AACES began as the Alberta Advisory Committee on Educational Research in 1954 but became the Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies in 1966. Its original membership consisted of the University's Faculty of Education, the Alberta Department of Education, the Alberta Teacher's Association, the Alberta School Trustees Association (ASTA) and the Alberta Federation of Home and School Associations (HSA). ASTA and HSA dropped out of the Advisory Committee during the 1980s, while the Universities of Calgary (1966) and Lethbridge (1987) have since joined. The aim of AACES is to finance research in educational studies. To assist in the dissemination of research results it publishes the Alberta Journal of Educational Research and the Journal of Educational Thought.

The Alberta Agricultural Alumni Association consisted of graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Alberta. It organized social events and published a newsletter, the 4A News.

The Alberta Department of Public Works was established on September 1, 1905 in part of the Alberta Act. It was officially created by Alberta legislation in 1906 when the Public Works Act repealed the Public Works Ordinance. The duties, functions and structure of the Department of Public Works stayed unchanged, as allowed by the new legislation.

The Department of Public Works was responsible for the management of a long list of utilities and maintenance including heating, lighting, construction, repairs of government buildings, among many others. Legislation defined public works as property of the Crown and controlled by the department; this included all land, watercourses, streams and any acquired property for public works.

The Department was set up in a hierarchical structure. When it began it contained five branches including Correspondence, Accountants, Surveys, Engineering and Local Improvement. Over time the department included branches and sections related to operations, regulations, creation, and the maintenance of highways, mining, and employment. Legislation reorganized the Department in 1951 into two branches, Buildings and Mechanical. The Department again restructured in 1960 into six divisions, Architecture, Works and Maintenance, Construction, Maintenance, Mechanical, and Administrative Accounting. In 1966 the administrative division moved to outside the three main divisions, Utilities Services, Design and Construction, and Maintenance Services. Before the dissolution of the department in 1975 there were 5 major divisions.

The Department of Public Works was divided in a government wide reorganization into the Department of Housing and Public Works and Department of Government Services. The Alberta Government Services was responsible for the elements of former Public Works Department concerned with operations and maintenance.

On June 25,1975 the Department of Public Works dissolved when the Department of Public Works Acts was repealed by the Department of Government Services Act. The Department of Government Services merged with the functions of public works from the Department of Housing and Public Works in 1982 to create the Department of Public Works, Supply, and Services.

The Alberta Fitness Leadership Certification Association (AFLCA) facilitates the training and certification of fitness leaders and trainers in Alberta. Established in 1984, the association was founded by representatives of fitness agencies who were concerned with the consistency of fitness leadership in Alberta. The delivery of fitness leadership programs is through these agencies, under the guidelines of the AFLCA and its Board of Directors. The AFLCA is an agency-based, not-for-profit association whose operations benefit the represented agencies that deliver the AFLCA training programs. These agencies, in turn, represent their fitness leaders. The AFLCA adopted the guidelines put forth in 1984 by the National Fitness Leadership Advisory Committee (NFLAC). Performance standards were subsequently developed to recommend minimum competencies desired in the trained fitness leader. In 1989, the results of the comprehensive survey of leaders, trainers and agencies led the AFLCA towards the development of a new program model, which included more specialized areas of fitness training and more variety in courses for leaders to explore and agencies to administer. The mandate of AFLCA is to establish and implement specific standards and guidelines that organizations can follow for the training of their fitness leaders, to certify those leaders who have been trained and through that training have met the standards and guidelines established by the Association and to coordinate the standards and guidelines established by the National Fitness Leadership Advisory Committee (NFLAC) and to adjust these standards and guidelines to be most suitable for the fitness leaders of Alberta.

The Alberta Geographical Society was founded in 1964, with William C. Wonders from the University of Alberta Department of Geography as organizing chairman and Janusz J. Klawe as chairman of the program committee.

The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) was established by the Government of Alberta in 1980 to support biomedical and health research at Alberta universities, affiliated institutions, and other medical and technology-related institutions. Operating funds come from a portion of the interest revenue from a Government endowment, with an initial investment of $300 million. AHFMR supports more than 200 senior researchers recruited from Alberta and around the world, and approximately 350 researchers-in-training. Since 1980, AHFMR has supported more than 8500 positions, providing unprecedented opportunities for research careers. AHFMR is governed by a Board of Trustees with representatives from the universities, the medical profession and the general public. AHFMR is headed by a President who is the CEO. The Board of Trustees are advised by an international Scientific Advisory Council and other groups, including committees of researchers who assess applications for awards. AHFMR reports to the people of Alberta through the Minister of Innovation and Science but is arms-length from government. Every six years an International Board of Review assesses AHFMR Programs and submits a report to AHFMR and the Government of Alberta.

