Property Rights Legislation & Policies in Alberta: Part 1

The 2008 Alberta Land-use Framework was created in response to Alberta’s rapid growth during the past decade.

Its objective was to find a better way to coordinate land-use issues and, ideally, reduce conflict and increase sustainability in our province. Five years after its release, challenges remain in the area of property rights in Alberta.

• Land-use Framework
  Developed over a three-year period, the Land-use Framework is a provincial system of regional planning. Designed to reduce conflict and coordinate growth, the framework outlines seven basic strategies to improve land-use decision making in Alberta.
• Alberta Land Stewardship Act (formerly Bill 36)
  Created the authority for regional plans for each of the seven regions identified in the Land-use Framework.
• Bill 19: Land Assembly Project Area Act
  Designed to streamline how the Province expropriates land for large-scale public transportation and water management projects, like ring roads and reservoirs. In 2011, amendments were passed that aimed to enshrine clearer property and compensation rights.