The purpose of this guide is to support new and landless farmers to choose a path toward accessing land. In researching and writing this guide, the driving question has been: how have new farmers secured land? There are several different options to consider from leasing and purchasing to community farms and incubator plots – each with its own set of pros and cons.

This document was originally produced by Young Agrarians for new and young farmers in British Columbia. This guide has been adapted to the Alberta context by Organic Alberta with financial support from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation.

Read the blog post. 

The forested areas on lands are often overlooked for their values by many, but these forests and other treed areas often extremely valuable, holding values both in their ability to be sold as a product and through natural functions that trees can provide while living. This document seeks to introduce you to major values and to help realize the potential that is in these areas. 

Farmers and ranchers can play a pivotal role in building the low-carbon economy of the future. Especially in Alberta, home to one-third of Canada’s agricultural land and two important carbon sinks—grasslands and the boreal forest. The wildrose province also has some of the best solar and wind power resources in Canada.

Climate solutions are often viewed as being an inconvenience to our everyday lives. But farm solutions are climate solutions and many of them have multiple concrete benefits that go beyond stopping climate change: improving soil fertility; creating new economic opportunities; protecting biodiversity; energy independence and building resiliency against droughts and floods. It is a win-win strategy.

With support from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation, the Pembina Institute has published the Landowner’s primer: what you need to know about unreclaimed oil and gas wells to help those who are most impacted. Designed as a complementary follow up to our 2016 publication, the Landowners’ Guide to Oil and Gas Development , this primer addresses questions and examines problems landowners face when dealing with operators who are under financial strain and still have unreclaimed oil and gas infrastructure on landowners’ property.

In the following pages, you’ll find a brief overview of some of the information landowners need about oil and gas development on or near their land. There are hundreds of different questions — and answers — with complex regulations and information to digest. The following questions are just a sample.

Alberta’s energy development landscape is a maze of regulations and complex relationships. The Landowners’ Guide to Oil and Gas Development provides advice on negotiating the best relationship possible between industry representatives who live and breathe this subject matter and property owners or communities that may be facing it for the first time. It also provides accessible advice on some of these complex questions:

• If a permit agent knocks at your door and says a company wants to conduct seismic exploration on your land, how do you decide whether to grant permission?
• If a land agent tells you a company plans to drill a well or put a pipeline on your land, what do you need to know before you start negotiations? How do you decide whether any special conditions are needed in a surface lease or right-of-entry agreement?
• If there are plans to build a well or pipeline near your home, is the company obliged to tell you or consult with you?

The forested areas on lands are often overlooked for their values by many, but these forests and other treed areas often extremely valuable, holding values both in their ability to be sold as a product, and through natural functions that trees can provide while living. This document seeks to introduce you to major values and to help realise the potential that is in these areas.

The final report of a study investigating the adoption of technological advancements in irrigation agriculture found irrigators are actively adopting these technologies, generating benefits for irrigators, the broader communities that depend on irrigation, and the environment. Often referred to as “precision agriculture”, the technologies improve crop yield and quality, as well as reduce farm inputs. Examples of such technologies are GPS systems, satellite imagery, auto-steer technology, and weather monitoring sensors.

The study, entitled “Advancements in Irrigation Agriculture with Implications for Economic and Community Development and Environmental Stewardship in Southern Alberta”, surveyed Taber Irrigation District irrigators. The findings were recently released by researchers Drs. Lorraine and Chris Nicol of the University of Lethbridge.

The study found:
– 81% of irrigators have adopted some form of precision agriculture;
– yearly crop yields have increased an average 20% and yearly crop quality has increased an average 16%;
– yearly reductions in irrigation water, fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides have ranged from 14% to 24%;
– precision agriculture technologies are being applied largely to specialty crops;
– for 85% of adopters, precision agriculture has affected their overall farm management approach;
– 89% of adopters are highly satisfied with the technology;
– 92% of adopters plan to adopt additional precision agriculture technologies in the future;
– non-adopters indicate small operations, high investment costs, and incompatibility of machines are the main reasons for their non-adoption of precision agriculture technologies.

A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement between a landowner and a qualified organization (such as the Legacy Land Trust Society) which limits the amount and type of development that can occur on a property in order to preserve its natural character and agricultural potential.