The AIA began in 1920 as the Northern and Southern Locals of the Canadian Society of Technical Agriculturalists. The national organization became the Agricultural Institute of Canada in 1945, and in 1947 the Alberta Government passed the Agrologists Act, which conferred professional status on agrologists under the regulation of the new Alberta Institute of Agrologists. The AIA's mandate is to maintain professional standards for agrology and to communicate to the government and to the public its concerns regarding its profession, agricultural education and research, and the role of agriculture and agrology in the community.

The Institute of Pedology, with headquarters at the University, was organized in 1968. The Institute consists of all pedologists in the Soil Science Department of the University, the Terrain Sciences Department of the Alberta Research Council and the Alberta Pedology Unit of the Land Resources Research Centre, Agriculture Canada. The Institute is involved in coordinating work in the following fields: soil survey in Alberta, research in pedology, interpretation of basic data on Alberta soils and assistance and/or cooperation from other institutions concerned with pedological data (Calendar, 1990/91). The Institute is directed by the Technical Coordinating Committee. The Chair of the Soil Science Department of the University is ex officio Chair of the Technical Coordinating Committee.

Known as the Institute of Law Research and Reform until 1990, the Alberta Law Reform Institute was established by an agreement between the provincial government, the Law Society of Alberta and the University of Alberta. Its principal objective is to promote law reform, particularly on the provincial level, and to conduct research in conjunction with its reform activities. Many of the Institute's reports have been or are in the process of being enacted for legislation. Staff periodically publish papers prompted directly or indirectly by law reform projects. Directors: 1968-1975 Wilbur Fee Bowker; 1975-1986 William H. Hurlburt; 1986-1988 R. Grant Hammond; 1988- Peter J.M. Lown.

The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is a voluntary organization for Alberta physicians that offers personal benefits to its members as well as communicating their professional interests and health care concerns to the government and the public. In 1986 it was authorized by the provincial government as the official bargaining agent for Alberta doctors.

The Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA) was initiated by Peter Lougheed’s government as a crown corporation in Alberta in 1974. Its purpose was to promote the use and development of technologies for oil sands and heavy crude oil. Funded by the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, AOSTRA had head offices in Edmonton and Calgary.
AOSTRA was originally formed in 1974 to promote new technologies for the oil sands. The mandate expanded in 1979 to include crude oil technologies as well. In 1986, the Alberta Department of Energy took over AOSTRA’s role. In 1994, AOSTRA merged with the Provincial Ministry of Energy;s Oil Sands and Research Division. In 2000, AOSTRA became Alberta Innovates--Energy and Environment Solutions in order to better represent an expanded role that included wind, solar, fuel cells, clean coal, and biomass energies. In 2001, the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) took over the responsibilities of the AOSTRA.
AOSTRA was led by a government-appointed board of up to nine members, all with experience in petroleum development and technology. This board was responsible for selecting projects that met the mandate of the organization. Costs of projects were shared with the energy industry and technologies resulting from projects were available to users at fair market value.
Additionally, AOSTRA supported research at universities and research institutions through grants for inventors, operation of a technical information system, and international cooperation in oil sands development.

The Alberta Poetry Festival Society seeks to ensure: that individuals from across the city engage in poetry both as creators and audiences; that quality and diversity of the work performed and created by Edmonton artists expands; that poetry becomes part of Edmonton’s culture; and that the Alberta Poetry Festival is an event where international and national poets appear beside local poets so that Edmonton audiences, and those who do not engage with poetry on a regular basis, can experience poetry. The society’s mission is to host an eight-day festival during April (National Poetry Month) and assist with the Poetry Moves school program, and the Poetry Moves in Transition project, among others outreach projects consistent with the vision.
The Alberta Poetry Festival Society hosted the first Alberta Festival in 2006 with the assistance of Edmonton’s Alice Major (then Poet-Laureate). In 2010, the Society began hiring employees to ensure the sustainability of the Festival.

