Northern Regional & Municipal Strategic Alignment & Collaboration Initiative (NRMSACI)

This initiative is a partnership of four northern Alberta municipalities: • Town of Falher (Managing Partner) • Town of McLennan • M.D. of Smoky River No. 130 • Village of Donnelly The participating municipalities already operate as a deeply interconnected region, delivering numerous essential services jointly through regional commissions, shared contracts, and long-standing cooperative agreements. Shared service arrangements include emergency fire protection, regional emergency management, curbside and depot recycling (though this service will be phased out towards management through Circular Materials), physician/health care professional recruitment and housing, Regional Family and Community Support Services (FCSS), regional transportation, regional airport operations, economic development, GIS services, weed and pest inspection, and contracted bylaw enforcement in addition to participation in a greater regional housing body (Heart River Housing). Municipalities in the region represent a majority of two Regional Service Commissions (water and solid waste). As the complexity and number of shared services has grown, the need to align regional understanding, strategic priorities, and long-term governance approaches has become increasingly apparent. The region is also facing concrete challenges: population decline, stagnant assessment growth, and rising service delivery costs have begun to strain municipal budgets and, in some cases, prompted reconsideration of participation in shared services. Without coordinated planning, these pressures risk creating service gaps, uneven access, or fragmentation in the delivery of essential regional services. This initiative is funded through the Alberta Community Partnership (ACP) program — Intermunicipal Collaboration (IC) component. The project was successfully awarded ACP grant funding and is now proceeding to the consultant procurement phase. The NRMSACI is designed to: 1. Develop individual strategic plans for each of the four participating municipalities; 2. Establish a Regional Strategic Alignment Framework identifying shared challenges, collaboration opportunities, coordinated advocacy themes, and long-term sustainability considerations; 3. Strengthen governance capacity and strategic decision-making through dedicated capacity-building sessions for Councils and administration; 4. Improve coordination and communication between municipalities through structured regional alignment sessions; 5. Support sustainable service delivery by grounding future decisions in shared data and a common understanding of long-term regional risks.