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What is annexation?

Annexation is a change in jurisdiction from one municipality to another. It is not a change in land ownership and does not necessarily facilitate immediate development.

Landowners that own land annexed by the City of Airdrie from Rocky View County transition from paying taxes to the County to paying taxes to the City of Airdrie.

Annexation 2012

On March 22, 2012 the Province of Alberta approved the annexation of approximately 12,640 acres of land from the County of Rocky View to the City of Airdrie. The land provides the City of Airdrie with a 50 year land supply that will see development of services, amenities and housing over the next several decades.

News Release - Province approves Airdrie annexation

Annexation Application

Annexation Application: It contains the Annexation Report, Agreement and Supporting Documents (i.e. Financial Impact Analysis, Comprehensive Growth Study, Ecological Inventory, Infrastructure Needs Study etc.), and is the basis of future commitments agreed to by the City of Airdrie and Rocky View County to implement the annexation approved by the Province of Alberta.

View the Annexation Report and the Annexation Agreement.

Regional servicing

The City of Airdrie annexed 12,640 acres in 2012 to accommodate the expected growth over the coming decades. Council adopted the 12,000 Acres Plan in June 2018, which set out the proposed land uses for the annexed area and confirmed that Airdrie has enough land to meet the 50-year population projection of 211,000 and associated employment growth. However, redundant servicing capacity – the amount that can be guaranteed even with the failure of a single service line – sits around 100,000 and the Master Servicing Agreement with Calgary presently provides servicing potential for 130,000.

In February 2019, Council directed Administration to collaborate with the Building Industry and Land Development Association – Calgary Region (BILD CR) to develop a funding mechanism for regional servicing to and from Calgary to reach the projected population of 211,000 and beyond. Seeking a financing solution for the required pieces of regional servicing infrastructure, estimated at $77M by the Utility Master Plan, the parties presented eight potential funding options and 14 criteria on which to evaluate them at the Council meeting on June 1, 2020.

On September 20, 2021, BILD CR and City Administration jointly presented a recommended funding strategy to Council for endorsement. The recommended strategy blends the off-site levies for the remaining, unsubdivided portion of the pre-annexation area with the portions of the post-annexation area that can be serviced up to the 130,000 population threshold. Portions of the accumulated levies will be restricted by the municipality for the one-time construction of the regional servicing infrastructure so as to achieve the greatest possible economy of scale. Larger pipe infrastructure reduces inefficiencies, known as “head loss”, and provides alignment options that can also reduce the need for reservoirs and booster stations. The recommended funding strategy will allocate more funds initially to regional servicing infrastructure, while deferring some other types of infrastructure (i.e. road improvements). The recommended funding strategy allows for the possibility of outside sources of funding (i.e. grants, third-party financing) or intermunicipal coordination to reduce the costs and accelerate the construction of this infrastructure, or reduce the amount of other infrastructure that would otherwise be deferred.

Council voted unanimously in favour of the recommended funding strategy at their meeting on September 20, 2021.

City Administration will now engage the development industry to prepare a new off-site levy bylaw for the portions of the post-annexation area recently approved for development, and then blend with a revised rate for the pre-annexation area.