The purpose of a rural addressing sign is to help emergency response agencies, such as police, fire, and ambulance, find your home quickly in times of emergency. Lacombe County provides a rural address for every developed parcel of land in the County (excluding hamlets) and ensures that each parcel is marked with a rural address sign.
For more information, please email or phone the County office at 403-782-6601.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What are the benefits of using rural addressing over a legal land location? |
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A rural address is a much more accurate way to locate your property than a legal land location. While a legal land location can identify a specific quarter section, a rural address will pinpoint the access to your home or business off of a range road, township road or highway, which is critical in emergency response situations. |
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Is the rural address the same as the mailing address? |
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No. Your current Canada Post mailing address will not change. In the event of an emergency, provide your rural address to the 9-1-1 dispatch operator so emergency services can find your property quickly and easily. |
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How are rural addresses created? |
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Lacombe County assigns the rural addresses. Rural addresses are based on the Township Road/Range Road grid system. In many ways a rural address resembles a town or city address. Instead of using the streets and avenues as the basis for addressing residences and businesses in a town or city, rural addressing uses the township and range road network to establish the access point, or number, of a property in the rural area. An example of a rural address for a residence or business located on a quarter-section is 40317 RGE RD 280. |
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How are properties in multi-lot subdivisions addressed? |
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Rural addresses are based off the access point from a township road or range road. In a multi-lot subdivision, the address range will be the access to the subdivision itself, and then each lot will be assigned a preceding unit number. Starting at the subdivision entrance, lots are numbered in a clock-wise direction and usually in increments of four. A typical subdivision rural address would look like this: 40311-18 RGE RD 280 |
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Is rural addressing new to Lacombe County? |
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No. In fact, Lacombe County was one of the first counties in Alberta to implement a rural addressing system when it did so back in 1995. As such, all developed properties in Lacombe County should have already been assigned a rural address. |
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Who is responsible for maintaining and/or replacing rural address signs? |
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Once the initial sign has been installed by the County the property owner is responsible for the maintenance and eventual replacement of the sign. Replacement signs can be ordered through the County. |
