The Town of High River works in partnership with rural and urban municipalities to ensure future growth and development is mutually beneficial.

Members of Town Council take part in regional meetings with other municipalities and sit on the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board. The Town also has a chair at the table for broad planning and decisions that affect Southeast Alberta.

Intermunicipal Development Plans

Intermunicipal Development Plans (IDPs) are statutory plans containing broad-based policies that are prepared by two or more neighbouring municipalities. Their main purpose is to ensure that future growth reflects the mutual and individual interests of the municipalities involved. Typically, the focus is on the boundary area between rural and urban municipalities.

The Town of High River and the MD of Foothills have recently updated and adopted a new IDP  (Amended 2018). The IDP covers a transitional area that contains a range of development types. Within the MD of Foothills, the land is used primarily for agriculture, but it also supports other uses such as recreational, country residential, and rural industrial. Within the Town of High River, lands which are agricultural, including areas newly annexed, will gradually be converted to urban uses.

The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board

The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board consists of representatives from 10 municipalities mandated to develop a long-term plan for managed, sustainable growth in the Calgary region.

The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board was officially established in January 2018, when the new regulation came into effect.

The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board will be the first provincially mandated growth management board for the Calgary region.

For more information, visit the Land Use Framework section of the Alberta Environment and Parks website.