The post-war reconstruction committee was established in 1943 by an act of the government of Alberta (Statutes of Alberta, Chapter 8). Its purpose was to study how the province could make the transition from wartime to a peacetime economy and re-absorb the population absent from the economy during World War II. The general committee was chaired by Nathan Eldon Tanner and (after September 1944) Alfred John Hooke, Members of the Legislative Assembly. Robert Newton President of the University of Alberta, was a Committee member and chair of the on Educational and Vocational Training. The Committee and its subcommittees issued their final reports in March 1945, and subsequently the Post-War Reconstruction Act was repealed and the Committee dissolved.

These schools trained elementary and secondary teachers for service in the Alberta school system. They included the Calgary Normal School (1906-1945), Camrose Normal School (1912-1938), and Edmonton Normal School (1920-1923, 1928-1933, 1935-1945). In 1945 the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta absorbed the normal school system of teacher training into the University's educational system.

In 1948, the Government of Alberta's Department of Economic Affairs created a Film and Photography branch, the purpose of which was to maintain a photographic record of Alberta's economic, cultural and social development. In 1959, the Branch was transferred to the Provincial Secretary and, after several more transfers, was taken under the Bureau of Public Affairs.

In October, 1919 a committee was convened by the Provincial Secretary to advise on matters relating to industrial research. A preliminary survey of resources was conducted, with encouraging results, and in 1921 the Scientific and Industrial Research Council of Alberta was formally established by Order-in-Council. Research was to be conducted in cooperation with the University for laboratory and other facilities. The President of the University was a member of the Council; the Provincial Secretary and the Premiers of the Province have acted as Chair. In 1930, under new legislation, the Council was reorganized to be an advisory body to the Cabinet. A Cabinet Minister was Chair of the Council; the President of the University was Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee and Director of Research. At this time the Council's name was shortened to the 'Research Council of Alberta'; it is now known as the Alberta Research Council. With the onset of the Great Depression the work of the Council halted. The University took over its funding, work, and staff in 1933; the Council itself did not meet from 1934 to 1942. In 1943, the Research Council Act was amended to include ten members, of which two were from the cabinet (one to act as chair); the President of the University; the Director of Research, and members at large. Until 1950 the President of the University was Director of Research. Dr. N.H. Grace was appointed the Councilþs first full-time Director in October, 1951. The Council was the first provincially funded, scientific research agency in Canada. It undertakes, promotes, and funds research which might not otherwise be undertaken. Chairs: 1919-1923 J. L. Cote; 1923-1925 Herbert Greenfield; 1925- 1926 Alex Ross; 1926-[1930] J.E. Brownlee; 1930-[1950] Cabinet Ministers assigned to Chair; [1946-1947] Nathan Eldon Tanner; 1950-1951 Robert Newton; 1951-1961 Nathaniel H. Grace; 1961 William Albert Lang (Acting); 1962-1977 Ernest J. Wiggins; 1977- 1978 Brian Hitchin (Acting); 1978-1983 Giles Cloutier; 1984- 1987 Robert W. Stewart; 1987- Clem W. Bowman;

The Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta is a leading institution in business education and research. It started in 1916 as the Department of Accountancy at the University of Alberta. In 1924 the first Bachelor of Commerce degrees were granted, and the School of Commerce was formally established in 1928. After making significant changes to its curriculum, the School became a full-fledged Faculty of the University of Alberta in 1960. It was the first business school in Canada to be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), achieving accreditation in 1968. In 1984 it was renamed the Faculty of Business, and moved into a new building on campus.

The name was formally changed to Alberta School of Business in 2010, following the completion of a two and a half year “Preservation of the Name” campaign. The campaign raised more than $21 million for the name to be the Alberta School of Business, rather than raising money through selling the naming rights to a donor. The goal was to preserve the school’s connection to the community, and make a degree from the school more recognizable in a global marketplace.

There are four departments in the Alberta School of Business (as of 2022): Accounting and Business Analytics; Finance; Marketing, Business Economics and Law; and Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Management. The School offers a Bachelor of Commerce undergraduate degree, as well as master’s programs and PhD business degrees. They also have partnerships with Xi’an Jiaotong University to offer a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Financial Management (MFM) in China. Executive and professional programs are offered for the public sector, not-for-profit, and corporations.

