Land for sale in the Edmonton–Drayton Valley area, Alberta

About the Edmonton–Drayton Valley area

The area

This is Statistics Canada's census division No. 11: Edmonton and the land around it, about 15,700 km² with about 1.46 million people in 2021, 1.01 million of them in Edmonton itself. Strathcona County (about 99,200 people, including Sherwood Park) lies east of the city; Parkland County (about 32,200) covers more than 240,000 ha to the west, around Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Wabamun Lake; Sturgeon County (about 20,100) is to the north; and Leduc County (about 14,400), prairie parkland with several lakes, is to the south. Brazeau County, around Drayton Valley, and the County of Wetaskiwin No. 10 fill the southwest and south. The larger towns and cities are St. Albert (about 68,200), Spruce Grove, Leduc and Fort Saskatchewan.

History

This is Treaty 6 territory, the traditional lands of First Nations and Métis peoples. Alberta lived mostly on farming until 13 February 1947, when Imperial Oil's Leduc No. 1 well near Devon struck oil after three decades and 133 dry holes. The find set off Alberta's oil boom, drove Edmonton's growth and started the province's petrochemical industry.

Services and access

Edmonton's University of Alberta, Royal Alexandra, Grey Nuns and Misericordia hospitals and the Stollery Children's Hospital have emergency departments. Outside the city there are emergency departments at the Sturgeon Community Hospital in St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital, Leduc Community Hospital, WestView Health Centre in Stony Plain and Devon General Hospital. Edmonton International Airport, in Leduc County, is Canada's fifth-busiest by passengers. The Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Highway 2) runs 260 km south to Calgary, and Highway 16 (Trans-Canada) runs west past Wabamun Lake. Alberta's Industrial Heartland, northeast of the city around Fort Saskatchewan and Sturgeon County, is a 582 km² cluster of chemical, petrochemical, oil and gas and fertilizer plants.

Land and climate

In Parkland County a residential well needs no county permit, but the county suggests checking the title for restrictions and the provincial groundwater records; a septic system needs a private sewage permit.

Before you buy

Outside the towns and cities, the county sets zoning through its land use bylaw and issues development permits, then safety codes permits for building, electrical, gas, plumbing and private sewage work. For land by the North Saskatchewan or other rivers, check the province's flood maps, which mark the floodway, where new building is discouraged, and the flood fringe, where it may be allowed if floodproofed. Wildfire reaches the western edge: in May 2023 the whole town of Drayton Valley and nearby parts of Brazeau County were ordered out for 12 days, and part of Parkland County around Entwistle was evacuated the same month.

Sources

• Statistics Canada, 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (tables 98-10-0002, 98-10-0007)
• Alberta Register of Historic Places, Leduc No. 1 Discovery Well
• Alberta Health Services, Edmonton Zone emergency wait times
• Edmonton International Airport, flights
• Alberta's Industrial Heartland
• Parkland County, development and building permits
• Government of Alberta, flood awareness maps
• Alberta Emergency Alert, Brazeau County evacuation order (May 2023)

Written by AcreScout from the sources listed; facts checked September 30, 2026. Rules change: confirm anything that matters with the municipality.