By Tax Sale Compass Editorial Team, Cloudy Days Retail Inc.
Last reviewed: October 1, 2026
Every Alberta tax sale follows one provincial script: Part 10, Division 8 of the Municipal Government Act, Revised Statutes of Alberta 2000, Chapter M-26, titled "Recovery of Taxes Related to Land" (sections 410 to 436). This guide follows it in the order things happen on a real file, from the spring arrears list to the account that holds the money after the auction. Every section was checked against the Alberta King's Printer consolidation current as of May 14, 2026.
If you only remember one thing, remember this: in Alberta the law treats the sale as a public auction with a reserve bid set close to market value. That makes it different from provinces where the opening price is the tax debt. For the national picture, see Provincial Tax Sale Systems and Redemption Periods by Province.
Each municipality must, not later than March 31 every year, prepare a tax arrears list showing the parcels with tax arrears "for more than one year" (section 412(1)(a)). It sends two copies to the Registrar of the Land Titles Office and posts a copy where the public can see it during regular business hours, and it must tell the people liable for the arrears that the list has been prepared and sent (section 412(1) and (3)). A parcel that already carries a notification from an earlier year is not listed again unless that notification was removed (section 412(2)).
The Registrar must endorse a tax recovery notification on the certificate of title of every listed parcel (section 413(1)). The municipality pays the Land Titles costs but may add them to the taxes owing (section 413(3)). Three consequences follow:
Not later than the August 1 after it receives the list, the Registrar must send a notice for each listed parcel to the owner, to anyone whose interest is protected by a registered caveat, and to each encumbrancee on title (section 417(1)). The notice must say two things: that if the arrears are not paid before March 31 of the next year, the municipality will offer the parcel at a public auction, and that the municipality may become the owner if the parcel does not sell (section 417(2)). It goes to the addresses on the Land Titles Office records (section 417(3)).
A municipality must offer every listed parcel at a public auction if the arrears are not paid (section 418(1)). The auction must be held in the period that begins on the March 31 date named in the warning and ends on March 31 of the following year (section 418(2)). So a parcel listed in spring of one year cannot be auctioned until the warning's deadline has passed in the next spring, and the municipality then has a twelve-month window to hold the sale.
Two exceptions matter to buyers watching a list:
Council must set, for each parcel, "a reserve bid that is as close as reasonably possible to the market value of the parcel", and any conditions that apply to the sale (section 419). This point is easy to miss. The reserve bid is not the tax debt plus costs. It is a market-value figure. The City of Edmonton, for example, states on its tax sale page that its properties are auctioned at fair market value as determined by an independent appraisal of each property.
The Act does not fix a deposit percentage for Alberta auctions. Deposits, payment deadlines and similar terms are conditions council sets, so they differ between municipalities.
Section 421 sets three separate clocks, all counted back from the auction date:
| Notice | Timing in the Act | Section |
|---|---|---|
| One issue of The Alberta Gazette | Not less than 40 days and not more than 90 days before the auction | 421(1)(a) |
| One issue of a newspaper with general circulation in the municipality | Not less than 10 days and not more than 20 days before the auction | 421(1)(b) |
| Copy of the Gazette advertisement sent to the owner, caveat holders and encumbrancees | Not less than 30 days before the auction | 421(4) |
The advertisement must state the date, time and location of the auction, the conditions of sale and a description of each parcel (section 421(2)), and it must say that the municipality may become the owner of any parcel not sold (section 421(3)). Our companion guide, How to Read a Tax Sale Notice, takes those fields one at a time.
The Alberta Gazette is published twice a month. The Alberta King's Printer publishes a table on its Alberta Gazette page that pairs each issue with the earliest date a public sale of land advertised in it may be held. For example, it pairs the September 15, 2026 issue with October 26, 2026 as the earliest sale date, and says advertisements must reach it 10 working days before the issue date.
A municipality may adjourn an auction to any date within 60 days after the advertised date, posting a public notice of the new date (section 422).
A parcel is sold "when the person who is acting as the auctioneer declares the parcel sold" (section 423(2)). From that moment, the right of any person to pay the arrears and stop the sale ends: "There is no right under section 415 to pay the tax arrears in respect of a parcel after it is declared sold" (section 423(3)). In other words, Alberta's owner cure happens before the hammer, not after it. There is no post-auction redemption period for a parcel that sells.
