Committees ponder what it means to be viable
On May 22, Alberta Municipalities’ (ABmunis) Finance & Economy Committee and Municipal Governance Committee collaborated in a workshop to create a framework to define what a viable municipality is, regardless of community size. This included looking at characteristics of viability under various themes like finances, governance, service delivery, regional partnerships, and community characteristics.
The workshop was the first step in ABmunis’ goal to create a benchmark of a viable municipality that can be used by the province and municipalities when considering policies and accountability measures that support viability.
Other issues covered by the committees at their May 22 meeting included:
- Making recommendations to ABmunis’ Board based on the Minister of Municipal Affairs’ letter response to some of the resolutions adopted by members at our November 2025 Convention.
- Ideas for education sessions to be held at ABmunis’ 2026 Convention.
- Discussion on expectations for a new Councillor Accountability Framework that will be developed by Municipal Affairs this summer.
ABmunis’ next steps will be to produce a report for the committees to review, then engage municipalities and municipal associations at large before any recommendations are made to the province. Our Summer Municipal Leaders’ Caucus in June will feature a session on Municipal Affairs’ existing municipal indicators and possible improvements for assessing a municipality’s performance.