There are also several centres and institutes at the Alberta School of Business (as of 2022): Alberta Business Family Institute, Canadian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, Centre for Applied Business Research in Energy and the Environment, Centre for Cities and Communities, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, Centre for Excellence in Operations, and eHub Entrepreneurship Centre.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) is the professional organization of teachers in Alberta. Its mission is to promote and advance public education, advocate for its members, and protect standards of professional practice. Their objectives are governed by the Teaching Profession Act, which was passed by the Alberta legislature in 1935. The association is divided into various geographic “locals”, which includes teachers employed by a school district or school divisions. Locals are grouped into larger geographic districts. Delegates from each local attend the Annual Representative Assembly in May, when the annual budget is approved, by-laws are revised, policy made, and programs for the next year are determined. Between annual meetings, business of the ATA is conducted by the Provincial Executive Committee, consisting of 20 elected persons. The ATA also has offices and staff in Edmonton and Calgary to conduct the day-to-day operations. Staff work in four program areas: Government and Administration, Member Services, Professional Development and Teacher Welfare.

The Alberta Teachers’ Alliance was established in 1917, at a meeting of the Alberta Educational Association. Its first annual meeting was held in spring 1918. The Alberta Educational Association was made up of concerned citizens wishing to promote education in the new province of Alberta, however, it was not equipped to address teachers’ working conditions, salaries, or professional concerns. Teachers were being drawn away from the profession to either enlist in the army due to the First World War, or to other professions that offered better salary and living conditions. Therefore, unqualified individuals were being authorized to teach due to the shortage. Short-term contracts were common, and teachers had no appeal against dismissal. At the inaugural 1918 annual meeting, resolutions were passed to advocate for improved working conditions, including a provincial salary scale, a better form of teaching contract, full citizenship rights for teachers, and a pension scheme. In addition, professional interests included drafting a code of ethics, publishing an ATA Magazine, and supporting a federation of all teachers’ organizations in Canada. The first president of the ATA was G. D. Misener, followed by T. E. A. Stanley in 1919 and H. C. Newland in 1920.

The first full-time paid general secretary-treasurer was hired in 1920. John Walker Barnett remained in this position until his retirement in 1946. Through his tireless efforts to raise the status of the teaching profession in Alberta, the “Alliance” became an “Association”, and was legally constituted under the 1935 Teaching Profession Act. The Act was amended shortly thereafter by William Aberhart’s Social Credit Party government to make it mandatory for all teachers at public and separate school boards to be members of the ATA as a condition of employment. Throughout the following decade significant legislation was enacted to strengthen Alberta’s teaching profession, including the School Act in 1936 that ensured teachers facing termination receive a hearing, the Teachers’ Superannuation Act in 1939, which was the first step towards a pension plan. In 1944 all teacher education was assigned to a university, which led to the eventual requirement for a bachelor’s degree as a minimum teaching qualification.The resulting demand for more schools and teachers as the post-war baby boomers started school led to an increasing modernization of education, as one-room school houses and correspondence centres closed and new schools were established. Throughout the 1950s, the ATA continued to improve salaries and retirement benefits, at times leading to labour disputes and legal disputes.

Over the years, attempts have been made by the Alberta government and Alberta School Trustees Association to weaken the bargaining power of the ATA through splitting the Association into separate professional and bargaining organizations. This happened during the late 1970s/early 1980s, the mid-1990s, and 2013. Under the Ralph Klein government, salary cuts to teachers throughout the 1990s took their toll, and led to striking in February 2002 by over 22,000 teachers - the largest labour action in ATA history.

The University Survey Committee was created in August 1941 by an Order-in-Council of the Government of Alberta to conduct a comprehensive review of the University's affairs. In particular, the Committee examined the University's success in meeting the cultural, economic, and educational needs of Albertans. Chaired by Harold H. Parlee, then chair of the University's Board of Governors, the Committee submitted its interim report on January 30, 1942. Committees internal to the University were established to act on the report's recommendations, thus the Survey Committee dissolved with no further formal reports. Many of the Survey Committee's recommendations were incorporated into the 1942 revisions of the University Act, while others, such as the creation of an affiliated campus in Calgary, were adopted later.

The Women's Bureau was established in 1966 by an Act of the Government of Alberta as the Womenþs Cultural and Information Bureau. It became the Womenþs Bureau in 1970, and in 1984 it was succeeded by the Women's Secretariat. Under the directorship of Phyllis Ellis, the Bureau compiled information on women's issues and made it available to individual women, women's groups and other interested parties through newsletters and other publications.