When a landowner takes on a conservation easement there are associated financial benefits that can help landowners pass their property on to heirs or to new owners as a viable agricultural unit or a natural landscape.

Although conservation easements have been used in Alberta since 1996, many people are still unfamiliar with them. They are a flexible tool that help to meet landowner and land trust needs, but can also be quite complex. This booklet is not a replacement for the expert advice you need related to your individual situation – talk to your lawyer, your tax advisor, and your estate planner about what a conservation easement can mean for you.

It’s every homeowner’s nightmare: You buy a home, move in, then find out there’s an abandoned gas well beneath, leaking and contaminating your property.

Think it can’t happen to you? It can. According to the Energy Resources Conservation Board in November 2012 over 150,000 abandoned wellsites dotted the Alberta landscape, making it essential that buyers do their homework.

“These nightmares happen because of gaps between what Albertans should know, could know and actually do know about their environment,” says Adam Driedzic, Staff Counsel and author of a new Environmental Law Centre publication, What Lies Beneath? Access to Environmental Information in Alberta.

This report sets forth the plan, promotion, and implementation of a private land conservation agenda for the Bow Valley that will contribute to continentally significant outcomes for biodiversity protection, consequently sustaining the real estate property market over time.

Manual designed to address the needs of Alberta’s land trusts and to provide information for new land trusts. It supports the Canadian Land Trust Alliance’s standards and practises and has built in CLTA standards and practices. Modules include (1) Baseline Documentation Report (2) Stewardship Monitoring (3) Dedicated Stewardship Funding (4) Best Stewardship Practises (5) Beneficial Management Practises (6) Funding Development Guide.

Simulations of changes in land use over time as well as forecasts based on historical rates of change.

This is a customized and interactive powerpoint presentation focused on the real estate industry in Alberta, with emphasis on residential growth.

o Comparison of growing out (sprawl) vs growing up. o Indicators on land footprint, infrastructural construction and maintenance costs, commuting time, fuel requirements, etc. o Projected population growth in urban, rural residential, and agricultural residential settings.

o Changes to family metrics (size, age, other demographics) and how they will influence demand side for different growth forms.

Grant #: 2008-14
Author: Alberta Real Estate Foundation
Year: 2008
Format: Alberta Land Use Presentation

As one of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada, Rocky View embarked on a Growth Management Strategy in order to facilitate sound land use and development decisions regarding community sustainability, resource management and the environment.

This document provides an overview of likely regulatory processes and related issues in respect of potential development projects that may be proposed in southwest Alberta.

This website offers comprehensive information on laws for landlords and tenants in Alberta. The information contained on this site was correct at the time it was posted. Be aware that it is possible there may have been subsequent changes, which make the information outdated at the time you are accessing it.

Land use planning is a complex process. The report is designed to help connect the fiscal land use components of municipal decision making in a straight forward and cost-effective way. Red Deer county sits at Alberta’s centre. It is one of the fastest growing regions in Alberta. The county looked at the cost of community services study to better plan for the future.

A unique training opportunity for REALTOR®S® to achieve excellence in rural client service . The course includes: * Presentations from experts in related fields * Touring country residential properties and looking at characteristics that affect value * Critical thinking and group discussion to turn industry challenges into solutions.

The Open Space Toolkit for Alberta is a community training workshop series designed to help rural residents understand and practice sustainable land use and conservation. The booklet and accompanying workshops are meant to engage community residents, municipal officials, and land management and development professionals in a dialogue that provides an understanding of the nature of Alberta’s current growth and its impacts, imparts an appreciation of the ecological and cultural values of natural landscapes, and offers strategies and tools that help participants identify, anticipate and address local land use issues.

‘Conservation easements’ have been gaining popularity since their introduction in the province in 1996. This publication can help property owners understand more about one of the land conservation possibilities available to them.

A booklet created for private landowners by the Alberta Region of the Nature Conservancy of Canada outlining the various tools that are available for private land conservation; ways for individuals to protect their rural communities and the stunning landscapes that surround them. This resource is available in hard copy format in the AREF office.

A practical legal guide to contaminated land transactions and promotions. This resource is available in hard copy format in the AREF Office.