The auctioneer, councillors and municipal staff may not bid, except a person the municipality directs to bid on its own behalf (section 429).
A buyer at the auction takes the land free of all encumbrances except a listed set that survive (section 423(1)). They include claims of the Crown in right of Canada, irrigation or drainage debentures, registered easements, Surface Rights Act right of entry orders and certain rural utility and rural electrification liens. A title search tells you which of those are on your parcel. Minerals also need their own check: sections 430 and 431 limit what mineral title passes through tax recovery.
If a parcel does not sell, the municipality may become its owner through a new certificate of title marked "Tax Forfeiture" (section 424).
The municipality may then sell the parcel "at a price that is as close as reasonably possible to the market value", or deposit an equivalent amount into the proceeds account, and it may lease or licence it in the meantime (section 425(1) and (2)). This is the legal route for a municipality's own sale of a parcel after an unsuccessful auction.
There is one late path back for the former owner. If the arrears are paid after the municipality becomes owner under section 424 but before it disposes of the parcel under section 425, the Registrar must cancel the municipality's title and revive the old one, with the old charges and encumbrances (section 426). If a "Tax Forfeiture" parcel is still held 15 years after the auction, the municipality may take a new title in its own name, free of most encumbrances, and its duties to the previous owner end (section 428.2).
All money from an auction or a section 425 sale goes into a separate account used only for Division 8 sales (section 427(1)). It is paid out first, in this order (section 427(2)):
If money is left over, the municipality must tell the previous owner. It may pay the previous owner directly only if satisfied that no debts are secured by an encumbrance on title (section 427(3) to (3.2)). Otherwise claimants apply to the Court of King's Bench within 10 years, and the court follows foreclosure priorities (section 428). Money unclaimed after 10 years may be used by the municipality (section 428.1).
The City of Edmonton says its annual auction is held under Part 10, Division 8, and that its next tax auction sale will be held on October 29, 2026. It asks buyers to review its auction listing and appraisal reports on the morning of the auction to confirm a property is still available. That tracks the statute: until a parcel is declared sold, anyone may still pay the arrears. See our Edmonton page.
This example is invented to show how the sections fit together. The municipality, parcel and figures are not real.
The fictional Municipal District of Sample Creek has a residential parcel whose 2024 taxes were never paid. Those taxes became tax arrears on January 1, 2025. On its tax arrears list prepared by March 31, 2026, the parcel shows arrears for more than one year, so it is listed and a tax recovery notification is endorsed on title. By August 1, 2026 the Registrar warns the owner, the mortgage lender (an encumbrancee) and a caveat holder that the parcel will be offered at auction if the arrears are not paid before March 31, 2027.
Nothing is paid. Council sets the auction for Thursday, May 6, 2027, inside the window that runs to March 31, 2028. On an appraisal, it sets a reserve bid of $210,000 and conditions requiring a deposit at the fall of the hammer and the balance within a set number of days. Working back from May 6, 2027, the Gazette advertisement must appear in one issue falling roughly between February 5 and March 27, 2027, the newspaper advertisement roughly between April 16 and April 26, 2027, and copies of the Gazette advertisement must be sent to the owner, caveat holder and lender at least 30 days ahead, so by about April 6, 2027. Because day-counting rules can shift an edge date, the municipality confirms its chosen issue against the King's Printer table.
On auction day the high bid is $225,000 and the auctioneer declares the parcel sold. The owner's right to pay the arrears ends at that moment. Suppose the arrears are $14,000 and the municipality's lawful expenses are $2,500. The 5% administration fee is $11,250. With no remedial costs and no Crown expenses, $27,750 comes off first, leaving $197,250. Because a mortgage is registered on title, the municipality notifies the previous owner of the surplus and that an application can be made to the Court of King's Bench, where the lender and the owner sort out their shares.
Had no one met the reserve, the municipality could take a "Tax Forfeiture" title and sell later under section 425, unless the owner paid first and revived the old title under section 426.
The King's Printer notes that its consolidation is for convenience of reference and has no legislative sanction; the official statutes should be consulted for all purposes of interpreting and applying the law.
Tax Sale Compass, operated by Cloudy Days Retail Inc. of Cold Lake, Alberta, is an information service. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Tax Sale Compass is not the auctioneer and is not a party to any sale. Every sale must be verified with the municipality that published the notice, and you should get advice from an Alberta lawyer before you bid.