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35-468: Westlock County is a municipal district in central Alberta , Canada that is north of Edmonton . The county was formerly known as the Municipal District of Westlock No. 92 , and was created in 1943 from the merger of five smaller municipal districts. The county lies on the boundary of two of Canada's largest drainage basins . The northern and western sectors of the county are drained by

70-526: A Senate and/or House of Commons (joint) committee review of the opt-in clause (for the release of one's census records after 92 years) by 2014. The 2011 census was the fifteenth decennial census and, like other censuses, was required by section 8 of the Constitution Act, 1867 . As with other decennial censuses, the data was used to adjust federal electoral district boundaries . As of August 24, 2011, Canada's overall collection response rate

105-440: A county in their official names. Twenty-five of Alberta's municipal districts retain a numerical designation (e.g. "No. 8") in their official names. The use of the county term in the official names of 47 municipal districts (and three specialized municipalities ) has partially led to a common belief that a county is its own separate municipal status type, which is not the case. The other major contributor to this common belief

140-498: A combination of both depending on their geographic location. They may also include country residential subdivisions and unincorporated communities , some of which are recognized as hamlets by Alberta Municipal Affairs . Municipal districts are created when predominantly rural areas with populations of at least 1,000 people, where a majority of their residential buildings are on parcels of land greater than 1,850 m , apply to Alberta Municipal Affairs for municipal district status under

175-459: A decline of total respondents from 94% to 50%. Consequently, they expect a "substantial risk of non-response bias" and plan to "[adapt their] data collection and other procedures to mitigate as much as possible against these risks." The response rate also led them to predict an increased risk of sampling errors , because only 16% of the Canadian population would be surveyed, as opposed to 19% under

210-624: A mandatory long-form similar to the one in 2006. The government announced in August 2010 that it would spend $ 30 million on a campaign aimed at increasing the response rate to the voluntary form, but information released by Statistics Canada in December 2010 revealed that half of this money would be required for tasks unrelated to the promotional campaign. Criticism of the National Household Survey re-emerged in 2013 following

245-403: A population of 7,220 living in 2,670 of its 3,009 total private dwellings, a -5.5% change from its 2011 population of 7,644. With a land area of 3,171.83 km (1,224.65 sq mi), it had a population density of 2.3/km (5.9/sq mi) in 2016. The municipal government consists of a reeve and six other elected councillors who work with a permanent staff of 32. The county is within

280-709: A provincial park, Chain Lakes Provincial Park . Thirteen municipal districts have their offices in their jurisdiction, outside the boundaries of a city, town, or village. They are Brazeau ( Drayton Valley ), Lacombe (between Gull Lake and Lacombe ), Mountain View ( Didsbury ), Newell ( Brooks ), Northern Sunrise ( Peace River ), Paintearth ( Castor ), Parkland ( Stony Plain ), Peace ( Berwyn ), Red Deer ( Red Deer ), Saddle Hills ( Spirit River ), Wheatland ( Strathmore ), Willow Creek ( Claresholm ), and Woodlands ( Whitecourt ). The below table

315-585: A separate municipality such as a city, town, or village. This municipality (like all other cities, towns, and villages) is not part of the municipal district's jurisdiction. Nine municipal districts have their offices in a hamlet, which is part of the district's jurisdiction. They are Acadia ( Acadia Valley ), Bighorn ( Exshaw ), Birch Hills ( Wanham ), Clear Hills ( Worsley ), Cypress ( Dunmore ), Grande Prairie ( Clairmont ), Lac Ste. Anne ( Sangudo ), Opportunity ( Wabasca ), and Thorhild ( Thorhild ). One municipal district, Ranchland , has its offices in

350-703: A voluntary survey can become a substitute for a mandatory census. It cannot. The National Citizens Coalition and the Fraser Institute supported the change. There were groups against the change from all parts of the political spectrum, and including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities ; Atlantic Provinces Economic Council ; City of Toronto government ; National Statistics Council ; Canadian Jewish Congress ; Evangelical Fellowship of Canada ; Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops ; Canadian Medical Association ; Statistical Society of Canada ;

