Functional Responsibility:
The Alberta Special Areas Board was created to administer the Special Areas Act. A special area is created under order by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and can be any part of Alberta that is not already contained in a city, town, village, county, municipal district, or improvement district. The board administered areas where municipal services could not be provided due to financial hardships resulting from the Depression and drought of the 1930s. The mandate of the Special Areas Board is to manage overworked, damaged land so residents may be able to support municipal services in the area. The board provides municipal services and long-term land resource management in the special areas. The board provides complete local government services for special areas, including taxation, licences, permits, leases, local works, and improvements. Approximately 5.2 million acres in the province have been designated as special areas.

Predecessor and Successor Bodies:
In 1926, federal and provincial governments agreed to transfer large tracts of federal land. The first special area was Tilly East Area, and a board was established to govern this area. Later, in 1932, Berry Creek Area was established with it own governing board. The two boards were combined in 1935 and became known as the Special Municipal Areas Board, a predecessor to the Special Areas Board.

Administrative Relationships:
The board began under the jurisdiction of Municipal Affairs and from 1939 to 1948 was transferred to the Department of Lands and Mines; it was transferred back to Municipal Affairs in 1948.

Administrative Structure:
The Special Areas Board consists of no more than three members, all of whom are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, who also designates one member as chair. The board administrative structure has three divisions: Property Administration, Municipal Services, and Finance and Administration. Each division has a director who reports to the chair of the board. The minister may also allow for the creation of advisory committees to advise the board, the membership consisting of elected members from localities that are administered by the board.

Names of the Corporate bodies:
Special Areas Board
Also referred to as Special Areas Administration

Chief officers:
Chairs of the Special Areas Board
Andrew Campbell McCully 1939-1943
Morgan Baldwin 1944-1954
John Herbert Todrick 1954-1957
John Robert McBeath 1958-1960
Charles Wilfred Edwards 1960-1981
Abner Glen Grover 1981-1991
Jay J. Slemp 1991-present