans for these four components and two addenda, was approved by the Government of Alberta. The CRGP includes a population and employment forecast for the Capital Region. With a base population of 1.12 million in 2009, the CRB has forecasted the population of the Capital Region to reach 1.31 million by 2019. However, the 2019 population estimate was reached and exceeded by 2014. The CRGP also designates priority growth areas and cluster country residential areas within the Capital Region.