385-495: A wish to destroy a useful tool for social advocacy, by making it harder to identify and count disadvantaged groups. However, the Conservative government maintains that its reasoning for the cancellation is that they do not believe it is appropriate to force Canadians to divulge detailed personal information under threat of prosecution. On October 20, 2010, Statistics Canada predicted that a voluntary long-form would result in

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420-457: Is a list of only those rural municipalities in Alberta that are incorporated as municipal districts . Despite their names, Lac La Biche County , Mackenzie County , and Strathcona County are not listed because they are in fact incorporated as specialized municipalities , not municipal districts . The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is likewise a specialized municipality and

455-605: Is that a county was once a former municipal status type in Alberta prior to the County Act being repealed in the mid-1990s. Those municipalities that were once officially incorporated as counties were continued under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) as municipal districts and were permitted to retain the term county in their official names. More than half of the 63 municipal districts have their main administration offices, including council chambers, in

490-480: Is thus not listed here. For more information on specialized municipalities , see List of specialized municipalities in Alberta . Alberta's eight improvement districts and three special areas are also not listed because they are their own separate type of rural municipality and not subset types of the municipal district status. For more information on special areas , see Special Areas Board . Canada 2011 Census The Statistics Act mandates

525-434: The 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Westlock County had a population of 7,186 living in 2,680 of its 3,134 total private dwellings, a change of -0.5% from its 2016 population of 7,220. With a land area of 3,169.66 km (1,223.81 sq mi), it had a population density of 2.3/km (5.9/sq mi) in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Westlock County had

560-678: The American Statistical Association ; Registered Nurses Association of Ontario ; Canadian Conference of the Arts ; and the governments of Ontario, Quebec , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba . On July 19, 2010, representatives from several institutions signed a letter expressing their disapproval of the change and their desire to speak to Clement to find another solution. The organizations represented were: A House of Commons industry committee special hearing on July 27, 2010 heard that during

595-534: The Canada Gazette , Part I on August 21, 2010. The 2011 census consisted of the same eight questions that appeared on the 2006 census short-form questionnaire, with the addition of two questions on language. The federal Minister of Industry Tony Clement 's announcement that questions about language would appear on the mandatory short-form census came in response to a lawsuit brought by the Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities , which claimed that

630-511: The MD of Ranchland No. 66 with populations of 36,461 and 79 respectively. 437 elected officials (eight mayors , 56 reeves and 373 councillors ) provide municipal district governance throughout the province. An order in council to incorporate any municipality must give the municipality an official name. Of Alberta's 63 municipal districts, 16 still have municipal district in their official names, while 47 of them have branded themselves as

665-619: The Pembina Hills Public Schools , which formed in 1995 as a merger of three school districts. List of municipal districts in Alberta A municipal district (MD) is the most common form of all rural municipality statuses used in the Canadian province of Alberta . Alberta's municipal districts, most of which are branded as a county (e.g. Yellowhead County , County of Newell , etc.), are predominantly rural areas that may include either farmland, Crown land or

700-933: The Pembina River which flows north to meet the Athabasca River , which drains into the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie River . The southern and eastern sections drain into the Sturgeon River which joins the North Saskatchewan and eventually empties via the Nelson River into Hudson Bay . A 1986 federal map shows the area as being the north-western edge of the Eastern Alberta Plains . Specifically,

735-767: The "age of information." Nearly 500 organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Students, and the Canadian Catholic Council of Bishops protested the decision to replace the long form census in 2011 with a shorter version. The original schedule of the short-form questions for the 2011 Census of Population was published in

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770-747: The 2011 census, the Conservative government announced that the long-form questionnaire would no longer be mandatory. This decision was made by the June 17, 2010 Order in Council , created by the Minister of Industry, defining the questions for the 2011 census as including only the short-form questions. This was published in the Canada Gazette on June 26, 2010; however, a news release was not issued by Minister of Industry Tony Clement until July 13, 2010. This release stated in part "The government will retain

805-412: The Conservative government's change in policy. In a public letter, Sheikh wrote that he could not legally comment on what advice he had given the government regarding the census, but he did comment against the government's decision, writing: I want to take this opportunity to comment on a technical statistical issue which has become the subject of media discussion. This relates to the question of whether

