{"id":570875,"date":"2026-03-30T14:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T14:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/570875\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T14:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T14:33:13","slug":"okotoks-to-remain-independent-from-calgary-in-final-electoral-division-report-okotoksonline-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/570875\/","title":{"rendered":"Okotoks to remain independent from Calgary in Final Electoral Division Report – OkotoksOnline.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC)\u00a0submitted\u00a0its\u00a0Final Report<\/a>\u00a0for the Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on the morning of March 26.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the majority report recommendations, the electoral districts of Highwood, Livingstone-Macleod, and Cardston-Siksika\u00a0will see boundary and name changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No boundaries were added or removed in southern Alberta, though the Commission said existing boundaries were\u00a0modified\u00a0to create a more workable region and better reflect communities of interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related Stories:<\/p>\n

“Over the past eight years since the last EBC report, Alberta has seen extensive growth and changes in its social makeup,” said Dallas Miller, chair of the 2025-26 EBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The year-long review of Alberta’s electoral boundaries was undertaken as required by law, and two new constituencies have been recommended. I want to thank the thousands of Albertans who provided feedback through oral presentations and written submissions. This helped the Commission greatly throughout the process.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

What electoral district will Okotoks be in?\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the Final Report’s recommendations, Okotoks will be part of the Okotoks-Diamond Valley (ED #51) electoral district.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Commission had initially proposed a hybrid district called Calgary-Okotoks, which was met with strong opposition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“In the feedback to our interim report, there was a significant campaign by residents of Okotoks against being included\u00a0with\u00a0parts of the city of Calgary,” the Commission said. “In general, those opposed indicated that there was no community of interest between Calgary and Okotoks \u2014 Okotoks wants to retain its small-town feel and not be grouped together with Calgary.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposed division will have a population of 55,284.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The division has gained adjacent portions of Foothills County from Banff-Kananaskis and lost some areas to the newly formed High River-Vulcan-Siksika\u00a0division.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Okotoks-Diamond Valley will\u00a0succeed\u00a0the current electoral division of Highwood. The name change reflects the two largest municipalities in the riding and gives voters across the province a clearer sense of where “Highwood” is\u00a0located.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Okotoks-DiamondThe proposed electoral division of Okotoks-Diamond Valley.\u00a0Source: Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission,\u00a0P. 184.
\nHigh River, Vulcan, and\u00a0Siksika\u00a0to see new district\u00a0<\/p>\n

To the south, the current districts of Livingstone-Macleod and Cardston-Siksika\u00a0will see significant changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The newly established High River-Vulcan-Siksika\u00a0(ED #65) riding will absorb\u00a0all of\u00a0Vulcan County, portions of Wheatland County and Foothills County (excluding the area belonging to Okotoks-Diamond Valley), and areas of the Municipal District of Willow Creek north of Highway 520.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We found general dissatisfaction with the existing three ridings of Taber-Warner, Cardston-Siksika, and Livingstone-Macleod,” the EBC said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new division is\u00a0largely the\u00a0successor to Cardston-Siksika, with significant changes resulting from shifts to\u00a0neighbouring\u00a0electoral divisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This electoral division\u00a0essentially unites\u00a0rural areas south and east of Calgary in a logical ‘L’ shape. While residents would occasionally go to Calgary for services, these communities are rural \u2014 not suburban or bedroom communities. Uniting these counties keeps communities of interest together,” the Commission said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposed electoral district will have a population of 53,351.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"HighThe proposed electoral division of High River-Vulcan-Siksika.\u00a0Source: Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission,\u00a0P. 253.
\nThe remains of Livingstone-Macleod\u00a0<\/p>\n

Livingstone-Macleod will keep its current\u00a0name, but\u00a0will see boundary changes following the creation of High River-Vulcan-Siksika.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It will absorb\u00a0nearly all\u00a0of Lethbridge County, much of the Municipal District of Willow Creek,\u00a0all of\u00a0the Municipal Districts of Pincher Creek and Ranchland, Waterton Lakes National Park, and the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“These are communities of interest in rural southern Alberta and can be effectively represented. While the population is below the provincial average, the vast geography and distance from the Legislature justifies the variance,” the Commission said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposed Livingstone-Macleod division will have a population of 50,144.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Livingstone-MacleodThe proposed electoral division of Livingstone-Macleod.\u00a0Source: Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission,\u00a0P. 259.
\nA struggle defining the divisions\u00a0<\/p>\n

The EBC was only\u00a0permitted\u00a0to add two new electoral divisions, despite the province’s significant population growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The size of the legislature is increasing by two per cent despite the population increasing by 20 per cent. It is with regret that we have had to remove two ridings from central and north-central Alberta to meet the demands of high population growth in and around Calgary and Edmonton,” the EBC said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Commission recommended that future commissions be granted the power to set\u00a0an appropriate number\u00a0of electoral divisions \u2014 an authority already held by equivalent bodies in British Columbia and Quebec.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neither the Legislature nor the opposition challenged the bill to increase the number of electoral divisions to 89 when it was proposed. However, the EBC noted that based on input from Members of the Legislative Assembly at public hearings, there appears to be regret on both sides of the House over that failure to act.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC)\u00a0submitted\u00a0its\u00a0Final Report\u00a0for the Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-570875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-calgary","10":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}