Earlier this week, Whitecourt town council received the 2025 Municipal Enforcement Annual Report for information and adopted the 2026 Economic Development and Tourism Strategic Plan.
Municipal Enforcement officers, or community peace officers (CPO), enforce municipal bylaws and provincial statutes to provide public safety and security to residents.
In 2025, Whitecourt CPOs completed 2,794 enforcement activities, up from 2,163 in 2024 and 1,772 in 2023. Municipal Enforcement Services says this increase could be related to new developments, improved infrastructure, improved signage, increased education by officers and public education tools, increased use of public parks and open spaces, or staffing levels.
Resulting from those activities, 599 enforcement tags were issued; 163 fell under municipal bylaws, and 436 were connected to provincial statutes. Community peace officers also received 692 calls for service, conducted 1,352 community patrols and impounded 52 lost cats and 31 lost dogs.
The report also notes, there were no formal complaints received about any CPOs in 2025.
Council also adopted the 2026 Economic Development and Tourism Strategic Plan during its regular meeting on Feb. 9.
The Strategic Plan is designed to act as a guiding document for collective action to support economic development and tourism goals, which the Economic Development Committee and Policies and Priorities Committee both support. The town says it builds on progress from 2025, and that some of this year’s actions will see efforts extend into 2027.
The town has identified three key priorities under the plan:
- Business retention and expansion
- Business investment and attraction
- Tourism development and supports
Business retention and expansion
The town would like to better support businesses with long-term sustainability and growth, and establish consistent communication to understand their needs and challenges.
To accomplish this, it intends to communicate with the Whitecourt and District Chamber of Commerce, Community Futures and local school boards to align efforts and support post-secondary opportunities. Later this year, it also intends to collaborate on succession planning support for businesses, as well as digital adoption, resource connections and business awareness.
The results of these efforts will be measured by business outreach, or annual number of visitors, increased digital adoption rates by local businesses and the number of businesses engaged in succession planning initiatives.
Business investment and attraction
Whitecourt intends to enhance investment readiness and competitiveness to attract new businesses to the area, especially in commercial, industrial, retail and residential sectors that could diversify the economic base.
Over the next year, town representatives will conduct regional site visits and sales pitches to key investors and developers, launch a marketing campaign via Invest Alberta and develop a marketing pitch to attract housing developers that could diversify the housing supply.
Progress may be tracked by the number of investor inquiries and business leads, population growth and permit values.
Tourism development and supports
The town intends to expand tourism opportunities by collaborating with operators and hoteliers to support a Stay and Play program, engaging with provincial partners for marketing opportunities and promoting a Sports Hosting program.
Efforts may be measured by networking event attendance, new partnerships and economic impacts to the Sports Hosting program.
The full plan is available online.
