Lac Ste. Anne County has always had a weed inspection program as required by Alberta’s Weed Control Act. Previously, we had insufficient resources to complete thorough private land inspections and the program consisted of scouting properties from the road. This resulted in pressure on some landowners to control their weeds, while other weed infestations went entirely unnoticed. Moving forward, our expanded program will become consistent with most of our neighbouring counties.

Under Alberta’s Weed Control Act, there are two lists of weed species that are categorized as noxious or prohibited noxious species and deemed illegal to propagate, spread, or have on property. Information regarding identification and control of noxious or prohibited noxious species, as well as other pest species, is provided by the Alberta Invasive Species Council.

Municipalities are charged with administrating this act. This means we inspect properties, inform landowners, encourage weed control, and may issue and enforce a weed notice under the Weed Control Act. We also inspect and control weeds on county-owned properties.

For more questions regarding the vegetation management program, please explore the Vegetation Management FAQ on this page.

No, we are not trespassing on your property. Under the authority of Alberta’s Weed Control Act, inspectors are appointed by County Council and may enter property to inspect for presence or compliance of weed regulations. They are only permitted on your property during reasonable hours (generally business hours), and we will provide notification prior to. We cannot enter buildings.

This notification of a weed inspection can come in many forms. We provide public notification that the weed inspection program will begin within the County through this website, County Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages, and the Lac Ste. Anne Bulletin. More specific notification is provided with at least 24 hours’ notice, through door to door notification with weed inspection cards or phone calls. All residents are welcome to schedule appointments if they want to be present when the weed inspection is completed; the weed inspectors can be reached directly at their phone line.

The Weed Control Act provides further explanation of the weed inspector’s role. Parts 2 and 3 explain the inspectors and inspection process. Specifically, please note Part 3 (11) Obstruction of inspector:

Alberta’s Weed Control Act has been around since 1907, and Canada thistle has the prestige of being on the Act since its conception. Initially the Act listed weeds that were strictly bad for agricultural operations — species that were poisonous to livestock or out-competed crops. The Act has grown to incorporate weeds that are detrimental to human health, sensitive ecosystems like riparian areas, and even plants that can cause damage to infrastructure.

For instance, we found two sites in Lac Ste. Anne County with Japanese Knotweed in 2020. In Europe, if you have Japanese Knotweed on your property you may be deemed ineligible for house insurance because that plant can and will grow so aggressively that it will damage your foundation.

Unintentional human spread is a common form of weed movement, therefore, a couple of plants present on a small lot can easily spread to a farmer’s field down the road. All it takes is a seed on a shoe, in the tread of a car tire, in a pocket, or on a child’s backpack to enter a field and in a few years there can be an infestation.

It is equally up to you and your neighbours to control their weeds, so the County does its best to encourage weed management and control weeds on its own land as well.

As the primary method of weed control used by the County is herbicide application, it is more difficult to control weeds in areas of higher population or sensitive ecosystems. With the weed inspection program expanding, we were able to thoroughly inspect 64 municipal reserves and sections of ditches within subdivisions, provide detailed notification to residents of the subdivision, and safely complete the weed control. We will continue the expanded program to cover more county property and prevent the spread of weeds to private property as best we can.

Highway ditches are the property of Alberta Transportation. Weed complaints that come to us are forwarded to the Province to ensure control. As Lac Ste. Anne County and the Province of Alberta are both government entities run through taxpayer money, we do our best to work together. Due to the large amounts of rain in the last few years, weed populations skyrocketed. An attempt to control all weed species on all highway right of ways throughout the entire county is cost prohibitive. There is a five year plan in place for weed control along the highways, starting in 2019. Ideally, in 2024 the weed level in highway ditches will be more manageable through mowing and spot spraying.

Weed control is an expensive and uphill problem, and Lac Ste. Anne County understands that. We continue to try to “pick away at it” every year, and we hope that residents do the same thing. We understand that cleaning up a large area of weeds, especially if you had no idea that those plants were a problem previously, can feel impossible. Access can be hard. Control options can be limited. Money gets tight. However, doing something is better than doing nothing. Consider control around the perimeter, or in the area it is most likely to spread from.

Don’t like spray? Try mowing, picking, or pulling the plants. Those options don’t work? Try reseeding to a competitive stand of grasses, or pollinators, or native flowers. Species can be discussed with the Agriculture Services department, or some alternative plant options to invasive weeds can be found here. Have a neighbour with some weeds? Consider planting some trees to reduce spread via wind. Anything is better than nothing. And please, let us know if you have a neighbour or county property that has weeds present — we keep all complaints anonymous, and appreciate having some more eyes on the lookout for us. We can only cover so much ground in a few short months, so we appreciate all the help we can get.

Many factors effect plant populations, and this is reflected within the weed inspection program. We begin with education and encouragement, as it is the landowner’s responsibility to steward their property. If a landowner is not managing weeds, then the County can step in.

Currently, our program functions as follows:

• An inspection is done on your property. You are sent a report stating what weeds were found and where, along with an information sheet on the weed(s) and some control options. A reinspection date will be provided with the inspection letter; depending on the initial size of the infestation, the date can vary between one month and one year.
• At the reinspection, if there is some sign of weed control being completed but there are still weeds present, they will be sent another letter of inspection. If there is no sign of weed control being conducted, a weed notice can be issued through the mail with a deadline the following season. At least two control options will be provided to the landowner. We recognize that weed control is often deemed low priority, can be expensive, and is often weather dependent, so we wish to allow landowners some time to plan. A physical notice will be posted on the property early the following season, along with a mailed reminder notice.
• After the deadline of the weed notice, the County will enforce on the notice, usually through herbicide application. The cost of the process is then invoiced to the landowner and if not paid, will be placed on their tax roll. There will be multiple attempts to contact the landowner via phone, email, or letters.

Please contact the Agriculture Services department through any of the following channels: