Rural Addressing is a standardized system of identifying and locating rural properties. This system will aid emergency response personnel, utility companies, couriers, and other visitors in finding your residence quicker.

A legal land location can tell you that a property is located somewhere on a specific quarter section, but a Rural Address will pinpoint the access to the property off of a road allowance.

No. Many Alberta rural municipalities have implemented Rural Addressing, such as the MD of Rocky View, MD of Foothills, MD of Willow Creek, MD of Taber, Cypress County, and Red Deer County to name a few. More and more municipalities are implementing Rural Addressing each year.

Rural Addressing information is assigned and maintained by our GIS Technician. They maintain all the current addresses in the system as well as assign new ones when development requires it. All the addressing is shared with TELUS Communications to link to TELUS 911, 911 Dispatch and Emergency Responders.

The County assigns Rural Addresses. Addresses are based on the location of the primary access along a road allowance. Each mile of road is divided into intervals of 40 meters, with numbers increasing from South to North and East to West. Even numbers are along the North and West sides of a road allowance, and Odd numbers are along the South and East.

No. Your current Canada Post mailing address will not change. Continue to use your existing mailing address to send and receive postal correspondences. However, in the case of an emergency, provide your Rural Address to 9-11 dispatch so emergency services can find you quickly and easily using your Rural Address.

If you live in Little Bow Resort or Lake McGregor Country Estates, your address will not change but you will have signage installed. However, if you live in a hamlet you will be getting a new address because currently there is no addressing system in place.

For any properties existing prior to April 1, 2009, your new Rural Address will automatically be provided to you. You will receive written notice of your new address prior to the installation of signs. After this cut-off date, any new developments will require the owner or developer to purchase a Rural Addressing sign from the County as part of the development process. Written notice of the new address will be sent out once the primary access to the development has been identified (if already exists) or built.

Subdivision addresses are also based on the location of the primary access on a road allowance. The lots are numbered clockwise using an increment of 4, with odd numbers along the South and East and even along the North and South (if possible). A typical subdivision rural address might look like this: 5 – 232040 Twp Rd 142.

Addresses are based on the street the building is facing towards, and the block and lot interval on where it is located. Hamlet blocks are divided into 15 m lot intervals. Lot intervals increase by increments of four starting at “1”, with even numbers along the North and West sides of a street, and Odd numbers along the South and East. Both block and lot interval numbers increase from South to North and East to West.

Memorize it! Your new Rural Address is primarily for emergency response. If you ever need to call 911, you can give the 911 dispatcher this address. We recommend posting your Rural Address near every phone in your house. Also be sure to educate your children as to what your Rural Address is, what it is for, and how it should be used in the event of an emergency.

Signage and installation for all parcels developed before April 1, 2009 will be paid for by the County. Signage and installation for new developments that are registered after this date will be at the cost of the landowner or developer. All maintenance and replacement costs are the responsibility of the landowner or developer. There is no annual fee.

Yes. All parcels of land supporting residential, commercial and industrial development with a primary access onto a public road allowance will be assigned a rural address by Vulcan County and have signage installed. Oil and gas industry sites regulated by the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) are exempt unless requested by the property owner or occupant to have a rural address or the site is occupied by employees or agents as a place of employment or business.

It is not necessary to inform anyone. This is not a postal address change where you would have to inform all your income mail vendors such as your utility companies and your bank. Your Rural Address, once assigned by the County, will be provided to TELUS Communications to link to TELUS 911, 911 Dispatch and Emergency Responders.

Yes, each house will have a separate address.

Your private road will be treated like a driveway, so your address will be based on where your private road accesses the public road allowance.

The more information you can provide, the better. Things that you can provide to describe the location of your parcel are: legal land location, lot-block-plan, and roll number (can be found on the top of your tax assessment). We will also ask for your contact information in case we cannot help you with your request immediately.

As of April 1st, 2009, as part of the development process you will have to fill out a sign request form and pay the signage & installation fee. Once your sign has been ordered and created, it will be installed by either Vulcan County or the signage company.

All signs must be created and installed according to Vulcan County’s specifications. This is to ensure that all signs are installed in a manner that is readily visible to traffic. In order to be consistent throughout the county, we require all addressing signage to be ordered through us.

You can order name plates to be installed on your rural addressing sign for a set fee of $36.90 (plus GST). You can order the name plates at any time, however we do prefer that you order them at the same time your rural addressing sign is ordered so that they can be installed together at one time.

The owner or developer is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep.

No, it is not possible to change your Rural Address because the address is determined based on the distance your property access is along the road allowance.

Rural and Hamlet addresses are determined using 1/2 meter resolution aerial photos, sub-meter accurate GPS, registered plans, and assessment records. If you believe that an error has been made in determining your address, please notify us immediately and we will review the problem with you.