 Applications for town status are approved via orders in council made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under recommendation from the Minister of Municipal Affairs.Alberta has 106 towns that had a cumulative population of 455,053 and an average population of 4,293 in the 2016 Canadian Census.The number of towns decreased from 107 to 106 on February 1, 2020, when Granum dissolved from town status to become a hamlet.