Petitions

When provincial legislation requires the Town of Canmore to advertise a bylaw or council resolution before it is approved, the electors have an opportunity to submit a petition to require the bylaw or resolution to be put to a public plebiscite.

Borrowing bylaws and loan guarantee bylaws are the most common types of advertised bylaws that electors may petition. Once a bylaw of this type has received first reading at a public council meeting, the Town of Canmore must advertise the bylaw at least once a week for two consecutive weeks in the newspaper. The Town of Canmore advertises in the Rocky Mountain Outlook. To be considered sufficient, a petition must be filed with the Town of Canmore’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) within 15 days after the last date the bylaw is advertised.

For advertised bylaws other than borrowing bylaws and loan guarantee bylaws, the petition must be filed with the CAO within 60 days after the last date the bylaw is advertised.

The MGA does not allow electors to petition road closure bylaws or bylaws related to planning and development.  

Electors may petition for a new bylaw, or for a bylaw to amend or repeal an existing bylaw or resolution. This does not apply to bylaws under the following parts of the MGA: Part 8 Financial Administration; Part 9 Assessment of Property; Part 10 Taxation; Part 17 Planning and Development; or Part 17.2 Intermunicipal Collaboration. 

The signatures on a petition for a new bylaw must be collected no more than 60 days before the date on which the petition is filed with the Town of Canmore’s CAO. Petitions requesting an amendment or repeal of a bylaw or resolution must be filed with the CAO within 60 days of the bylaw or resolution being passed.

Petitions, other than petitions for local improvement bylaws, must be signed by electors of Canmore equal in number to a least 10% of the population. According to the 2021 federal census, the permanent population of Canmore is 15,990. This means a petition needs to contain at least 1,599 signatures.

Except for a local improvement petition, only electors of a municipality are eligible to be petitioners. An elector, as defined in the Local Authorities Election Act, is a person who is a Canadian citizen 18 years of age or older who lives in Alberta and whose place of residence is in Canmore on the day they sign the petition. For a person who has more than one residence in Alberta, the person must designate their place of residence in according with the following factors in order of priority:

1. the address shown on the person’s driver’s license or motor vehicle operator’s license issued by or on behalf of the Government of Alberta or an identification card issued by or on behalf of the Government of Alberta;
2. the address to which the person’s income tax correspondence is addressed and delivered;
3. the address to which the person’s mail is addressed and delivered.

Completed petitions must be delivered in person to the Town of Canmore Civic Centre at 902 7 Ave., attention Chief Administrative Officer, during business hours. To notify the Town of Canmore that you intend to deliver a petition contact the municipal clerk’s office at municipal.clerk@canmore.ca or 403.678.1550. 

Petition Information for Electors contains a guide to petitions, examples of required documents, links to applicable legislation, and contact information for the legislative advisors at Municipal Affairs.

Contact the Town of Canmore municipal clerk’s office at municipal.clerk@canmore.ca for information related to advertising dates, petition deadlines, number of signatures required, and elector eligibility.