Province no longer funding growth management boards

Alberta Municipalities is concerned that the provincial government’s decision to stop funding growth management boards (GMBs) could undermine the efficiency and economic competitiveness these organizations provide to Alberta’s largest metropolitan regions.

There is also an indication that the Government of Alberta will make membership in the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) and Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board (EMRB) voluntary. It is currently unclear how this change will work and what it may mean in relation to the requirement for all municipalities outside the GMBs to develop Intermunicipal Collaboration Frameworks (ICFs).

In its own words, the provincial government established GMBs for the Calgary and Edmonton metropolitan regions to:

• Ensure efficient land use
• Coordinate infrastructure investment and service delivery
• Promote economic well-being and competitiveness among other work.

The main finding of ABmunis’ Future of Municipal Government (FOMG) project is that collaboration is key to building thriving communities. Independent research undertaken as part of FOMG found that forced amalgamation is politically costly, while voluntary collaboration lacks stability. Municipalities acting in isolation results in the inefficient use of taxpayers’ dollars for infrastructure and service delivery.

Mandated collaboration provides stability by requiring partners to stay at the decision-making table to work through difficult issues while, at the same time, enabling municipalities to maintain their own corporate identity and flexibility in local decisions. Growth Management Boards are a collaborative “Made in Alberta” solution that benefits the province, municipalities, and most importantly, Albertans.

Member communities in the metro regions can choose to increase the funding they provide GMBs to make up for the loss of provincial funding. The provincial government’s decision to stop funding GMBs shifts the cost to local property taxpayers, who may also be burdened with the cost of uncoordinated development and the potential need to develop ICFs if the GMBs’ investment in regional plans is lost.

Given the many clear benefits of collaboration – improved affordability, a superior quality of life, and better attraction and retention of businesses – we encourage the provincial government to renew its investment in the Alberta Community Partnership grant program. The program supports GMBs as well as municipalities outside the growth boards that are required to collaborate through ICFs agreements.