Petitions are a way to express public opinion to Strathcona County Council. They are written requests that are organized and signed by electors within Strathcona County or by owners who would be liable to pay the local improvement tax. Once validated, a petition can be used to request that Council take action on a particular issue. The rules for preparing and filing petitions are set out in the Municipal Government Act.

Types of petitions include formal petitions for a public vote on a bylaw, informal petition/statements of position, local improvement petitions, and recall petitions.

The content supplied on this page is intended to provide general information regarding petitions and is not a replacement for consulting the relevant legislation or obtaining legal advice.

On this page

Petition for a public vote on a bylaw

Electors may petition for a new bylaw, or to amend or repeal an existing bylaw. The subject matter of the petition must be within Council’s power.

The following forms are meant to be used as templates and are not a replacement for consulting the legislation or obtaining legal counsel:

Informal petition or statement of position

An informal petition, or statement of position, can be used to express a public opinion to Council. They cannot oblige Council to take action, but they can be a useful tool to indicate a public concern. There are no legislative requirements regarding statements of position, but the guidelines provided in the FAQ below will help ensure that your concern is easily understood by Council and Administration.

Local improvement petition

Local improvement projects are defined in the Municipal Government Act as projects which are beneficial to an area of a municipality and are paid for by an imposed tax to the benefiting area.  Owners may petition for or against local improvement projects. The rules for preparing and filing a local improvement petition are set out in section 222-226 and 392 of the Municipal Government Act.

.The following forms are meant to be used as templates and are not a replacement or consulting the legislation or obtaining legal counsel:

Recall petition

Part 7.1 of the Municipal Government Act includes provisions allowing for petitions for the recall of elected municipal councillors and school board trustees. A recall petition within the context of the Municipal Government Act is a formal request to remove a sitting municipal councillor by gathering signatures. All the provisions related to municipal councillor recall are in Section 240.1 to 240.96 of the Municipal Government Act.  

Recall petitions may not be submitted within 18 months immediately following the election of a Councillor or from January 1 of a general election year.

In order to initiate the recall petition process, a petitioner must first submit a notice of recall petition (sample below) to Strathcona County's Legislative and Legal Services Department. The notice of recall must:

(a) identify the Councillor to whom the recall petition relates by name,  

(b) identify the representative recall petitioner by name, and

(c) confirm that the municipality may direct any inquiries about the petition to the representative recall petitioner, and indicate the contact information to be used for this purpose.

Section 240.2(3) stipulates that a notice of recall petition must also be accompanied by:

(a) a statement signed by the representative recall petitioner that

(i) includes

A. the street address of the representative recall petitioner or the legal description of the land on which the representative recall petitioner lives

B. the representative recall petitioner’s mailing address, if different, and

C. the representative recall petitioner’s telephone number or email address, if any, and

(ii) confirms that the representative recall petitioner is an individual eligible to sign the recall petition under section 240.4 and consents to the responsibilities of leading the recall petition, gathering signatures and otherwise undertaking the role and discharging the duties of a representative recall petitioner under this Part and any other applicable enactment,

(b) the application fee of $500, and

(c) any other information prescribed.

Legislative and Legal Services must review the notice of recall petition within 7 days to confirm that it meets the requirements in the Municipal Government Act. If the requirements have been met, Legislative and Legal Services will publish the notice of recall petition on the County's website, and provide a copy to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, the representative recall petitioner, and the councillor named in the petition. Once the notice has been published to the website, the representative will have 60 days to gather the required signatures. Only the electors of a municipality or ward are eligible to be petitioners. An elector is defined as a person who is at least 18 years of age, a Canadian citizen, and a resident of Strathcona County (and the ward, if the recall petition relates to a ward Councillor) at the time of signing the petition. The number of valid signatures must equal at least 40% of the total population of the municipality (for mayor) or 40% of the total population of the ward (for ward councillor). For the purposes of validating a recall petition, the County's population numbers are below:

Area Total population
Strathcona County 98,381
Ward 1 13,606
Ward 2 14,542
Ward 3 11,865
Ward 4 18,041
Ward 5 9,412
Ward 6 9,296
Ward 7 8,341
Ward 8 13,278

Alberta Municipal Affairs has made available the following resources:

The following forms are meant to be used as templates and are not a replacement or consulting the legislation or obtaining legal counsel:

Frequent questions

Contact information:

Jacqueline Roblin, Manager, Legislative Services and Contract Management
Phone: 780-464-8157
Fax: 780-464-8194
Email: jacqueline.roblin@strathcona.ca

Last updated: Thursday, February 22, 2024
Page ID: 37643