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Hamlets in the province of Alberta, Canada, are unincorporated communities administered by, and within the boundaries of, specialized municipalities or rural municipalities (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.
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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 to designate a hamlet 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 when its population reaches 300. However, Alberta has not had a hamlet incorporate as a village in over 30 years since both Barnwell and Wabamun incorporated as villages on January 1, 1980. 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 2016, Alberta has 393 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 within Strathcona County – have been further designated as urban service areas by Municipal Affairs. If they were to incorporate as cities, Sherwood Park and Fort McMurray would rank fifth and seventh respectively among Alberta's largest cities by population. Alberta's newest hamlets are Galahad and Strome, which both dissolved from village status to become hamlets under the jurisdiction of Flagstaff County on January 1, 2016.
The latest populations of hamlets are not published by Municipal Affairs, with the exception of the two urban service areas. However, the populations of some hamlets are available from:
List of hamlets
Latest populations from the 2011 federal census population centre and designated place census geography units unless referenced otherwise.
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.