The town of Sylvan Lake has decided it won’t become a city — at least for now. Council said it saw no need to move forward, and said the transition would be intensive and time-consuming, with little practical benefit.

Council looked at its options after studying a report presented at a governance and priorities meeting Tuesday. 

“I was really looking at dollars and cents. Was the work worth the reward? And it wasn’t,” said Sylvan Lake Mayor Megan Hanson told CBC on Wednesday.

Hanson said the discussion is one council revisits every four or five years, but the costs outweighed the benefits.

Becoming a city could force the town to take on additional infrastructure responsibilities and it could also potentially lose access to some provincial grant funding, like the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP).

“It’s quite substantial what we’ve received through that in the last number of years.” she said.

“There is an alternate grant that you could apply for, but it really looks to be focused on transit and airports, and those aren’t the most applicable things to us, at least at this point in our community.”

Hanson said within the last year, they used STIP money for a road into a park. 

Hanson said council also examined other Alberta communities that recently made the transition, including Beaumont and Chestermere. While she said city status may have made sense for those municipalities, she noted their proximity to larger urban centres also was a reason.

“It probably does give you some economic benefit, but when you looked at the actual numbers of their growth, we’re on track for that same growth regardless of what we call ourselves,” Hanson said.

She added the process to become a city itself could take up to three years of intensive work — without any notable payoff.

Hanson also said she is not concerned about missing out by remaining a town.

“I do think there is something that comes with having a city title,” she said.

“There are fewer cities across Alberta. So maybe it does make you stand out in a slight way. I’ll say that I think regardless of what we call ourselves, Sylvan Lake is unique enough that we stand out. I’m not really worried about falling in with the crowd in that sense.”

Natural progression

Sylvan Lake’s population has grown steadily. In the last ten years, the population has increased by ten per cent and now sits at 17,897, according to provincial data.

During the meeting, Coun. Joe Iwanicki said population alone shouldn’t determine the threshold for municipal status.

“If Cochrane can do it with 40,000 people and still be a town, just stay the course and keep doing what we’re doing,” Iwanicki said.

Coun. Ian Oostindie noted that changes in status can be a natural progression.

“We were a village. Then we incorporated as a town in 1946. Why did we change? Because there’s an expectation when you get to a certain size, you don’t call yourself a village,” Oostindie said.

While he agreed it might not be the right time to go through with becoming a city, he said he liked the idea of looking at it again in the future. 

Small town feel 

Beyond the report, Hanson said many residents anecdotally support staying a town. While there was no formal public consultation, she said feedback suggests people value Sylvan Lake’s close-knit identity.

“There is a feeling, and residents — at least the ones we’ve heard from — are attached to that. They want that connection and that smaller community,” Hanson said.

In a statement to CBC News, Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams, said municipal status is ultimately a local decision.

“As it stands, municipal status is a local decision, and we respect Sylvan Lake council’s choice,” he said.

Williams added the province remains open to reviewing policies and legislation to better serve Albertans.