840-628: The authority of the Municipal Government Act . Applications for municipal district status are approved via orders in council made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under recommendation from the Minister of Municipal Affairs. As of the 2011 Census , Alberta's then 64 municipal districts ( Lac La Biche County has since then converted to a specialized municipality ) had a cumulative population of 451,979 and an average population of 7,062. Alberta's most populous and least populated municipal districts are Rocky View County and

875-410: The census, and pointed out that the threat could be removed entirely by amending the legislation so that incarceration is no longer a penalty for refusal to complete the census. In response, the government announced plans to introduce legislation to remove the threat of jail time for anyone refusing to fill out any mandatory government surveys. Some groups have argued that the decision was motivated by

910-447: The change to voluntary forms was made because of privacy-related complaints, though he acknowledged that the decision was made without consulting organizations and governments that work closely with Statistics Canada. Clement had previously said that this change was made on the advice of Statistics Canada. The move was criticized by a number of organizations and individuals and was the subject of some satirical articles. Ivan Fellegi ,

945-808: The county includes parts of the Edmonton Plain (and its subdivision Westlock Plain), as well as the Tawatinaw Plain , and is bounded on the northwest by the Athabasca Valley . The county also lies within the apen parkland : a transitional biome between the boreal forest of Canada to the north and the prairie to the south. The following urban municipalities are surrounded by Westlock County. The following hamlets are located within Westlock County. The following localities are located within Westlock County. In

980-772: The election of the liberal government of Justin Trudeau , the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development introduced in the House of Commons Bill C-36, An Act to Amend the Statistics Act on December 7, 2016. The amendments were passed by Royal Assent on December 13, 2017. The Government of Canada press release stated that the amendments were made to the Statistics Act to "ensure that decisions on statistical matters are transparent and are based on professional considerations." One day after its election in November 2015,

1015-697: The former Chief Statistician of Canada , originally appointed in 1985 by the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, said that he would have quit his job if the government had taken this change during his tenure. He claims that those who are most vulnerable (such as the poor, new immigrants, and Aboriginal peoples) are least likely to respond to a voluntary form, which weakens information about those demographic groups. Munir Sheikh , Fellegi's successor as Chief Statistician appointed by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper on February 15, 2008, resigned on July 21, 2010 in protest of

1050-511: The mandatory short form that will collect basic demographic information. To meet the need for additional information, and to respect the privacy wishes of Canadians, the government has introduced the voluntary National Household Survey." On July 30, 2010, Statistics Canada published a description of the National Household Survey , intended to be sent to about 4.5 million households. Industry minister Tony Clement stated that

1085-407: The previous census, out of approximately 12 million forms, 166 complaints were known to be received directly or indirectly. In answer to Clement's claim that those who do not fill out the census risk jail time, Jack Layton , leader of the national New Democratic Party , noted that in the entire history of the census, the government had not prosecuted and jailed a single person for failing to complete

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1120-471: The release of the first set of results from the survey. In September 2014, Liberal MP Ted Hsu introduced private member's bill "Bill C-626, An Act to amend the Statistics Act" with the intention of appointing a Chief Statistician and reinstatement of the long-form census in Canada. Despite wide support as often happens with private bills, this failed (at Second Reading), in February 2015. Following

1155-504: The voluntary status of the long-form census would impact language-related government services. In addition to possible questions on activity limitation, various organizations called for the following changes to the 2011 census: The National Household Survey (NHS) began within four weeks of the May 2011 census and included approximately 4.5 million households. The information collected by the NHS

1190-514: Was 98.1%, up over a percentage point from 96.5% in the 2006 census . Ontario and Prince Edward Island each held the highest response rate at 98.3%, while Nunavut held the lowest response rate at 92.7%. In an article in the New York Times in August 2015, journalist Stephen Marche argued that by ending the mandatory long-form census in 2011, the federal government "stripped Canada of its capacity to gather information about itself" in

1225-414: Was intended to replace the data from the previous long-form census questionnaire. Various industry professionals indicated that the data collected by the NHS is not comparable with the data previously collected by the long form questionnaire. Many of the same professionals indicated that the data gathered by a voluntary survey would not be of the same quality as the previous mandatory long form. Ahead of

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